January 13, 2026
By Evan Lepler

I’m old enough to remember baseball before interleague play. 

For anyone under 35, they probably have zero recollection of this divided system, as baseball now features interleague matchups all season long. But prior to 1997, teams in the American League and the National League never met in the regular season. For nearly a century, these cross-league connections happened just once each year, as the dramatic capper to the whole season in the World Series. 

Obviously, only two teams each year got to experience this exhilarating conclusion, leaving everyone else to wonder what it would be like facing teams they had never battled before. Furthermore, there were different styles of play in each league, which created an air of mystery about how certain teams would fare if they ever crossed paths.

Thankfully, it did not take 100 years to create some consistent interconnectivity within the UFA. 

In the realm of pro frisbee, interdivisional competition has been in the mix since 2017, when the inaugural “Cross Coast Challenge” delivered four premier matchups between teams that had never played before. Nine years later, we’re salivating over a 24-game interdivisional schedule that beckons this spring and summer. Last week, the Toss revealed many of the most exciting matchups that will highlight the 2026 UFA schedule. 

But even though interdivisional drama has been a staple of the UFA schedule throughout most of the past decade, there are still so many pairings we’ve never witnessed. Thankfully, the upcoming frisbee season will offer a handful of unprecedented matchups, unlocking exciting opportunities for fans to see their teams tangle with new opponents. 

Here are five never-before-seen showdowns that are lined up for 2026.

Minnesota at Oakland

The Wind Chill are clearly not afraid to put themselves out there. 

As last week’s Toss revealed, Minnesota will host Boston and Salt Lake in the Twin Cities, but that’s actually only half of the Wind Chill’s 2026 interdivisional slate. They’re also headed to Oakland and Vegas—dates still to be determined—and the showdown with the Spiders immediately rockets up the list of most-anticipated matchups across the entire 132-game regular season schedule.

While offseason roster construction remains a work in progress for every team in the league, it feels inevitable that the Oakland Spiders are going to be a very trendy pick for preseason prognosticators. The Spiders have not advanced to Championship Weekend since the franchise’s last title in 2015, but they definitely have the look of a team on the rise after they continued their ascent in the West Division standings last summer. With a three-goal lead through three quarters in last August’s West Division title game, they were just 12 minutes away from advancing to the semis a season ago. A frustrating fourth quarter proved costly, but it also lit a fire for the Spiders’ franchise heading into 2026.

Meanwhile, Minnesota currently resides as the only team in the league that’s qualified for Championship Weekend each of the past three seasons. Team leaders genuinely believe that part of their success stems from a willingness to accept and embrace many of these marquee interdivisional matchups during the regular season. 

“Playing against new teams, new schemes, and the top talent in the league allows us to stress test our systems and often times develop new strategies to help us become more dangerous when it matters most,” said Wind Chill Coach Ben Feldman. “Our players and our fans invest a ton into our program, and we feel it’s our responsibility to reward them with the most engaging schedule possible.”

There’s also the reality that these difficult interdivisional battles could adversely impact a team’s seeding in the playoffs, potentially taking away a home game or preventing them from qualifying for the postseason entirely. But, according to Feldman, that’s part of the calculus in the pursuit of winning the ultimate prize. 

“Hosting a division championship game is certainly special, but what is more special is winning a championship,” he said. “If our strength of schedule impacts playoff seedings, so be it. We feel this is the necessary path to prepare ourselves to win another title. Our playoff fate and seedings will still be largely determined and controlled by our performance in our eight divisional games.” 

Because of this mindset, frisbee fans around the world will get to watch players like Justin Burnett and Noah Hanson trying to slow down relentless cutters like Walker Frankenberg and Leo Gordon. And the Spiders will experience Minnesota’s exceptional pulls and pressure that could help better prepare them for even bigger games down the road. 

Truly, the Wind Chill and Spiders will enter the season with bona fide championship ambitions, with a mixture of depth, high-level talent, and tactical expertise that makes this a potential playoff preview. Oakland knocked off New York at home to open the 2025 campaign, and Bay Area fans are mighty fortunate that another premier contender will be coming to town in 2026.

