Preview: MLP Miami

Playoff decisions will be made this weekend

Bright and early Thursday morning, Miami Fairgrounds will light up with energy of the final regular-season event. Both Premier and Challenger teams will have a final push to the playoffs - some teams have a chance to move up and make the top-6 cutoff, others’ fate is already set. For those already out of contention, they have an opportunity to sway outcomes … or they’ll just be here for a good time.

These are the teams competing in their final matches at MLP Miami:

Premier Level Teams
AZ Drive, Carolina Pickleball Club, DC Pickleball Team, LA Mad Drops, NJ 5s, NY Hustlers, Orlando Squeeze 

Challenger Level Teams
Atlanta Bouncers, Brooklyn Aces, Chicago Slice, Florida Smash, Frisco Pandas, Miami Pickleball Club 

Standings & Playoff Potential

Current Standings - Premier

• New Jersey 5s (3rd)

  • 40 points

  • 5 matches left to play

  • Max season-ending points: 55

  • Projection with points/match average: 51

  • Remaining opponents: Mad Drops, Drive, Hustlers, DC, Squeeze

• DC Pickleball Team (5th)

  • 30 points

  • 6 matches left to play

  • Max season-ending points: 48

  • Projection with points/match average: 41

  • Remaining opponents: Carolina, Hustlers, Squeeze, Mad Drops, 5s, Drive

• NY Hustlers (6th)

  • 30 points

  • 5 matches left to play

  • Max season-ending points: 45

  • Projection with points/match average: 38

  • Remaining opponents: DC, Squeeze, 5s, Drive, Mad Drops

• AZ Drive (7th)

  • 24 points

  • 5 matches left to play

  • Max season-ending points: 39

  • Projection with points/match average: 31

  • Remaining opponents: 5s, Mad Drops, Squeeze, Hustlers, DC

• Carolina PB Club (8th)

  • 23 points

  • 3 matches left to play

  • Max season-ending points: 32

  • Projection with points/match average: 26

  • Remaining opponents: 5s, Mad Drops, Squeeze, Hustlers, DC

• Orlando Squeeze (9th)

  • 22 points

  • 6 matches left to play

  • Max season-ending points: 40

  • Projection with points/match average: 31

  • Remaining opponents: Carolina, Hustlers, DC, Drive, Mad Drops

• AZ Drive (7th)

  • 24 points

  • 5 matches left to play

  • Max season-ending points: 39

  • Projection with points/match average: 31

  • Remaining opponents: 5s, Mad Drops, Squeeze, Hustlers, DC

While the Hustlers and DC may give the 5s a run for their money, New Jersey has a very solid chance to take over the top spot from the Shock. They’ll need to be flawless, with no Dreambreakers. Even if they don’t, they’ll most assuredly take over #2 seed given their PPM trend, and get a bye in the first round of playoffs.

DC and Hustlers are tied in points, but with DC having one more match to play than the Hustlers, they have a slight advantage. Both are coming in fresh (having Vegas off), so are sure to bring a lot of energy and motivation to win. Both actually look good enough to bypass TX Ranchers, but either way they both have pretty sure footing to lock in a playoff spot.

Boy, did the AZ Drive come out of nowhere in Vegas! We’d all but counted them out, but they came in swinging (thanks to Jessie?). If you want to root for an underdog, this is the one! However, they have some tough teams and would need to win them all to pass the Ranchers (they could even take one win in DB, tie the Ranchers and win on tiebreaker. Now THERE’S a Disney underdog storyline).

Carolina plays back-to-back matches on Day 1, while 5s and Hustlers don’t start until Friday. This may hurt them, but more likely they’ll be harmed by Ben & Collin’s expected lackluster performances. We get it, guys, you hate it here. Or maybe put a little effort in for the ladies’ sake. Nah - we’re just gonna say it. They’re not making it.

OK OK we’re saying there’s a chance… Orlando Squeeze is the lowest ranked team that actually still has a shot. But their opponents are fierce, and they’d have to come out even stronger than they did in Vegas. They could do it - but it seems just as likely they’ll poop the bed instead.

Mad Drops… Oh, Mad Drops. It’s not gonna happen. BUT they could play disruptor and break some hearts this weekend. So many teams are relying on perfect performances, no Dreambreakers, and LA could really play puppetmaster a bit. Anyone they take down could be knocked out, or have a much more difficult time securing a first-round bye. And that’s the magic they can feel proud to bring. Then… off to the war-room to decide how to regroup for 2025.

Current Standings - Challenger

• Chicago Slice (2nd)

  • 36 points

  • 4 matches left to play

  • Max season-ending points: 48

  • Projection with points/match average: 44

  • Remaining opponents: Bouncers, Smash, Miami, Aces

• Miami Pickleball Club (3rd)

  • 35 points

  • 5 matches left to play

  • Max season-ending points: 50

  • Projection with points/match average: 45

  • Remaining opponents: Bouncers, Aces, Slice, Pandas, Smash

• Atlanta Bouncers (6th)

  • 29 points

  • 5 matches left to play

  • Max season-ending points: 44

  • Projection with points/match average: 37

  • Remaining opponents: Slice, Miami, Pandas, Aces, Smash

• Brooklyn Aces (7th)

  • 28 points

  • 4 matches left to play

  • Max season-ending points: 40

  • Projection with points/match average: 34

  • Remaining opponents: Pandas, Miami, Bouncers, Slice

• Florida Smash (8th)

  • 26 points

  • 4 matches left to play

  • Max season-ending points: 38

  • Projection with points/match average: 31

  • Remaining opponents: Pandas, Slice, Bouncers, Miami

• Frisco Pandas (9th)

  • 23 points

  • 4 matches left to play

  • Max season-ending points: 35

  • Projection with points/match average: 28

  • Remaining opponents: Smash, Aces, Bouncers, Miami

The Chicago Slice are golden - they’ll probably end 1st or 2nd (does anyone else feel like they’ve been the Challenger sleeper this year?). If the Slice just score their projection, Bouncers will have to max out their potential just to tie them.

Miami has home-field advantage (whatever that means in MLP), the most matches left to play, the highest point potential, and is already in 3rd place (just a point behind the Slice). Their prospects for grabbing a bye are looking really good. The Bouncers are the next closest team to catching them, and are just 6 points behind. The Bouncers can likely win 3, but their other 2 matchups (Miami & Chicago) will be difficult. They at least need to get to DB in all matches to have a fighting chance.

The Aces are so close to the playoff line already - they’ll need every point they can get, but landing somewhere between their projection and their max, they should be able to unseat LV’s 35 points.

Best case scenario we can foresee for the Smash is 2-2, giving them 32 points and not enough to make it into the playoffs. Same story for the Pandas, who would have to go undefeated to tie LV and possibly make the top 6. You know, it’ll be worth rooting for them just to see if it can be done.