Buzzer Beater: What’s Happening in Minnesota is Good for the UFA [UFA Divisional Championships, 2025]

The Championship Weekend field is set after a Central Division upset.

August 12, 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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Minnesota Magic

For the third season in a row, the Minnesota Wind Chill will represent the Central Division at Championship Weekend. On one hand, that is an expected outcome for the defending champions who made some significant offseason acquisitions and invested in the player and fan experience as well as just about any other team in the league. On the other hand, well, they beat a supposed super team–the undefeated Chicago Union who already took down the Wind Chill handily twice this season. Given the offseason buzz and regular season success, the result didn’t exactly follow the script here.

Before the season began, I wrote an article celebrating Chicago’s key offseason signings. The gist of the article could be summed up with this excerpt: a bunch of former Union players felt so personally affronted that Minnesota would deign to win a title that they decided to invest in their own team specifically to take them down.

Don’t just take my word for it; Union players themselves were saying so: “We can’t let Minnesota win again,” Nate Goff said in the January 7 edition of Inside the UFA. And yet, they let it happen.

All of this buzz and noise and hype just makes Minnesota’s win more impressive. Despite last year’s championship, despite record crowds at Sea Foam Stadium all season long, despite the obvious and still-improving talent dotting the roster, few people outside of the land of 10,000 lakes believed the Wind Chill would win. And yet, here they are making arrangements to be in Madison in late August.

We’ll have more to say about the Wind Chill’s success over the next few weeks, but if you’re still doubting them just know there is something in the lake water up north. Minnesota might not always (or ever) look dominant in the regular season, but when the playoffs arrive it’s just impossible to count them out.

 

Glorious

If it weren’t for Minnesota’s big upset, this week’s column would probably be about the Glory crushing DC to make it to Championship Weekend for the first time in franchise history. Forcing 17 turnovers from DC and holding them to single digit points is a feat barely fathomable. More impressive: Boston’s O-line was responsible for just three turnovers in the entire game. DC was playing without the unflappable Thomas Edmonds–unavailable due to his starring role for Team Canada in the upcoming World Games–but still suffered subpar performances from key players like Rowan McDonnell (84% completion percent) and Jacques Nissen (four turnovers).

Boston jumped out to an early lead and kept their foot on the gas the entire way, scoring six of the final eight points of the game. Winning the game was always a possibility, but few probably expected Boston to cruise through a division championship the way they did. Side note: So much for the most competitive division in the league, now that both of the East’s playoff games were blowouts.

Now, Boston’s attention turns to Championship Weekend. Ahead of their first final four experience, players like Jeff Babbitt and Ethan Fortin who have been there before and won titles (both with the New York Empire in 2022 and 2023) will prove invaluable.

 

The Hustle Pays Off

The Hustle equally had a case to lead off this column. Like the Glory, Atlanta has been knocking on Championship Weekend’s door since 2021 and finally made it! The Hustle are one of the most successful franchises in the league to never make Championship Weekend, and are sure to be glad to get their moment in the spotlight. With offseason additions Alec Wilson Holliday, Sean Connole, and Cam Brock joining a breaking-out Adam Miller on the O-line, the Hustle are incredibly stingy with the disc and can attack from anywhere on the field. Brett Hulsmeyer is in full MVP candidate mode, and presents a matchup nightmare for whoever is tasked with guarding him.

Like Boston, Atlanta will be new to this moment. Connole (2023 Salt Lake), Brock (2019 Indy), Mike Kobyra (2022 New York), Jeremy Langdon (2016 Dallas), and Elijah Jaime (2023 Salt Lake) are the only players on the roster with Championship Weekend experience, and their wisdom will certainly benefit the team. Luckily, Atlanta already has experience playing against Minnesota earlier this season (Minnesota won at home), so even if the surroundings are unfamiliar their opponent won’t be.

 

Shredding the Narrative

The Shred excised their demons from last season and are now slated to return again to Championship Weekend. With a strong Oakland team also pushing to get back to the league’s showcase event, Salt Lake started and finished the game strong, building a 5-1 lead and scoring seven of the nine fourth quarter goals. Of course, that meant Oakland went on a remarkable 12-6 run through the middle of the game, but it was not quite enough to finish the game on top despite holding a lead with just over three minutes left in the game.

Salt Lake’s tenacity was particularly impressive on the defensive end. Thirteen blocks is a pretty large number for a playoff game (especially in the West Division which is not known for particularly strong defense), and they came from 11 different players.¹ While the Shred were a perfect 13/13 on their redzone trips, Oakland managed to score just over half of their redzone attempts. That never-give-up attitude is sure to help Salt Lake moving forward as they reach the most difficult part of their season.

 

Stay tuned for a more in-depth preview of Championship Weekend next week, but for now I offer a hearty congratulations to Minnesota, Boston, Atlanta, and Salt Lake for making it this far as the final four teams remaining in contention for the UFA title.

 

Championship Weekend Schedule

Fans can tune in live on watchUFA TV on Friday, August 22 to watch the semifinal games. The afternoon game (6pm ET) will be the Boston Glory against the Salt Lake Shred, and the night game (8pm ET) will be the Minnesota Wind Chill against the Atlanta Hustle in a rematch of Minnesota’s May 30th win.

The title game will take place in the evening (8pm ET) on Saturday, August 23 live and free on the UFA’s YouTube channel. At 5pm ET on the 23rd, Breese Stevens Field will also host the WUL/PUL All Star Game.

 

UFA Divisional Championships Power Rankings

• Chicago drops out of the top spot after their playoff flameout, but remains pretty high in the rankings based on the strength of their regular season and their win over Atlanta. The rest of the Championship Weekend participants round out the top five.

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1. Tony Mounga had three of his own ↩