The Big 2024 South Division Schedule Preview


February 15, 2024
By Adam Ruffner

Jump to each team section.

Atlanta Hustle

2023 regular season record: 10-2, Finished 1st in South Division | 2024 schedule

Only Atlanta, Indy, and New York had both their offensive and defensive units rank in the top five of the league in success rate in 2023. The Hustle can present a myriad of defensive coverages for opponents to navigate, and have one of the most dynamic O-lines in the UFA. But for all their impressive team play and regular season wins the past three seasons, Atlanta is still searching for their first semifinals appearance.

One Big Like: Balanced offensive attack

The Hustle might be the best team in the league at using their short and mid-range plays to set up deep shots. Similar to an NFL offense that uses the run and play action to set up big pass plays, Atlanta’s base offense mostly utilizes on methodical, possession-based drives, giving their huck attempts an added potency; the Hustle have led the league in huck completion rate over the past three seasons. 

Many Hustle offensive possessions are anchored around the speedy and precise play of Christian Olsen, Max Thorne, and Matt Smith, with the 6’5” Brett Hulsmeyer becoming a feature piece in the team’s finesse drives. Their efficiency and poise with the disc allows more freedom for the two big arms of Austin Taylor and Bobby Ley to take big downfield shots to favorable matchups. This, in turn, opens up more space for the aforementioned engine of Hulsmeyer-Olsen-Smith-Thorne to do their work—a complementary system. 

One Big Question: Can Atlanta win the big game?

The Hustle have had second half leads in each of their last two game-to-go matchups to qualify for Championship Weekend–in 2021 and 2023—and lost both in walk-off fashion. In fact, Atlanta has not won a playoff game since 2016 when they beat the Flyers on the road in the first round. But with the fourth toughest schedule in the league this season, the Hustle will be more than battle tested by the time the playoffs roll around.

One Big Home Matchup: May 4 vs New York

Atlanta is the last team to beat the Empire in the regular season in one of the most thrilling games of the past several seasons back in 2021. New York has gotten the better of the Hustle in their last two meetings, but Atlanta is 11-2 at home over the past two seasons.

One Big Stat: Last season Matt Smith compiled the best score-to-turnover ratio in league history, scoring 54 times and committing just one throwaway in 12 starts. 

One Big Play: All due respect to Justin Burnett’s entire 2023 reel, but Smith tossing a no-look Greatest for the assist in an elimination playoff game takes the cake.

Austin Sol

2023 regular season record: 9-3, Finished 2nd in South Division | 2024 schedule

The 2023 Sol were the first wild card team to make Championship Weekend since the 2018 Empire, qualifying for the semifinals by fighting through the hardest playoff path of the final four teams last year. Now Austin has the easiest schedule in the league, and with it an expectation to host the South Division Championship later this season. The Sol finished last season by converting a combined 73 percent of their defensive break chances in their final three games against Carolina, Atlanta, and New York, three of the six most efficient offenses in the league.

One Big Like: Tenacity in the open field

Like an NBA team that wins loose balls, the Sol often carry the edge in hustle play scenarios. Whether it’s out-legging defenders to get to the disc on a huck, or beating receivers to the spot to get a block, Austin has at least two full rotations of players willing to put their whole body on the line to make the play. It’s a fundamental reason why the Sol were able to punch past a very good Hustle team in the playoffs with raw playmaking power. 

Austin completed the fifth most hucks per game while causing the second most huck turnovers by opponents in 2023. And in just three short seasons, the Sol have gone from swaggerish upstarts to possible title contenders as their big-game play has matched their bravado.

One Big Question: How high does Austin’s ceiling go?

The Sol are the kind of team to have the best and worst play in any given matchup, as evidenced by last year’s semifinals performance against the Empire. This is a lineup built around risk takers, and their ability to both earn breaks and make jaw-dropping plays at a high volume only increases their confidence in themselves. Austin has been telling anyone who will listen that they’re the real deal, and they continue to up their win total and postseason progress each season.  

One Big Home Matchup: June 29 vs Atlanta

One of the more unheralded rivalries in the league, the Sol have summarily ended Atlanta’s playoff aspirations in each of the past two seasons. Add to it Austin’s 3-1 record at home in their last four meetings with the Hustle, and this late season showdown in Texas will have a lot of stakes. 

One Big Stat: The Sol defense led the UFA last year in break rate*, D-line conversion rate, opponent turnovers per game, and held opponents to the lowest completion rate (91.4 percent) in the league. 

One Big Play: Kyle Henke’s layout goal to beat the buzzer in the playoffs? Evan Swiatek catching a comet tail? No. It’s Duncan Fitzgerald with the double layout bookends and the call of the season from the Austin broadcast booth.

* Sol set the UFA single-season record in 2023 with a 37.5 percent break rate on defense.

Carolina Flyers

2023 regular season record: 7-5, Finished 3rd in South Division | 2024 schedule

For years the Flyers soared deep into the playoffs not only because of their incredible top end talent, but also because of their rotational depth and execution down to the last man on the active roster. But in 2023 the team registered their lowest regular season win total in franchise history, and didn’t make it out of the first round of the postseason for the first time since 2016, due to an overwhelming abundance of injuries and lineup absences; Carolina’s IR list with Eric Taylor and Alex Davis resembled an All-UFA award ballot. The Flyers are still very much a formidable foe in any given matchup, but their 2021 championship seems further in the rearview mirror than it should be given the rise of their divisional rivals. 

