My Major League Pickleball Pre-Season Power Rankings Versus Final Regular Season Standings

New Jersey's title-winning squad (from L-R Emmrich, Khlif, Johnson, Waters, Howells. Not shown: Rane)

MLP/Pickleball.com

As they say, the Internet lives forever. It is ever a risk, putting retired a Power Ranking of teams for a shop for illustration Major League Pickleball, wherever much than half the players connected the corporate squad rosters astatine the extremity of the play (121) were either traded aliases were waiver claims this play (if my grounds keeping is accurate; it whitethorn beryllium more). It’s astir apt folly to do season-long predictions for teams pinch this magnitude of churn. But what’s the nosy successful that?

So, earlier we get to the playoffs, here’s a speedy navel-gazing look astatine my first play powerfulness rankings versus really they vanished up astatine season’s end. At the extremity of the draught successful early March, I did a large draught recap and published immoderate first powerfulness rankings. For each squad there’s a small discourse provided arsenic the rank versus finish.

• New Jersey: Re-Season Power Ranked No. 1, Regular Season Finished No. 1. I thought STL could return them, and picked STL successful my Week 9 Pick’em contest, but the astonishing Orlando arena gave NJ a well-earned regular play title.
• St. Louis: Ranked No. 2, vanished No.2. The Orlando arena last could person gone differently, had Bright/Patriquin won that astonishing Mixed match. But it didn’t, truthful it didn’t. We’ll hopefully get a rematch successful NYC successful a fewer week’s time.
• Los Angeles: Ranked No. 5, Finished No.3. I had my doubts astir Freeman’s expertise to let LA to beryllium amended than 5th going into the season, but a precocious play waste and acquisition for Garnett and an willing Ben Johns helped powerfulness this squad up to 3rd by season’s end.
• Columbus: Ranked No. 4, Finished No.4: They upgraded their winning roster from past year, and they made the finals successful 3 of their 5 events this year, but still could only negociate 4th. They’ll person to spell done Brooklyn, New Jersey, AND St. Louis to take sides their 2025 title. That seems for illustration a agelong shot.
• Brooklyn: Ranked No.3, Finished No.5. I power-ranked Brooklyn 3rd pinch Frazier, earlier they flipped him for Alshon, which really improved their lineup. But injuries killed them: astatine various points this play they’ve been without Newman (scooter shenanigans), Alshon (birthday parties), and Rohrabacher (scoreboard attacks). Can they get patient for the quarters and return retired Columbus?
• Dallas: Ranked No. 6, Finished No. 6. It seems alternatively prophetic that Dallas someway ended up 6th this season, aft roller coaster thrust their roster has been this season. Their women’s roster has gone from Jorga-Tyra-Parker successful 2025 to Callie-Tyra-Parker to commencement 2026, past aft aggregate trades they now person Townsend-Truong-Buckner and won 2 of the 5 events they played. I situation say, they’re the squad cipher successful the apical 4 wants to spot successful the quarters correct now. Underestimate the Flick Wizard astatine your peril.
• Palm Beach: Ranked No.8, vanished No.7: The Royals parlayed their description roster creation advantage into getting Sofia Sewing pre-draft, paying under-market rate rates for Pisnik and Bar, past getting McGuffin successful the draught for conscionable $65k. This coagulated team, augmented pinch the waiver ligament pickup of Diamond, had this squad playing good each season. They were 1 of conscionable 2 teams (SoCal the other) that did not execute a waste and acquisition aft the draught was done, and the Goldin/Diamond waiver declare was their only transaction. They vanished either 4th aliases 5th successful each 5 events and will beryllium a reliable retired for a apical 4 seed successful Newport Beach. Not bad for a debut season.
• Texas: Ranked No. 7, vanished No.8: If you had told maine that Texas would person some Alshon and Frazier astatine immoderate constituent this season, but past told maine that they traded some guys away, I would person guessed they’d beryllium giving up connected the play and would beryllium a 2nd section club. Instead they acquired the electrical Acevedo, who has paired good pinch Oncins. They had 1 bad arena (finishing 8th), different they apt would person pipped Palm Beach for 7th.

Just 5 points abstracted the adjacent 5 teams, each of whom won precisely 11 matches this season, conscionable to show really adjacent the playoff title really was.

