July 28, 2026
By Evan Lepler
Carolina, New York, Salt Lake, and Indianapolis.
Austin, Boston, Oakland, and Minnesota.
In exactly one month, one of these eight teams will hoist the 2026 UFA Championship trophy at Breese Stevens Field in Madison. The other seven—either regular season division champs or opening round playoff victors, at the very least—will wonder what might have been.
In the meantime, we’re now just 10 days away from the always captivating Divisional Championship Weekend, where drama meets devastation as four teams fight their way to the league’s marquee event, while four others see their dreams abruptly halted. Historically, the four division title games are truly epic battles, where margins are minute, intensity is insane, and the pressure can feel suffocating even for seasoned competitors.
Whereas past seasons have frequently included quarterfinal matchups featuring teams trying to break through to Championship Weekend for the first time—DC and Atlanta, for instance—this year’s elite eight features a group of teams that have all been to the semifinals at least once in the last seven years. Five of the remaining eight franchises have been UFA champions at some point in their history, while two others have advanced all the way to a final, coming up just one win short of a title.
Looking ahead, the 2026 postseason is a battlefield between teams pursuing greatness. For the first time since 2022, six of the last eight teams already have 11 wins, while two other feisty underdogs are busy visualizing what it might look and feel like to shock the ultimate world a week from Saturday.
Very few pundits will predict the Shred or AlleyCats to prevail at Oakland or Minnesota, but that’s totally cool with Salt Lake and Indianapolis, who have already proven they can win a playoff game on the road. Meanwhile, the Flyers and Empire will be popular picks to steal Champ Weekend trips away from Austin and Boston. But those expecting Carolina or New York to cruise might also be dismissing the Sol and Glory, who are a combined 22-2 and should both be fully rested and ready for their incoming challengers, at their own peril.
Obviously, we shall see what happens.
Over the course of four games across three days this past weekend, we saw two former UFA champions dominate at home and suggest to spectators that they are capable of a four-game run to a title. But the track record is not necessarily on Carolina or New York’s side. No team has ever won four consecutive playoff games in a single postseason run.
That’s not to say it couldn’t happen, though it would be unprecedented.
We also saw Salt Lake and Indy eke out narrow two-goal wins on the road to keep their seasons alive. The odds of winning back-to-back road games in the postseason are quite small, but the Shred and AlleyCats do have the 2018 Empire to potentially use for inspiration. After all, that New York team—which started 4-5 before sneaking into the playoffs at 8-6—is the only squad in UFA history to register two straight playoff wins on the road to qualify for Championship Weekend.
(But that New York team did have three different two-time UFA MVPs—Beau Kittredge, Ben Jagt, and Jeff Babbitt—even if Jagt and Babbitt hadn’t yet won either award.)
Overall, frisbee history will absolutely have its eyes on the final seven games of the season, four of which are coming up on August 7 and 8, while three others will cap things off in the Capital City of Ultimate three weeks later.
The eight teams still in the hunt are all just three wins away from the title, and no one wants to throw away that shot.
The Full Field Layout
The 2026 UFA postseason officially launched on Friday evening in North Carolina, where the Flyers, like a boa constrictor, gradually squeezed the life out of the San Diego Growlers in a 25-14 rout.
“We made them play the type of frisbee we wanted them to play,” said Carolina Head Coach Michael Avila. “We dictated their offense, which is really cool to say.”
Carolina’s defensive venom, buoyed by two balanced D-lines that produced a weekend-best 14 blocks, created 18 break opportunities and 11 conversions. San Diego kept pace early, producing a pair of breaks in the opening 10 minutes, but then the Flyers offense found a rhythm and went unbroken and largely unbothered over the final three quarters.
“Our defensive intensity is the best in the league,” said Tobias Brooks, who anchored the O-line with five assists, four goals, and 531 total yards. “And our O-line can be the best in the league when we prioritize just moving the disc and not trying to—we’re so dynamic everywhere that the only challenge is whether we take the good option versus trying to make something happen.”
There were times when Carolina’s offense took some chances that gave San Diego windows of hope, but almost every time, one of the Flyers’ elite downfield targets saved possession with a spectacular display of elite athleticism.
“Me and Allan [Laviolette] floated some bad ones, but when you have [Jacob] Fairfax and Zeke [Thoreson], it helps,” said Brooks.
Laviolette tossed six assists, Fairfax caught six goals, and Carolina finished the night with just 11 turnovers, half as many as San Diego, who struggled to hold consistently against the Flyers’ pressure.
“The Flyers defense did a very good job slowing us down, and credit them with a great game plan,” said Growlers Coach Kevin Stuart. “The [misty] conditions early on impacted both teams, and Carolina adjusted to those conditions after the first quarter better than we did…Once Carolina gets on a roll, they are difficult to stop.”
Christian Belus, Suraj Madiraju, and Owen Stout all tallied two blocks apiece for the Flyers’ D-line, while all 20 active players for Carolina had at least one score or block, a testament to the team’s impact depth. Khalif El-Salaam was easily San Diego’s most explosive playmaker, but along with three goals and three assists, El-Salaam also finished the night with a game-high four throwaways.
