February 20, 2026
By Ryan Baker
As the newly released 2026 regular season schedule circulated throughout the league, I collected several reactions from coaches and players across the UFA. The two biggest takeaways were to take the strength of schedule with a grain of salt and that interdivisional matchups are often circled on calendars.
Strength Of Schedule Reactions
The Central Division hosts three of the four hardest schedules in the league. The Indianapolis AlleyCats are atop that list, then the Minnesota Wind Chill are right behind them at number two. The Madison Radicals round out the top four, and Madison’s Head Coach Jacob Spiro thinks the road ahead for his team is a bit harder than the rankings show.
“It’s actually tougher than it looks, because it doesn’t take into account roster change,” said Spiro. “I’m not sure there’s a team with more change than Indy, who we play four times, but we welcome the challenge. The only way to improve is to test yourself against top opponents.”
“Our schedule was intentionally designed to be difficult, so I guess I don't have much of a reaction, honestly,” said Minnesota Wind Chill’s Head Coach Ben Feldman. “Our group is excited for a challenging slate of games and knows it will better prepare us for the postseason.”
“I was a little surprised, but I know that we’re all excited for the challenge,” said Madison Radicals defender Kainoa Chun-Moy. “I’d argue it’s even harder with Indy’s reload and how their record will more than likely be the inverse or a better record than last year. I’m excited to build with this group and grow as a team. We will be challenged every week, and that is amazingly exciting!”
While the overall strength of schedule may be something to keep an eye on, an arguably bigger impact is how the schedule is constructed. For example, the New York Empire play four playoff teams from 2025 in their first six games, and only two in the back half of the season.
“I think what has a bigger effect on team mindset is that our first half of the season appears likely to have stronger opponents than the second half,” said New York Empire’s 2025 leading scorer John Randolph. “The good: get to stress test and make adjustments with real feedback early on. The bad: less momentum going into the postseason. But at the end of the day, I'm not too concerned about the schedule.”
In other opinions across the league, the strength of schedule is irrelevant. Coming from two of the powerhouses in the UFA, the Salt Lake Shred, who have an overall record of 42-6 since their inception in 2022, and defending champions Boston Glory, don’t put much value on it.
“I'll take the strength of schedule with several grains of salt,” remarked Salt Lake’s Head Coach Bryce Merrill. “The West is solid, top to bottom. No easy outs. We also have a stretch of four games in four states across two different time zones in just seven days. If that stretch of games, concluding with our game against Minnesota at Sea Foam, doesn't stress test a team's fitness, preparation, and emotional resiliency, I don't know what would.”
“I think that’s a stat that does not matter when you play in the East,” said the 2025 MVP and Boston Glory’s Tobe Decraene. “We play New York twice and DC twice. There will be no easy schedule in the East this year.”
Another perspective provided by players is that they have no control over the schedule, so there is no need to waste energy worrying about who their opponents are.
“I try not to dwell on uncontrollable factors too much, and strength of schedule is one of those,” said Austin Sol’s offensive cornerstone Kyle Henke. “I trust our leadership will consider how we might play a 'game within the game' just to keep things spicy.”
“It is what it is. All we can do is play the teams on the schedule,” said San Diego Growlers’ veteran Travis Dunn. “I get that some people may look at that a certain way, but as long as we’re doing our part to take care of business, then I don’t think we should be worried about what other people think.”
The final stance on the potentially difficult schedules is pure excitement for tough matchups and great games.
“In the UFA, every road trip is difficult, no matter who you are playing,” said Colorado Apex’s 2025 goal leader, Seth Faris. “Personally, I’m really excited to go play in New York. I don’t want it easy. The only way to become great is to play great teams, and we definitely have that in front of us.”
“We’re excited for our schedule. We have lots of quality opponents to continuously benchmark our team’s growth,” said Chicago Union’s Head Coach Charlie Furse. “Playing New York, in particular, will be fun. It being later in the season, we’ll have the chance to study film and generally prepare as we would for division opponents.”