One Big Like: Offensive resilience

Even with what felt like half a dozen different starting O-line configurations last season, the Flyers still finished sixth overall in offensive efficiency, including seven performances with over a 60 percent conversion rate. Sol Yanuck has the fourth most passing yards in the league since the start of the 2021 season, and his proficiency as both a standstill and mobile passer makes the Carolina offense dangerous whenever the disc is in his hands. 2023 All-UFA member Jacob Fairfax and Anders Juengst remain as elite and dynamic a cutting tandem as there is in the league; Fairfax owns the air in virtually every one-on-one scenario, and Juengst remains one of the best weapons inside the red zone as a thrower and receiver. 

The Flyers will be tested by their schedule, however. Carolina has the second toughest 2024 slate, with eight matchups against top six defenses. 

One Big Question: Is Carolina’s championship window closing?

The Flyers were the last team to beat the Empire back in the 2021 title game, having one of the cleanest performances in a Championship Weekend game ever with just seven total turnovers. In 2022, Carolina won 11 regular season games, only to lose to New York by six goals in their rematch in the semifinals. Last year the Flyers watched two longtime rivals in Atlanta and Austin surpass them in the divisional standings. Is this a multi-year downturn, or will Carolina rally back to the top of the South?

One Big Home Matchup: July 6 vs Philadelphia

Philly got their season-defining win at home against the Flyers 20-17 in Week 6 last season, and now Carolina gets their turn to play host. The Phoenix held the Flyers to a season-low 44 percent conversion rate on offense, taking away nearly all of Carolina’s deep attempts; the Flyers were fifth in the UFA last season in huck completion rate (65.6 percent), but completed just 4-of-11 (36 percent) against Philly. 

One Big Stat: The Flyers ranked eighth in turnovers in 2023, averaging just under 17 per game, the highest mark for the franchise since their first season in 2015. Prior to last year, Carolina finished in the league’s top three in five straight seasons.

One Big Play: Fairfax with the goal and one on a double-jump buzzer beater.

Dallas Legion

2023 regular season record: 2-10, Finished 5th in the South Division | 2024 schedule

With just three wins over their past two seasons, Dallas still has a lot of work to do to climb back up the competitive ranks of the South. The Legion finished with the worst team completion percentage in the league last year, but their offense did take an upturn towards the end of the season, and they return a majority of their core for 2024. 

One Big Like: Jason Hustad with a green light to throw

A threat to throw it deep from anywhere on the field, Hustad led the league in huck completions (3.5), throwing yards (488), and throwaways (5.0) per game in 2023. He was the only Dallas player with more than 200 completions last season, so his 60 total throwaways—the highest for a player in a single-season since 2018—is made a little more understandable given his workload. 

When Hustad works into a rhythm, he shows some of the best abilities of other great throwers. His hammer, in terms of pure power and potential, is already top three in the league, and his ability to put velocity and shape on his forehand is a little reminiscent of Bobby Ley

One Big Question: What is Dallas’s team identity?

The Legion are starting to pack their talent on offense, with Hustad and Alec Wilson Holliday capable of generating scores as a pitch-catch combo. Dallas was able to overpower their expansion rivals from in-state Houston, but the strategy still has yet to produce results against the divisional elite. And against non-Houston teams, Dallas surrendered over 26 goals per game.

One Big Home Matchup: May 11 vs Austin

In three short years, Austin has completely reversed what used to be Dallas’ years-long dominance of this rivalry; the Sol are 9-0 against the Legion in just the past two seasons with an average margin of victory of over seven goals per game. But with three Houston matchups in their first five games, Dallas (big longshot here) could have a winning record by mid-June if they somehow catch a flatfooted Sol squad in the Legion home opener. 

One Big Stat: In their last four games of 2023, Dallas averaged seven break scores per game and converted defensive opportunities at a 50 percent clip, both marks that would register in the league’s top 10 for a full season.

One Big Play: Half-field Hustad hammer.

Houston Havoc

2023 regular season record: 2-10, Finished 4th in South Division | 2024 schedule

The Havoc 2023 season was always going to be an impossible task for a late-arriving expansion team, and Houston handled it admirably. Now onto their second campaign, the team has a lot of different areas to develop thanks to Head Coach Bex Forth’s dynamic rotations. It remains to be seen if Houston can pick a game off one of the playoff contenders, or if they will struggle to stave off Dallas. 

One Big Like: Ben Lewis doing it all

Over the last three years with Dallas and Houston, Lewis has averaged over 27 goals, 2164 receiving yards, and 243 points played per season while splitting his time between offense and defense. And with the Havoc in desperate need of a stabilizing hand in the backfield, Lewis led the team in assists with a career-high 21, more than doubling his previous best. 

Lewis has never quite fit the label of a “star”, but he’s an undeniable team leader and great player who can fill into any position the Havoc need. 

One Big Question: Will the Havoc adopt more formal roles in Year Two?

Houston experimented with almost entirely open lines last year, reversing the recent league trend of role specialization in favor of getting the UFA’s most inexperienced lineup reps in a variety of positions. There were moments where the fluidity made sense, and the Havoc showed some brilliant throws in transition, and some coverages that could flummox opponents. But more often than not, there were hesitations and gaps that allowed the opposition to take advantage. With a full season under their belt, can Houston show more consistency with their lack of positions, or is it a flawed strategy?

One Big Home Matchup: May 24 vs Chicago

The first and only interdivisional matchup Houston has this season. The Union will likely be focused on their matchup the following day with the divisional champs in Austin, which could give the Havoc enough of an opportunity for the upset. 

One Big Stat: The Havoc finished the season bottom six in red zone conversion rate, but ended their first regular season as a franchise converting at a 82 percent mark or better in each of their final three games. 

One Big Play: Brendan Adams getting the franchise’s first Callahan score.