New Orleans Breakers Playoff Scenarios. How Do They Get In?

Ethen Meyers • June 14, 2023

        The New Orleans Breakers are on the verge of turning a loss streak into an equal win streak. They started the season red hot on both sides of the ball jumping out to a 4-0 record, and then turnovers happened. The last two weeks those turnovers seemingly are being corrected, and their dominant performance 31-3 against the division opponent gave hope that they are getting back on track at the right time. Had they dropped either of the last two games, the playoff picture would be much harder to navigate. The Breakers sit in a spot that as a team you can only ask for, win and get in, but what if they don't win? Let's take a look at the other ways they can sneak in, but before we go there, here is the Seeding Tiebreakers for the USFL:

  1. Head-to-Head.
  2. Best division record.
  3. Strength of wins (Based on W-L records of opponents.).
  4. Highest points across season.
  5. Most touchdown across season.
  6. Coin toss.

        If you would like a tl;dr (too long, didn't read) of this, scroll down to the bottom for a quick recap!

Breakers Win.

        It is the most simple option, but not always the possible one. There are 4 teams who could win and still miss the playoffs by one game, which feels crazy to say but the North and their abysmal records really lined it up to be way open. For the Breakers? It doesn't matter. They win, they get in. It is the most simple path to the playoffs, and as an added bonus based on seeding, they could even steal the #1 spot from the Birmingham Stallions. If the Breakers beat the Gamblers and the Showboats beat the Stallions, New Orleans will take the #1 seed in the South, and the league. The first tie breaker would be head to head, which is split. The next goes to division, where the Breakers would hold a 1 game advantage over the Stallions and take the division title. There is currently no benefit of being the 1 seed outside of bragging rights, but pride is one hell of a drug.


Breakers lose, but Showboats lose?

        If the Breakers lose, it puts things a little muddy. In this scenario let's assume the Showboats also lose. That gives the Breakers and the Gamblers a tie. Breaking down the tie rules for the USFL the first tiebreaker is head to head, which is again split between the Breakers and Gamblers if the Breakers lose. Next, we would use division record, which would also be a tie.

        Now we are to strength of wins, which gets a little complicated but I won't bore you with the math. We cannot figure this out completely, as the season is not over but we can at least figure out if there is an advantage. For the scenario we will use the Breakers and Showboats losing. Breakers wins as follows; Maulers 3-6, Gamblers 6-4, Stallions 8-2, Generals 3-6, Panthers 3-6, Showboats 5-5. Gamblers wins as follows; Showboats 5-5, Stars 4-5, Stallions 8-2, Generals 3-6, Maulers 3-6, Breakers 6-4. That would leave the Breakers with a win strength record of 28-29 and the Gamblers with a win strength record of 29-28. The win the Gamblers have over the Stars compared to our win over the Panthers would give the Gamblers the win and the #2 seed, eliminating the Breakers from the playoffs here, however, that is only if the Stars beat the Panthers. If the Panthers win, it goes to #4, highest point total across the season. Before Week 10 The Breakers are at 220, and the Gamblers at 213 so if the Breakers do lose by more than 7, it goes to the Gamblers.

        But what if they lose by 7 exactly? I am glad you asked, lets jump into number 4 in the tiebreakers, most touchdowns. This does not specify any side of the ball, so we will assume it is across all facets of the game. The Breakers have 12 passing, 12 rushing, and 1 interception returned for a touchdown, the Gamblers have 9 passing and 16 rushing. Breakers 24, Gamblers 25. The Breakers Lose, Showboats lose is not looking great. In some weird turn of events the Gamblers could score 5 field goals only, and Breakers score a touchdown and go for 2. This would be a touchdown tie, and a loss by 7 exactly, which would go to a coin toss for the playoff berth. While the Breakers could lose by 6, and sneak in, or have the funky touchdown field goal dance, this is definitely not ideal as if we are aware of this, you can assume both coaches would be aware to and doing their best to make whatever needs to happen, happen.


Breaks Lose, Showboats win?