“Friday night wasn’t our night, and sometimes in sports, that happens,” said Stuart, who’s coached the Growlers since the team’s inception in 2015. “It’s what you do next that defines you. I expect us to be ready to go in six months and be able to put the work in to be back in the playoffs in 2027.”
While San Diego transitions to the offseason, Carolina will ramp up for a rematch against Austin, who the Flyers beat 21-20 on July 10 in the two teams’ only regular season meeting. The game is slated for Friday, August 7, and the Sol will be hosting the South Division Championship Game for the first time.
Asked what he’s most excited about heading into the Austin game, the Flyers’ 21-year-old frisbee prodigy expressed complete belief in his team.
“Just another chance to battle,” said Brooks. “I just care about fighting and playing hard, and if we do that, we’ll win. We’re a much better team than Austin.”
*****
There was more than a little bit of symmetry between Carolina’s 11-goal win on Friday evening and New York’s 23-15 victory over DC on Saturday afternoon. Both home teams led wire-to-wire, anchored by sturdy, star-laden offenses and relentless D-line pressure. Just like the Flyers, the Empire scored the final five goals of their game, delivering an emphatic exclamation point to the team’s opening round performance.
And in another parallel, the Empire also advance to face a team that they’ve already defeated once this season, though New York split the two-game series with Boston, each winning on the other’s home field.
“It’s the one we’ve had circled on the calendar,” said Empire Co-Coach Anthony Nuñez, when asked about the highly-anticipated rubber match against the reigning UFA champs. “It’s gonna be a bloodbath.”
Like the Flyers, the Empire won the vast majority of the 50/50 opportunities in their opening round game against the Breeze, with Jack Williams, Ben Jagt, and Daan De Marrée all making impressive grabs on throws that could have resulted in turnovers.
“Obviously, it’s a luxury [to have those playmakers],” said Alex Atkins, who completed all 34 of his throws and accrued a game-high 718 total yards. “And the better the defenses are, the harder that will be. But I do think it’s important to test that early, because it really opens up the offense if the other team’s defense knows you can threaten deep.”
While the Breeze D-line only earned one break, DC still kept it close enough to be within striking distance into the fourth quarter. The Breeze thought they had a buzzer-beating goal to close the third, but officials ruled that Atkins snatched the interception a split-second before DC’s Fred Farah secured his grasp on the disc.
“That was pretty rough,” said Breeze Head Coach Xavier Maxstadt. “And I think it kinda killed a little bit of momentum that we could have built there.”
Watching the play live, I thought Atkins got it first. Then, after seeing the replay, I think there’s a real argument that it was a tie, which, by rule, goes to the offense. But even after several viewings, I’m still not certain. It was that close.
And more relevantly, no one would argue that this particular call decided the game.
“I think the main story is it was just execution,” said Maxstadt. “I think they executed better than we were able to at times.”
Without a doubt, part of DC’s struggles were related to the Empire’s defensive pressure. Some Breeze throwaways were simply errant swings when throwing lanes were jammed. Others were downfield defenders getting the better of their matchups, like Antoine Davis earning a pair of blocks against DC’s Christian Boxley.
“Me and him have great duels,” said Davis, commenting on the Boxley matchup. “I just know from his stats that they’re trying to center to him in the middle of the field always, so I just made my first priority to get under there and when he makes a move, just go 110 percent. Sometimes, he got me and got loose, but I got a few on him too. I think him and I both love when we match up against each other. Probably our toughest matchup of our careers. It was fun.”
Boxley still led the Breeze with five assists, two goals, two blocks, and 496 total yards, but two of DC’s other stars, Miles Grovic and AJ Merriman, struggled in Saturday’s battle. Combined, Grovic and Merriman finished with two goals, two assists, and 11 throwaways.
“I think the lesson is you can be an incredible player, but you can have a bad game here and there as well,” said Maxstadt.
Meanwhile, De Marrée finished with 10 scores and just one throwaway, continuing to find his top form with the Empire heading into the most important games of the season.
“It took some time to find my position a little bit,” explained De Marrée. “But they gave me a lot of freedom, so I’m really happy with that. I haven’t practiced that much with them. I’ve played more games than I’ve practiced, so it’s a bit of an unusual situation, but I’m super happy, and I think this team has so much experience.”
And now, he gets another battle against the Decraene brothers, Lander and Tobe, with a trip to Championship Weekend on the line.
“Happy to see my Belgian friends,” said De Marree. “And it’s gonna be a great game. It’s been two great games in the regular season. So I’m looking forward to it.”
Obviously, if you read last week’s Tuesday Toss, you know how I view the upcoming East Division final. Boston is the reigning champ that just went 11-1, and New York, despite suffering a pair of close losses in overtime, has not dropped a game in regulation all season. Statistically, the Empire have set all sorts of records for efficient ultimate.
But all that matters is how the teams can execute against each other on Saturday, August 8, at Hormel Stadium.
“I expect it to be close, back-and-forth, and I think the team that wins is gonna be a tough team to take on at Championship Weekend,” said Atkins. “We know how much talent we have. The only thing that’s gonna get in our way is ourselves.”
Coming up later today in “Seven On The Line,” full reports on Salt Lake and Indianapolis’s satisfying road wins, along with reflections from Seattle and Madison after a couple home heartbreakers.
