The United Football League (UFL), a league combining the spring leagues of the USFL and XFL, is wrapping up its inaugural season.
The playoff format for the USFL and XFL changed over the last few seasons, so let’s dissect how the new league will determine its champion.
UFL Playoff Format for the 2024 Season
Before we get into how the playoff format will look in 2024, we first need to understand the divisional structure of each particular conference.
The UFL will have eight teams in its first season — four from the XFL and four from the USFL, with the Houston franchise a combination of both league’s Houston teams. There’s a USFL conference and XFL conference, with games scheduled over 10 weeks.
Each team will play six conference games and four out-of-conference games, thus everyone will play each other at least once during the season.
The top two seeds in each conference will make the playoffs. This generated a bit of controversy, as the final XFL season saw the 7-3 St. Louis Battlehawks miss the playoffs entirely since they finished third in their division while the 4-6 Arlington Renegades went on a run to win the championship.
Nevertheless, two teams from the USFL conference and two from the XFL conference will compete for the conference championship, with the UFL Championship wrapping up the season on June 16. In the first-ever UFL Championship, the San Antonio Brahmas will face off against the Birmingham Stallions.
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The UFL Championship is held one week after the playoff games. Fox has the broadcast rights for both the UFL Championship and one of the conference playoff games. ABC will broadcast the other conference playoff game.