USFL 2023 playoff semifinals matchups, how to watch, preview: Breakers-Stallions rematch, Maulers surprise

The USFL’s 10-week regular season is nearly in the books, and three of the four playoff teams have been decided. With only one game remaining there’s still a postseason spot up for grabs, with the winner of Sunday night’s Philadelphia Stars vs. Michigan Panthers game (7 p.m. ET on Fox) getting in.

Here’s what we know about the postseason through 39 of the league’s 40 regular-season contests:

— At least one team that didn’t make the playoffs last year is in, as the Pittsburgh Maulers clinched a semifinal berth by beating the New Jersey Generals on Saturday, 26-6. Fittingly for a team from Pittsburgh, the Maulers have allowed the fewest points in the league. However, they finished with just a 4-6 record, and needed victories in the final two weeks to reach four wins.

— The defending champion Birmingham Stallions are favored to repeat. The Stallions, who beat the Memphis Showboats 27-20 on Saturday, have the league’s best record at 8-2. In two seasons of the rebooted USFL, the Stallions have gone 19-3.

— The New Orleans Breakers are the No. 2 seed in the South Division and will face the Stallions in the semifinals, a rematch of last year’s South semifinal. The Breakers clinched a playoff spot by beating the Houston Gamblers on Sunday, 17-10. At 7-3, New Orleans won one more game than it did last season and has the second-best record in the USFL. The Breakers did beat the Stallions in Week 3.

Below we’ll break down everything to know about the 2023 USFL playoffs, which will begin with the semifinals next Saturday and Sunday. Here’s how to watch:

North Division semifinal

Teams: Pittsburgh Maulers (4-6) vs. winner of Philadelphia Stars vs. Michigan Panthers
Location: Canton, Ohio
Date, time: Saturday, June 24 at 8 p.m. ET
TV: NBC

South Division semifinal

Teams: Birmingham Stallions (8-2) vs. New Orleans Breakers (7-3) 
Location: Birmingham, Alabama
Date, time: Sunday, June 25 at 7 p.m. ET
TV: Fox

Stallions vs. Breakers: USFL’s top teams set for playoff rematch

The bad news for the Breakers is that their reward for finishing with the league’s second-best record is that they’ll face the team with the best record in the postseason. In fact, Birmingham beat New Orleans three times last year including the semifinal, and once this season. The South Division semi will also be held in Birmingham.

But the Breakers do have reason to believe they can pull off an upset. For one thing, they scorched the Stallions defense in Week 3 in a 45-32 victory. The teams’ other meeting, in Week 7, saw Birmingham win 24-20.

The Stallions have a high-powered offense. They’ve scored the most points in the league by far, led by quarterback Alex McGough (league-leading 20 TD passes, second-most passing yards at 2,104). Jace Sternberger leads the USFL in receiving TDs (7) despite playing tight end. 

The Breakers, meanwhile, have allowed the second-fewest points in the USFL, while scoring the second-most behind Birmingham. New Orleans quarterback McLeod Bethel-Thompson is the only QB to have thrown for more yards (2,433) than McGough, while running back Wes Hills is the league’s rushing yards leader (679).

The Stallions beat the Breakers 31-17 in last year’s semifinal, grabbing the lead before halftime on a 90-yard kick return TD (the league’s first). Expect this year’s semi to be closer, as this game is set up to be the best one of the season.

Maulers, a surprise playoff team, await either Stars, Panthers

Pittsburgh was 2-6 through eight weeks, but somehow here we are. To the Maulers’ credit, they finished with a bang, holding their last two opponents to a combined 13 points to finish 4-6.

They’ll face either the Stars (4-5 through nine games) or Panthers (3-6). Those teams would finish tied at 4-6 if Michigan wins Sunday night, but the Panthers hold the tiebreaker after beating the Stars 24-10 in Week 2.

No matter which team it is, the North Division semifinal will be a battle of two teams who don’t have winning records, and likely who’ve allowed more points this season than they’ve scored.

The Maulers are likely hoping the Panthers get in, as they beat them twice season (23-7 in Week 5, and 19-7 in Week 9), accounting for half Pittsburgh’s wins.