Buzzer Beater: Who’s the Title Favorite? [UFA Week 12, 2026]

Any of the top teams can beat each other

July 13, 2026 by Alex Rubin in Rankings, Recap

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Looking Ahead

The end of the regular season is relatively drama-less this year. Without scrappy fights for playoff places, the intrigue all rests at the top, where it seems like any of the top teams can all beat each other on their best day.

This weekend, the Boston Glory were able to take down the Minnesota Wind Chill in a 21-20 thriller. Of course, earlier this season Minnesota beat Oakland and New York beat Boston. These games only tell us which team is better in a given week, and might not be reflective of who will be best in just over a month when presumably several of them will meet at Championship Weekend.

Boston’s case rests in having the reigning league MVP playing at a ridiculously high level. Tobe Decraene finished this week’s game 53/55 with nine assists, a goal, and 664 total yards against one of the best defenses in the league. That Boston was able to win this game without Jeff Babbitt, Tannor Johnson-Go, or Rowan McDonnell (that’s two past MVPs and last season’s Defensive Player of the Year) says a lot about the depth of talent that the Glory can roll out.

The case for Minnesota is evident, too. They played Boston closer than they did last season when they came close to knocking off the champs in the league final. The Wind Chill were also missing starters and are known to peak in August rather than July. This season, Minnesota played several challenging out-of-division games to prepare themselves for the gauntlet that is the playoffs, and they have a win over the West-leading Oakland Spiders to prove their might. Over the last three years, the Wind Chill have proven that they should not be underestimated, and they’ll only learn from this week’s loss.

While Oakland, New York, Carolina, Austin, San Diego, Salt Lake, Seattle, DC, Madison, and Indianapolis will all have something to say about it, it is very possible that this week’s game was a championship preview. Entering a potential rematch, I don’t know who to rate higher, and that’s a great problem to have. We’ll see an exciting match that should be appointment television when it rolls around.

News and Notes

• Ben Jagt finished +10 with five goals and five assists as the New York Empire crushed the Chicago Union 31-18. New York’s offensive personnel surrendered just three turnovers, two of which came on the first possession.
• The Madison Radicals likewise limited their own turnovers, with their O-line giving up just four in a 31-19 takedown of the Pittsburgh Thunderbirds.
• New York also beat Toronto 30-24, with Daan De Marrée contributing eight assists and four goals. Drew Schnaudigel was the defensive engine with three blocks.
• For the fourth time since such things were tracked, a team finished a game with zero huck completions. That team would be the Thunderbirds, who lost to the Indianapolis AlleyCats 24-14. James Pollard owned the deep space, collecting three blocks.
• Spencer Lofink (5A/2G) and Garrett Martin (2A/5G) mirrored each other’s stat lines for the Seattle Cascades, who beat the Oregon Steel 23-18.
• With 0:42 showing on the clock, the Austin Sol held a 20-19 lead over the Carolina Flyers in their quest to retain the top seed in the South. Two backfield miscues over the next few points gave the Flyers the opportunities they needed to secure a 21-20 win and keep their hopes alive of earning a first round bye and homefield advantage in the divisional playoffs.
• Austin bounced back to beat the Atlanta Hustle 22-20 the next day, effectively knocking Atlanta out of the playoffs just a year after they made Championship Weekend.
• The DC Breeze went on two separate 5-0 runs as they defeated the Philadelphia Phoenix 28-17.

UFA Power Rankings

• Only the big change at the top this week, with Boston’s win over Minnesota giving them the top spot.