Buzzer Beater: Big Blowout Weekend! [UFA Week 9, 2025]

The playoff picture rounds into shape as we enter the final quarter of the season.

June 23, 2025 by Alex Rubin in Rankings, Recap

Hi everyone, welcome back to my weekly Buzzer Beater column. Here I will focus on one major storyline each week. The column will also share some news and notes beyond that big story and will be the place to share our most up-to-date power rankings. If you have questions about the UFA, you can also write in to [email protected] to fill up the mailbag.

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Playoff Picture

With lots of blowout wins from favorites beating up on bottom feeders this week, I thought it would be a good time to take a step back and look at the playoff picture.

Central Division

We’ll start in the Central, where as predicted the Chicago Union (6-0) have a solid grasp on the top spot and the Minnesota Wind Chill (6-1) are firmly in second place. It would take a big upset to change either one of those placements. Also as I suggested before the season started, the Madison Radicals (4-3) are clearly the next best team and are poised for a return trip to the playoffs. Indianapolis (2-5) is right behind them, and with two matchups remaining this season, the AlleyCats will have a chance to upset this order–though I think it is ultimately unlikely they actually do.

East Division

Boston has clinched a playoff spot in the East and at 8-0 has the inside track at the top spot in the division. New York (5-5), Philadelphia (4-4), and DC (4-4) are the next three teams in the standings. New York has some control over their destiny with games remaining against Philadelphia and Boston. A potential head-to-head win over Philadelphia could end up meaning a lot, and the extra win compared to the other two teams is nice to have at this point. Philadelphia still needs to play Montreal and Boston as well as New York and DC–they’ll likely need to win at least two of those games to have a chance at a playoff spot. DC similarly has Montreal and Philadelphia remaining along with two games against Boston. If the Breeze were to give Boston their first defeat of the season, they’ll likely have an inside edge to one of the two remaining playoff positions with the “bonus” win that no other team has been able to get yet this season.

Montreal (3-5) still has an outside shot at the playoffs, and they’ll have two games remaining against an all-but-eliminated Toronto team with not much but pride to play for. But the Royal also need to beat motivated Philadelphia and DC teams to have a chance to extend their season, and that could be too tough an ask.

South Division

Austin and Atlanta currently have seven wins each and are favored to make the playoffs again. The third team is likely to be San Diego (6-3) or Carolina (4-4). Based on their head-to-head win and better record, San Diego has the inside edge, but Carolina has two games against Austin and another against Atlanta yet to play, so the Flyers could make up ground quickly. The Growlers play Oakland twice, sandwiched around a matchup with LA. With a solid chance that San Diego finish 8-4 or 7-5, Carolina will need to be perfect from here on out to have a chance.

West Division

Out west, the Salt Lake Shred (6-1) and Oakland Spiders (7-2) have the top two spots in the division covered. With Colorado sitting at 4-2, it seems all three playoff spots are spoken for and the teams will really just play for seeding. Seattle, Oregon, and Las Vegas all have at least six losses already and have not looked competitive against the top teams.

News and Notes

• Behind eight assists and two goals from John Randolph, the New York Empire kept their playoff hopes alive with a 23-19 win over Toronto
• The Chicago Union blanked the Pittsburgh Thunderbirds in the second quarter as part of a crushing 28-14 victory to stay undefeated. Daan De Marrée’s 4A/4G/2B day continued a great season for him, while Jake Rubin-Miller’s four blocks led a sturdy defensive effort.
• Ben Preiss had one of the best games of his career with three assists, four goals, and a block in the Union’s 28-10 win over Detroit on Saturday. Chicago’s depth really showed up this weekend as the team was able to cruise to two blowout victories on back-to-back days.
• Closing out this loop of doubleheaders, the Detroit Mechanix won this weekend! Like last season, they closed out a close game against Pittsburgh to stop a winless streak. The Mechanix never trailed in this one. They built a lead as large as six midway through the game before weathering a late Pittsburgh comeback that tied the game with about 90 seconds left. From there, Detroit scored and held Pittsburgh out of the end zone to record wins in consecutive seasons for the first time in recent memory. Jacob Felton’s six assists and six goals led both teams in both categories.
• Likewise, Will Coffin notched four blocks and Grayson Sanner put together a 4A/4G performance for the Carolina Flyers as they beat the Houston Havoc by the same 28-14 scoreline.
• The backfield duo of Adam Miller and Austin Taylor powered the Atlanta Hustle to match Carolina in the win column. Atlanta secured a 28-17 win over Houston to keep pace in the South Division with their seventh win of the season, matching division leader Austin who has yet to lose.
• Elliot Hawkins had the best game of his first season with Colorado as the Summit blew out the Las Vegas Bighorns 26-10. Hawkins had five assists and three goals.
• Las Vegas also lost 32-10 to the Oakland Spiders, who put on an all-around clinic as they push to have a chance to host a playoff game this season.
• The most exciting game of the weekend was probably LA’s 20-19 overtime victory over the Oregon Steel. Max Combs found Andrew Padula with seven seconds left in the game to seal the Aviators’s second win of the season.
• It was not a PNW sweep for LA though, as they fell to Seattle 20-15. The Aviators could not stop Seattle’s deep game–the Cascades were perfect on huck attempts–and could not come away with a second win on the weekend.
• Wyatt Kellman made his season debut for Boston as the Glory thumped the Rush 23-13 to stay undefeated. Kellman threw six assists in his first UFA game since 2021.
• Minnesota set an attendance record with over 1,500 fans cramming into Sea Foam Stadium on Youth Night. Dylan DeClerck scored six goals in the Wind Chill’s 31-14 win over the Indianapolis AlleyCats.

 

UFA Power Rankings Week 9

• With another win this week, the Aviators slide up in the rankings ahead of Pittsburgh, who lost to Detroit. On the strength of their other wins this season, Pittsburgh still remains above Indianapolis and Detroit. It is also notable that Detroit’s win over Pittsburgh was with a depleted Thunderbirds roster on the second day of a back-to-back.