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There was no joy in Mudville for any of the home teams on the final week of the regular season in the United Football League.
On Friday night, St. Louis (8-2) was a 13-8 winner at DC in front of 12,264 at Audi Field in the nation's capitol. It was a second straight loss for the Defenders (6-4) since wrapping up a playoff spot and they fell to 2-3 in the second half of the season after winning four of their first five. Meanwhile, the Battlehawks have reeled off six straight wins after starting 2-2.
The same two teams will meet again in St. Louis on Sunday for the XFL Conference Championship at 6 P.M. on FOX.
That game will follow the USFL Conference Championship clash in Birmingham with Michigan.
The Panthers were 19-12 losers at home to Houston on Saturday as the Roughriders improved to 5-5 on the year while Michigan dropped to 6-4. Just like the Defenders, the Panthers enter the conference title clash on a 2-game losing streak while the Stallions (7-3) have won two in-a-row and four of their last five, including a 46-9 romp at Memphis on Sunday.
Meanwhile, Birmingham strolled to a 46-9 win at lowly Memphis (2-8).
As of Monday afternoon, the UFL odds at FanDuel had Birmingham by 1.5 and St. Louis by 3.5. Birmingham and Michigan have a history and the Stallions are 5-0 in head-to-head matchups in the UFL. Birmingham also won the lone matchups in the 2022 and 2023 USF seasons before that league merged with the XFL to form the UFL in 2024.
The weekend's other Saturday game saw Arlington pocket a 23-6 win at San Antonio as the Renegades finished 5-5 and the Brahmas closed at a dismal 1-9.
The UFL's most valuable player, QB Jordan Ta'amu of the DC Defenders, was rested for the upcoming conference championship game and Mike DiLiello (Austin Peay) took his place. Thunderstorms caused a delay and slippery conditions throughout the contest. Brandon Silvers (Troy) got the nod to start at QB to rest Max Duggan for St. Louis.
Michigan was not without chances to rally and win, including a pair of possessions in the final minutes. The Panthers first turned the ball over on downs on a 4th-and-6 incomplete pass from the Houston 40 to give the Roughriders a chance to run out the clock, but Houston went 3-and-out and punted to give Michigan the ball with 1:39 to play at its own 23-yard line. From there, QB Danny Etling was picked off on the very next play when he overthrew a long pass into double coverage down the right sideline.
Bob Stoops and the Renegades picked up the win and dropped the Brahmas to 1-9 in the UFL's version of the I-35 rivalry. Arlington began the season at 3-1, but then slumped to 4 straight losses and tumbled out of contention for the XFL Championship. But the Renegades closed with a pair of victories on the road against the leagues' two worst teams, Memphis (2-8) and San Antonio (1-9).
LB Tae Crowder (UGA) returned two interception for scores, becoming the first UFL player to accomplish that feat. The first one came with three minutes to go in the first quarter and covered 51 yards to become the Stallions' first defensive touchdown of the season. It stretched the Birmingham lead to 13-3. The second one covered 75 yards and came shortly after the 4th quarter began to put the Stallions on top 39-9.
The goal of every team in the UFL was to dethrone the 3-time Spring football champion Stallions who added last season's inaugural UFL Championship to their two prior titles in the USFL which merged with the XFL after the 2023 season. They did lose three games, but Skip Holtz managed to right the ship and improve to 39-7 as head coach in spring football football with the Stallions, despite dealing with numerous injuries - especially at quarterback.
Legend:
SoS=Strength of Schedule
SoV=Strength of Victory
c=Clinched Conference
p=clinched playoff
e=Eliminated
| XFL Conference | W | L | PCT | PF | PA | Home | Road | Conf | ConfPct. | Streak | SoS | SoV |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| c-St. Louis Battlehawks | 8 | 2 | .800 | 231 | 163 | 4-1 | 4-1 | 4-2 | .667 | Won 6 | .440 | .413 |
| p-DC Defenders | 6 | 4 | .600 | 225 | 224 | 3-2 | 3-2 | 4-2 | .667 | Lost 2 | .480 | .467 |
| Arlington Renegades | 5 | 5 | .500 | 229 | 168 | 3-2 | 2-3 | 3-3 | .500 | Won 2 | .500 | .340 |
| San Antonio Brahmas | 1 | 9 | .100 | 136 | 274 | 0-5 | 1-4 | 1-5 | .167 | Lost 6 | .580 | .600 |
| USFL Conference | W | L | PCT | PF | PA | Home | Road | Conf | ConfPct. | Streak | SoS | SoV |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| c-Birmingham Stallions | 7 | 3 | .700 | 244 | 167 | 4-1 | 3-2 | 5-1 | .833 | Won 2 | .460 | .429 |
| p-Michigan Panthers | 6 | 4 | .600 | 245 | 198 | 3-2 | 3-2 | 3-3 | .500 | Lost 2 | .480 | .350 |
| Houston Roughnecks | 5 | 5 | .500 | 183 | 201 | 2-3 | 3-2 | 3-3 | .500 | Won 2 | .500 | .340 |
| Memphis Showboats | 2 | 8 | .200 | 148 | 246 | 0-5 | 2-3 | 1-5 | .167 | Lost 2 | .560 | .400 |
Home team BOLD, Attendance, venue and location in parenthesis.
Friday, May 30
St. Louis 13, DC 8 (12,624 at Audi Field in Washington, DC)
Saturday, May 31
Houston 19, Michigan 12 (16,014 at Ford Field in Detroit)
Arlington 23, San Antonio 6 (10,863 at the Alamodome in San Antonio)
Sunday, June 1
Birmingham 46, Memphis 9 (4,573 at Liberty Stadium in Houston)
USFL - Sunday, June 8 - Michigan at Birmingham | 3:00 PM | ABC
XFL - Sunday, June 8 - DC at St. Louis | 6:00 PM | FOX
Arlington - Bob Stoops (16-21)
Birmingham - Skip Holtz (39-7)
DC - Shannon Harris, interim (6-4)
Houston - Curtis Johnson (11-19)
Memphis - Jim Turner (2-8)
Michigan - Mike Nolan (17-15)
St. Louis - Anthony Becht (22-9)
San Antonio - Payton Pardee (1-7)