Toray MLP Playoffs: San Diego

The moment we've all been waiting for has finally arrived – it's playoff time for Major League Pickleball's top 10 finishing Premier teams, as well as all 6 Challenger teams. This is the pinnacle of the season, where the best of the best face off in a thrilling competition to determine the ultimate champions. However, we understand that the playoff rules and format can be a bit perplexing, so we’re here to break it down.

• San Diego includes Round 1 + semi-finals, with finals taking place in New York City next weekend.

• All 10 Premier teams who qualified will play this weekend, but the top 6 teams have a bye in the first round.

• Seeds 7-10 play Round 1 today; higher seeds (7 & 8) got to choose their opponent. #7 Ranchers chose Miami, and #8 Squeeze chose Utah Black Diamonds (so, really, only Ranchers “chose” - Squeeze just got who’s left)

• These 4 teams will play one match (4th game not played, if not required) and the advancing teams will be re-seeded as the new #7 and #8.

• In Round 2 (semi-finals), again the higher seeds will choose their opponent (therefore all matchups are TBD) until all matchups are set. These pairings will face off in a best-of-three matches series. Winners advance to finals in NYC.

• The top 4 seeds making these opponent selections are (1) St. Louis Shock, (2) Dallas Flash, (3) New Jersey 5s, (4) Brooklyn PBT.

Preview - Premier

A lot has changed for several teams over the past few weeks, especially with the whirlwind of trades that happened at the end of July. So, let's take a look at how the playoff teams are shaping up right now, listed in their current rank order.

St. Louis Shock - one of the few teams to have made no changes to their core lineup all season, and ranked #1, they’re clearly the team to beat.

Dallas Flash - The Flash, last year's champions, have been the team to beat this season, showing their strength by going undefeated until the MLP St. Louis event midway through the season. They've stuck with their core lineup, and when they're in the zone, they're truly a force to be reckoned with!

New Jersey 5s - they may just be the team who’s fought the hardest to make it to the top. They’ve made some bold lineup changes (namely, benching captain Zane in favor of hot-and-cold Noe Khlif), and had some pretty visible sideline meltdowns as emotions ran hot. They’ve certainly got an axe to grind after losing last year, and a team with Anna Leigh expects to come out as #1.

Brooklyn Pickleball Team - Dekel Bar is finally returning after being sidelined with an illness and rib injury for the last several weeks. They are the final team to select their opponent, and with #1 and #2 likely selecting #7 and #8 (winners of Round 1), Brooklyn is likely to play the Sliders or Mad Drops.

Columbus Sliders - it’s a joke that CJ & Andrei aren’t getting along (IYKYK), but we can’t say the vibes are great on the Sliders right now. But all we can say is, it’s going to be an interesting matchup to watch. They’ll likely take on Brooklyn or the 5s.

LA Mad Drops - after grabbing Ben in the last trade, the Mad Drops suddenly looked unstoppable. It’s too bad they couldn’t have had this lineup all year, because they could’ve been in the top 3-4 teams. Whomever chooses them (5s or Brooklyn, most likely) as an opponent needs to be prepared - in Dallas their only losses were to St. Louis and New Jersey.

Texas Ranchers - Christian Alshon is making a comeback after taking a break during the Salt Lake City event. Hopefully, he’s feeling rejuvenated and eager to hit the court again. If they manage to win against the Miami PBC (they did beat them at the Mid-Season Tournament), they will face off against either St. Louis or Dallas next. The Ranchers haven't won against those teams this season, but who knows? They might just pull off a surprise!

Orlando Squeeze - Dylan suffered a hip injury in Bristol and is not fully recovered yet, so Grayson Goldin is set to be the starter today. On the women’s side, during the trade, they swapped Sam Parker for Milan Rane. Lacy hasn’t been playing her best this season, so they’ll really need to step up on the men’s side.

Utah Black Diamonds - Tyler’s Black Diamonds are ready to face a somewhat broken Orlando team. With the recent addition of Etta Tuionetoa to play mixed alongside Tyler, we’re looking for a strong outcome. Allyce & Etta should be able to handle Lacy & Milan, and Tyler & CG will need to start strong against Fed & Grayson. We’re predicting a sweep (not biased at all)

Miami Pickleball Club - A lot of shakeups in their lineup: they lost Noe to the 5s, and Yuta has been playing as starter in his place. On the ladies side, they lost Milan Rane and have Tammy Emmrich in her place. Miami will need to be on their A game to topple the Ranchers.

Preview - Challenger

Similar to Premier, the lower seeds (3-6) will play each other today in single-elimination matches to make it to semis. Top seeds will get to select their opponents, and the winners of Round 1 advance to semis, and get re-seeded as #3 and #4. A lot more is on the line here, as only ONE team will be promoted to Premier in 2026.

In Round 1, Jimmy’s #3 California Black Bears will play #6 Florida Smash and #4 D.C. Pickleball Team will play #5 Bay Area Breakers.

Premier Bracket

Challenger

Tune in starting @ 10 a.m. PT (1 p.m. ET) on Grandstand for.

At 11 a.m. PT (2 p.m. ET), CC starts with Round 1 with Tyler’s UBD taking on the Squeeze. Immediately following on CC is Jimmy’s Black Bears vs. Florida Smash.

Secure your tickets at the link below, using code KOTC for a discount!

Episode 157:

Tyler & Jimmy recap PPA Bristol, MLP Playoffs, and yes — juicy gossip!