2025 UFL Power Rankings: Panthers continue rise after dramatic win
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Week 7 of the 2025 UFL season featured three battles that were decided by only one score.
The DC Defenders avoided the San Antonio Brahmas‘ late comeback bid that would’ve been one of the biggest upsets of the season. The Michigan Panthers and the Arlington Renegades traded touchdowns in the fourth quarter before a one-point conversion by Michigan sealed the win as time expired.
On Sunday, the Birmingham Stallions overcame another blow at quarterback to complete their 19-point comeback and defeat the Houston Roughnecks, while the St. Louis Battlehawks won a defensive tilt against the Memphis Showboats.
[MORE: What is the UFL? Everything to know about the 2025 United Football League]
As the regular season winds down, here’s a look at how I believe the teams stack following Week 7:
Current odds to win 2025 title: N/A
In his second start of the season, QB Kevin Hogan played well enough to keep San Antonio in the game against one of the league’s best teams, but he will rue some unfortunate mistakes he made that helped hand DC the win. When he did throw the ball, he mostly threw it well — finishing 20 of 31 for 230 passing yards with two touchdowns.
Jashaun Corbin enjoyed a monster day, rushing nine times for 109 yards, including a 57-yard rush for a touchdown.
Current odds to win 2025 title: N/A
QB Dressen Winn completed 21 of 35 passes for 196 yards, but threw just one touchdown in a game where the Showboats just couldn’t find ways to score against the Battlehawks’ stout defense. The threat of a run game was all but nonexistent for Memphis, as tailbacks Deneric Prince and Wes Hills combined for just 62 yards on 24 rushes.
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With three weeks left in the season, the Showboats will be playing for pride from Week 8 forward.
Current odds to win 2025 title: +2800
The Roughnecks might not forget this loss for a long time. They held a 25-12 halftime lead, knocked out the Stallions’ starting quarterback and still managed to lose by eight to a team that has played five signal-callers so far this season.
It seems the juice Jalan McClendon can provide for CJ Johnson’s Roughnecks met its match in Birmingham, as the Roughnecks were held scoreless and ruthlessly in check in the second half of the defining game of Week 7. At 3-3, Houston can still find a way into the postseason, but it’ll have to be nearly flawless for the next three weeks.
Current odds to win 2025 title: +1600
Despite recording just the second 300-yard passing performance by any UFL player this season and the most yards thrown for in a game (314 with two touchdowns), QB Luis Perez and the Renegades saw what looked like a victory vanish as the clock struck zero. Perez hit 25 of 34 passes, and wideout Tyler Vaughns recorded nine catches for 127 yards with a touchdown.
The Renegades are the best of the rest in the UFL, but they’re two games back of a playoff spot with three weeks left.
Current odds to win 2025 title: +260
Five different quarterbacks have played for Skip Holtz so far this season, and one of professional football’s best quarterback whisperers made magic again. After Case Cookus was knocked out of the game, Holtz turned to veteran J’Mar Smith, who had retired from pro football earlier this year, to lead his team.
Holtz and Smith relied on a relationship that developed over 10 years ago, beginning at Louisiana Tech, to engineer the most dramatic comeback win of the season. In the final five minutes of the game, Smith completed three of five passes for 72 yards and a touchdown to cement a victory that made the difference for Birmingham, which earned its fourth consecutive postseason bid in as many years across two leagues.
Current odds to win 2025 title: +250
It was a workmanlike win for Anthony Becht’s Battlehawks, who relied on a sound defense and decent quarterback play to propel St. Louis past Memphis. QB Max Duggan was responsible for 215 of the Battlehawks’ 257 total yards and both touchdowns.
The win, alongside the Renegades’ loss in Week 7, gines St. Louis a two-game lead for second place in the XFL Conference with just three weeks left in the regular season.
Current odds to win 2025 title: +450
QB Jordan Ta’amu continued to strengthen his case as the UFL’s best player. He completed 19 of 24 passes for 278 yards, three touchdowns and a gaudy passer rating of 217.7. DC looks every bit like the best team in the XFL Conference when Ta’amu is playing his best, and its interior defensive line is creating havoc like it did in San Antonio.
Though interim head coach Shannon Harris won’t be happy about giving up 150 rushing yards on just 24 rushes, he’d likely allow that to be tied for first place in the conference with a team you’ve already beaten on the road (St. Louis).
Current odds to win 2025 title: +230
Michigan put up 331 yards in the win, and QB Bryce Perkins was responsible for 291 of them. He completed 15 of 28 passes for 231 yards and ran the ball eight times for 60 yards in a game that could be a preview of the UFL title game.
The Panthers’ defense gave up the most passing yards in a game by any team all year but managed 10 tackles for loss, including three sacks. The defense wasn’t stellar, but it was enough to help put Michigan in position to win the game on the final play with the clock striking zero.
RJ Young is a national college football writer and analyst for FOX Sports. Follow him at @RJ_Young.
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