Colorado at DC

These might be the two most hyped franchises that have never actually made it all the way to the UFA title game. In this decade especially, Colorado and DC have regularly been featured as top contenders, yet both teams are still trying to put all the pieces together so they fit perfectly. 

One interesting subplot is that both these teams will have new coaches in 2026. The newly-rebranded Apex are bringing in Joe Durst to lead the way, while the Breeze have not yet announced a replacement for Lauren Boyle, who helped lead DC to its only Championship Weekend appearance in 2024. 

But both these teams have elite talent and excellent pipelines to develop young studs into future stars. Presently, Colorado and DC are viewed as secondary contenders behind the other top teams in their divisions; but it also would not be stunning at all to see these teams meet again at Championship Weekend. Their ceilings remain high, and regular season challenges like this are exactly what they need to help reach the upper bounds of their considerable potential.

Salt Lake at Madison

The Shred got to experience Breese Stevens Field for the first time at Championship Weekend this past August, but the atmosphere will certainly be different when Salt Lake travels to compete against the hometown Radicals in 2026. And Madison will eagerly embrace this regular season challenge as a means to prove that the Radicals can rise into the realm of elite contenders as well. Without a doubt, this is another blockbuster on the schedule, with two of the top coaching staffs in the league matching wits and trying to outfox each other.

Quick side-thought: Are the Shred progressing on the same trajectory we saw from the Radicals a decade ago? 

Consider that the Radicals went 76-10 in their first six regular seasons, a winning percentage of .884. Madison made Championship Weekend every one of those years, but it wasn’t until 2018, the team’s sixth season in the league, that the stars aligned and the Radicals took the title. Meanwhile, the Shred are currently 42-6 in their first four regular seasons, a winning percentage of .875. In this span, Salt Lake’s advanced to a pair of final fours, and of course is still seeking its first championship. 

There’s absolutely a parallel here, and perhaps the Shred are on the verge of reaching the mountain’s peak in 2026 or 2027. But the league is also a different place now compared to a decade ago, with more potential pitfalls on the road to glory.

Nevertheless, it will be a fascinating storyline to follow, and seeing the Shred finally face off against the Radicals creates a wonderful context to further explore both teams’ tantalizing trajectories.

Toronto at Seattle

While neither the Rush nor the Cascades qualified for the playoffs in 2025, this matchup is still all sorts of fun. After all, Seattle’s surprise semifinal appearance 17 months ago captivated fans from coast to coast, and Toronto’s international reboot last season rippled across continents throughout the ultimate frisbee world. 

These are two proud franchises, both of which have competed in championship games in the past decade. The Rush won a title in their inaugural season, while the Cascades are still striving to reach their own coveted crown. 

And for the first time, their respective roads will cross paths in 2026, as Toronto travels to the Pacific Northwest to tangle with both Seattle and Oregon. For the Rush to rise up into the East Division playoff picture, these feel like must-wins. Of course, the same exact thing could be said regarding the ‘Scades and Steel out West, which is part of what makes all of these interdivisional collisions so enjoyable and consequential. 

Indianapolis at Toronto

It’s hard to believe that the AlleyCats and Rush have never squared off, but these two venerable franchises have endured a combined 25 UFA seasons without seeing one another in person. Indeed, it’s well past time for Indianapolis and Toronto to duel in a battle between aspiring contenders. 

There’s no doubt that Indy’s active offseason mirrors a bit of what the Rush tried to accomplish last year, committing more resources and energy to bringing aboard exciting out-of-town talent. Time will tell whether the AlleyCats can find more success than Toronto, who still finished in last place in its division despite all of the noteworthy acquisitions.

Heading into 2026, both of these teams—who went a combined 7-17 last season—have visions of making strides and rising up the competitive ladder. To reach their goals, claiming victory in games like this will be absolutely essential, adding another intriguing layer to this already compelling pairing.