• Atlanta: Ranked No. 11, Finished No 9. Atlanta remade their ladies squad connected the alert this season, starting pinch Christian and Walczak, ending pinch Irvine and Humberg. One large arena successful San Diego made their season, giving them 15 of their eventual 36 points. Their matchup pinch Texas successful the information of 16 should beryllium the champion necktie of the opening weekend.
• SoCal: Ranked 16, Finished No.10: This squad was my biggest “miss” of the powerfulness rankings, arsenic I did not person religion that their operation of untested youngsters Campbell and MacKinnon would clasp their own. After creating their full roster from scratch connected draught day, they stood pat each play and did not make a azygous waste and acquisition aliases waiver claim; the only of the 20 teams to not make a azygous move this season. The squad outplayed my expectations, making 2 3rd spot matches, but they besides bombed retired of 2 events, finishing 5th successful their group. An ill-timed wounded to Bhatia made them the evident first-pick force successful the information of 16, and they will struggle to beforehand this weekend.
• Las Vegas: Ranked 13th, Finished 11th: I thought Las Vegas would get pipped for the past playoff spot connected draught day, having done a bunch of pre-draft trades to break up the squad that won Challenger past year. The squad much aliases little played to its capacity this year, did not really person a “bad” arena that costs them points, and ended up tied pinch SoCal pinch 34 points and 10th spot successful the standings.
• Chicago: Ranked 11th, Finished 12th: Probably the communicative of the season; Chicago looked for illustration a comparatively “safe” seasoned playoff squad astatine the clip of the draft, but aft 3 events looked lost, truthful the squad sold off, went young, picked up super-Sub AJ Koller … past shocked the convention by getting into the 3rd spot lucifer successful their location arena week 8 and winning 1 of the astir clutch MLP events successful history to eliminate California successful Week 9. They should not beryllium successful the playoffs, but present we are.
• California: Ranked 14th, Finished 13th: The roster California had astatine the extremity of the draft, which prompted maine to rank them 14th, was wholly traded distant by the clip the play was complete arsenic the engaged beforehand agency of Tice & Miller worked complete their squad successful a valiant effort to drawback the past playoff spot. They had lucifer constituent connected their paddles much than erstwhile to unafraid that 12th spot, but grounded to do so. Nonetheless, their roster connected March 3rd (Sleeth, Kunimoto, Nelson, Haworth, Braham, Loyd) vanished the play arsenic Dennehy, Weil, Ingram, Frazier, Tellez, and Emmrich, a very coagulated squad that astir apt gets a playoff spot had they been together from the start.

From here, location was a decent spread to the 14th and 15th classed teams successful the standings.

• Orlando: Ranked 10th, Finished 14th: The different awesome “miss” of my rankings versus finish, for evident reasons. Their lineup started the play well, pinch Sock pairing successfully pinch Fed and 2 coagulated 2nd tier women successful Rane and Schneemann holding their own, but injuries and a stacked St. Pete arena relegated them to a 5th spot group showing and the realization that they whitethorn beryllium amended served cashing successful waste and acquisition assets alternatively of competing for the 12th spot. So, that’s what they did, and slumped retired of the playoffs contempt posting a amended W/L grounds (13-13) than the 5 teams conscionable up of them successful the standings.
• Miami: Ranked 19th, Finished 15th: They surely out-performed my conjecture that they’d beryllium wholly horrible, but were good backmost of a playoff spot. Once again, Miami spent the play uncovering talent, trading that talent for hundreds of thousands of dollars and looking plucky for a bit. Last year, they managed to play this book into the past playoff spot somehow. This year, it wasn’t to be. However, they surely made immoderate money this season, getting rate backmost while trading distant Roddy, Alix Truong, Acevedo, Yoshitomi, Powell, Frazier, and Loong. Some estimates put their haul astatine much than $500k on the way.

The teams classed 16th-18th were tightly bunched pinch betwixt 15-17 points.

• Utah: Ranked 12th, Finished 16th. My different large “miss” of the pre-season powerfulness rankings. I had Utah conscionable sneaking into the playoffs, mostly relying connected the presumption that they were going to play their 2025 roster again while 15yr aged draftee Tama Shimabukuro rode the bench. Instead, Tama and Connor slumped to an 8-12 grounds together successful Men’s doubles, and the remainder of the doubles partnerships slipped from past year’s playoff shape arsenic the younker activity passed this seasoned squad by. They cashed successful Garnett astatine season’s extremity aft finishing dormant past successful their last event, the past nail successful the coffin of their 2026 season, and whitethorn person to deliberation astir their roster building for 2027.
• Florida: Ranked 18th, vanished 17th: There were nary existent surprises present for the penny-pinching Florida team, who had 1 of the smallest payrolls and vanished conscionable astir wherever I thought they would. Their biggest astonishment of the play was the dropping of co-owner Travis Rettenmaier, who by each accounts was not precisely “on board” pinch the move.
• Bay Area: Ranked 17th, vanished 18th; Bay Area drafted young, and they played astir to expectations, going 5-20 and someway getting into a 5th spot arena lucifer astatine 1 constituent this season.

The bottommost 2 teams vanished good beneath moreover the 18th classed squad Bay Area.

• Phoenix: Ranked 20th, vanished 19th. Phoenix started young, past went moreover younger erstwhile they traded distant the seasoned Irvine, and went conscionable 2-21 for the season. Their 2 wins? Las Vegas successful Week 3 and Florida successful Week 7. They besides sewage 2 wins successful the Mid-Season tourney.
• Carolina: classed 15th, Finished 20th: Why did I deliberation this squad would decorativeness 15th connected draught day? Probably because I was vastly over-rating the players they started the play with, and past they seemed to walk the remainder of the play shuffling the platform chairs. They decorativeness the play going 2-21, pinch their 2 wins complete Palm Beach successful Week 6 (!!) and complete Bay Area successful Week 1.

All successful each though, this wasn’t excessively bad of a powerfulness ranking performance. I sewage the apical 8 precisely right, successful a somewhat different order, and called 10 of the 12 playoff teams successful March.

The MLP playoffs footwear disconnected connected Friday August 7th 2026 from Dallas.