UFL Notebook: Playoff Preview

The United Football League, America’s spring football option, is reaching its conclusion the next two weeks. Four teams make the postseason. We have semifinals this coming Sunday and then the championship game next Saturday night. Here’s the schedule, followed by a look at all four teams:

Sunday, June 8
Michigan – Birmingham (3 PM ET, ABC)
DC – St. Louis (6 PM ET, Fox)

Saturday, June 14
Winners (8 PM ET, ABC)

THE FAVORITE: ST. LOUIS

The Battlehawks were a league-best 8-2 behind the stingiest defense in the league, allowing a little more than 16ppg. Their quarterback, Max Duggan, may come to mind as the one who led TCU on their magic run to the national championship game in 2022.

Duggan isn’t playing at a particularly high level, with a 57 percent completion rate and just 6.3 yards-per-attempt. St. Louis still scores 23ppg, third-best in the league, behind a steady dose of the running game. No individual back stands out anywhere in this league, but Jacob Saylors, with his 55 yards per game, won the rushing title. Saylors leads a balanced St. Loujs running game.

If Duggan can get going, he’s got some targets—Hakeem Butler and Gary Jennings are both field-stretchers. Jahcour Pearson caught 30 passes in the 10-game regular season. St. Louis has the pieces to win it all, with just a little bit of juice from the passing attack.

THE DYNASTY: BIRMINGHAM

When this new league first formed as the United States Football League (USFL) back in 2022, Birmingham quickly established themselves as the power. They won the title in both ’22 and ’23. When the merger with the XFL created the league in its current form, Birmingham won it again in 2024. Do they have it in them for a fourth straight crown?

The receiving tandem of Deon Cain and Cade Johnson gives Birmingham the team with the best balance of receivers who catch a decent number of passes while still getting down the field for big plays. It’s looking like J’Mar Smith will start at quarterback, which is very good news.

Smith dealth with injuries this year and Birmingham had a lot of instability at quarterback. But when he played, he had a 65 percent completion rate, a healthy 9.5 yards-per-attempt and a miniscule 1.3 percent interception rate. Which is basically the long way of saying the man who won Conference USA’s Offensive Player of the Year with Louisiana Tech back in 2019, has no weaknesses. And the defense? The Stallaions rank second behind St. Louis in points allowed. With a healthy Smith, another title is very realistic.

THE FIREPOWER: MICHIGAN

The Panthers have the most explosive offense in the league and Bryce Perkins, who quarterbacked Virginia to a surprise Orange Bowl bid in 2019, is the UFL’s best quarterback this season. Perkins has completed 69 percent of his passes, generated 8.5 yards-per-attempt and has a 9-2 TD/INT ratio. He also runs for 30 yards a game, making him the best dual-threat QB in the playoffs.

Nate McCrary carries the running game and Siaosi Mariner is the most likely receiver to make a big play. Where Michigan may have some problems is defensively. They aren’t bad, at fourth in the league, but they don’t stand out.

THE UNDERDOG: D.C.

The Defenders look like the team that doesn’t belong. They were middle-to-below average in both points scored and points allowed. But they turned that into a 6-4 record that matched Michigan. Quarterback Jordan T’amu is erratic, but he doesn’t throw the ball to the other team. The running game isn’t great, but Deon Jackson and Abram Smith give a little bit of balance. The receiving corps doesn’t have a big-play threat, but Chris Rowland is consistent. And the defense is so-so, but Derick Roberson and Andre Mintze are pretty good pass-rushers.

D.C. looks that Cinderella team in the Final Four that’s had a nice run to get here, but everyone knows isn’t playing beyond the semifinals. They have to go to St. Louis and it would be a major upset if they won. Admittedly, they’re only a (+2.5) underdog on Sunday, but oddsmakers appear to be uber-cautious with anything in this league.

THE ODDS

Here’s how betting markets see each team’s chances of winning it all:

St. Louis (+200)
Birmingham (+235)
Michigan (+255)
D.C. (+450)

A St. Louis – Birmingham title game would be a juicy matchup and with Perkins nursing an injury, Michigan’s best shot at an upset may be hindered. I’ll pick the two favorites to advance this week, but the Stallions to go on the road next Saturday night and make it four in a row. We’ll recap the entire postseason after its over.