“My initial reaction was, wow, this is going to be a fantastic challenge,” said New York Empire Head Coach Anthony Nunez. “We’ve got games against the defending champs in Boston, an always tough DC squad, a scrappy Philly team, a top-tier Chicago group, and an exciting Apex team. The East is going to be a powerhouse again, and I wouldn’t have it any other way. If you want to compete at the highest level, you’ve got to go through the best.”
Interdivisional Matchup Reactions
As mentioned by Evan Lepler, for the first time in UFA history, every team has at least one interdivisional game on its docket, and there will be 24 of them overall throughout the 2026 season. Some of the interdivisional games will be the first time each program goes head-to-head in their respective histories, such as Salt Lake and Madison, Minnesota and Las Vegas, and DC and Colorado.
“Salt Lake always brings top-level intensity to every matchup, so this game is sure to be a challenge,” said Madison’s Spiro. “It’s always fun to face out-of-division teams. The film is sometimes deceptive because we are not as familiar with all of the teams on the other side; how good are they defensively, for example, whereas we have much more context for in-division opponents' film.”
“So stoked for the west coast trip,” said Minnesota veteran Josh Klane. “It’s going to be surreal to travel to Vegas for a professional ultimate frisbee game. I never would’ve thought growing up playing frisbee that this would eventually be an option!”
“I am looking forward to playing the DC Breeze,” said Colorado’s Faris. “They are a team with a strong history, and I have been playing against a lot of those guys in the club scene for years now. I think we match up well with them, and I am excited to see what unfolds on the big field.”
Other interdivisional games will give us storied rematches such as the championship rematches between Boston and Minnesota (2025) and New York and Chicago (2022).
“It’s sick we’ll have a chance to show once again we are the better team and we deserve to have that trophy,” said Boston’s Decraene.
“I’m always excited about playing out-of-division teams,” said New York’s Nunez. “Pittsburgh, Colorado, and Chicago are great tests and give us a chance to see where we stack up against different styles of play.”
Other highlight interdivisional games include Salt Lake and Minnesota, a rematch from the 2023 semifinals, and DC versus Atlanta, who haven’t played each other since 2021.
“I’m most excited to get rematches against Salt Lake and Boston, more importantly,” said Minnesota’s Klane. “High-level championship competition is the most important aspect of these games, but I would love nothing more than to get some revenge.”
“These interdivisional games always provide a great experience for the players and fans,” said Salt Lake’s Merrill. “Any chance you can get to play a championship caliber team like Minnesota, you take it. And Madison continues to set the bar for what defenses can accomplish on the UFA field. I think it’s a great chance for our players to get out of their comfort zone and see how we adapt to different play styles.”
“I’m really looking forward to the DC game,” said Atlanta Hustle’s all-time assist leader Austin Taylor. “They're always one of the strongest teams in the league. I have fond memories of our games against them in the year of the Atlantic Division. Being the last game of the regular season, it could make for a great momentum builder for heading into the playoffs.”
In a lighter minded thought, players are simply excited to be able to travel for these games. Road trips enhance camaraderie and team chemistry while providing lasting memories for the teams involved.
“Definitely excited to see Austin as well as a few other out-of-division games,” said Seattle Cascades’ 2025 leading goal scorer Garrett Martin. “I was able to do the Texas double header my rookie year when Dallas and Austin were in the West division, and that was a really cool trip, so excited to do that again.”
“I’m personally excited for our West Coast trip! I think being able to play against San Diego and Vegas will be fun, especially to start off the season,” said Carolina Flyers Head Coach Mike Avila.
Finally, players will have to adjust to different competition after moving teams in the offseason. One of those is 2025 Second Team All-Defensive player Nate Little, who is now a part of the revamped Alleycats. Little is coming from the East, after five years with Philadelphia to the Central and will have to adapt to the different play style.
“No doubt it’s going to be competitive, maybe it’s more intense or maybe it’s less intense compared to the East with a new system against different players,” said Little. “Regardless, it should be thrilling and dominating.”
Overall, it is going to be a hectic season for the UFA, maybe the most hectic we have ever seen. Despite all of the new matchups and foreshadowing that is happening, the comment on the schedule release from New York’s Randolph sums up every fan, player, and coach’s main thought: “Seeing the schedule always gets me pumped for the year.”
