UFL Season Kicks Off On Saturday March 30th
Week 1 of 10 for the UFL starts this week.
The USFL and XFL merger is set to begin in a matchup between the respected league’s champions on Saturday at 1 PM.
TEAMS:
Let’s go through the 8 teams in the league.
The league is split into two divisions. The USFL Conference and the XFL Conference. The USFL Conference is made up of the four USFL teams in the league, and the XFL Conference is made up of XFL teams.
USFL Conference:
Birmingham Stallions
Houston Roughnecks
Memphis Showboats
Michigan Panthers
Last year in the USFL championship, the Birmingham Stallions beat the no-longer-existent Pittsburgh Maulers 28-12.
XFL Conference:
Arlington Renegades
D.C. Defenders
San Antonio Brahmas
St. Louis Battlehawks
The Arlington Renegades won the XFL championship last year 35-26 against the DC Defenders. Arlington went 4-6 in the regular season but somehow made the miraculous run.
Schedule:
Each team plays 10 games across 10 weeks. 6 of the games are conference games. 1 home game and one away game against the other 3 conference teams. The other four games are against the 4 teams in the other conference, so every team plays every team.
Week 1 has four games, 2 on Saturday and 2 on Sunday. Let me tell you about these games.
Matchup 1: Birmingham Stallions @ Arlington Renegades
The battle of the champs is set to begin the UFL season. Each team won their league last year, and we will see who the real champ is on Saturday. Luis Perez is the Renegades’ quarterback. In the XFL Championship last year, Luis threw for 288 yards and 3 TDs. Perez was the XFL MVP last year. The USFL champs have not yet named a starter, but the coach said in a media call they will likely use a two-QB system. I’ve heard that Matt Corral and Adrian Martinez will be QB1 and QB2. Since I have no idea the skill of either team, I will choose Birmingham to win because of last year’s record difference. Watch on FOX at 1 PM EST on Saturday.
Matchup 2: St. Louis Battlehawks @ Michigan Panthers
The XFL’s St. Louis Battlwhawks will face off against the USFL’s Michigan Panthers in week 1. The St. Louis Battlehawks will have their QB1 AJ McCarron back. McCarron was one of the best quarterbacks in spring football last year. He had 2150 passing yards, 24 touchdowns, and just 6 interceptions. EJ Perry is the Panthers expected starter, but that’s not guaranteed. Danny Etling could also play or even start. I know little about the league, so I will need week 1 to teach me who is good and who is not. I’ll pick St. Louis but you never know. This game on Saturday is at 4 PM EST on FOX also.
Matchup 3: D.C. Defenders @ San Antonio Brahmas
This is the first conference game of the 2024 UFL season on Easter Sunday (US). These two teams each played in the XFL last year. The Defenders QB is Jordan Ta’amu. Ta’amu won the XFL Offensive Player Of The Year award last year, with 1878 yards, 14 touchdowns, and only 3 interceptions. Yes, I know Zach Collaros is better but deal with it. Chase Garbers is set to start for the Brahmas. He has some NFL experience with the Las Vegas Raiders. In his final season for the UC Berkeley (also known as just Cal) Golden Bears, he had 2531 yards, 16 touchdowns, and 8 interceptions. His brother started most of the season at UCLA so I like this guy already. It’s also a coincidence that I like UCLA and his brother plays there. San Antonio was my favorite XFL team last year even though they were 3-7 and I live nowhere near San Antonio. Matchup 3 can be watched at noon EST on ESPN on Easter Sunday for you Americans.
Matchup 4: Memphis Showboats @ Houston Roughnecks
This is the first USFL Conference game of the 2024 UFL season. These two teams were in the USFL last year and will play twice this year. For Memphis, it has been made pretty clear that Case Cookus will start in week 1. Through 2 seasons, he has over 3600 yards and 27 touchdowns. For Houston Jarrett Guarantano was named starter, but the coach said Nolan Henderson would likely get some snaps as well. I think Houston will win because of last year’s records even though I know those don’t matter.
I have not yet decided if I am going to preview the UFL and do a weekly review as I did for the CFL. Do you think I should?