        This dives into tiebreakers again, a 3 way tie between the Breakers, Gamblers, and Showboats. We already slightly know where the Breakers and Gamblers sit from our previous scenario, but does adding the Showboats to the tie change anything? Starting with division, 3 way tie. Head to head, a 3 way tie. Great, we are back at math.  As a reminder, Breakers lose and Showboats win in this scenario make no changes to win strength for Breakers or Gamblers since it is just a win/loss swap for teams they beat. Breakers, 28-29 and Gamblers 29-28 which eliminates the Breakers, but the Panthers can still beat the Stars to make this a tie again at 30-28 between the Breakers and Gamblers. Let's see how the Showboats did win strength wise why don't we? Showboats wins as follows; Panthers 3-6, Breakers 6-4, Maulers 3-6, Gamblers 6-4, Generals 3-6, Stallions 7-3. This leaves the Show boats a win strength record of 28-29. Stars win? You guessed it. 3 way tie again.


        On to the next one, highest points. Heading into Week 10 Breakers are at 220, Gamblers are at 213, and the Showboats at 170. Again, in this scenario Breakers cannot lose by more than 7, and the Showboats need to score 50+ points for a good chance, let's assume the Showboats do not accomplish this (mainly because they would need 50 to TIE the Breakers and since the return of the USFL no team has surpassed 50 points in a game.) and it comes down to the Breakers and the Gamblers again. We revert back to the Breakers only losing by 6 and getting in, or losing by 7 exactly with a touchdown tie, or lose by 7 or more and be eliminated.

Recap? Recap.

        There are different ways for the Breakers to get in, but I will do a tl;dr (too long, didn't read) for anyone curious! I will number them from most ideal to least ideal.

  1. Breakers win, Stallions Lose. #1 seed belongs to Breakers, Stallions get #2.
  2. Breakers win, Stallions Win. #1 seed belongs to Stallions, Breakers get #2.
  3. Breakers lose by 6 or fewer, Stallions win, and Stars win. #1 seed belongs to Stallions, Breakers get #2.
  4. Breakers lose by 7 exactly with a score of 15(FGs only)-8(TD + 2pt conversion), Stallions win, Stars win, and Breakers win coin toss. #1 seed to Stallions, Breakers get #2.
  5. Scenarios 3 and 4, but with a Breakers loss, and a Showboats win.

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Lawsuit on LA Tech Delays Release of 2026 Sun Belt Football Schedule

By Abdul Abusada • March 3, 2026
By this time in very early March, all Sun Belt Conference teams, including Louisiana and ULM, are usually made aware of their upcoming season's full football schedule. The Sun Belt typically has its football schedule out by March 1st, allowing teams and supporters alike to find out who, where, and when they will play come football season. This year, however, things are looking a little different, as we may not see a definite 2026 Sun Belt football schedule for a few more weeks, if not months. How much sooner we will get it all falls in the hands of the outcome of an ongoing lawsuit. As you might recall, Texas State officially announced that they would leave the Sun Belt for the Pac-12 on June 30, 2025, a move that would take place on July 1, 2026. This meant that the 2025-2026 athletic year was Texas State's final journey in the SBC. When it's all said and done, this means that the conference would need to find a new 14th member to avoid dropping to 13 members come the 2026-2027 athletic year. A couple of weeks later, the conference officially announced on July 15, 2025, that Louisiana Tech would be filling the void left by Texas State. The problem to be determined, however, was whether LA Tech would be able to join in 2026 or 2027. Joining in 2026 would make this an easy transition for the SBC, keeping them at 14 members with no gaps. But a delay to 2027 would mean the conference gets stuck at 13 teams for the 2026-2027 athletic year, and right now, the there is a potential that this could be the case. Louisiana Tech, of course, wants to get this move done sooner rather than later. So, the school wants to join in 2026, and the Sun Belt doesn't suffer a gap year. A win-win for both, so what's the hold up? Not too long after the announcements went public, Conference USA, the conference in which LA Tech has been a member of since 2013, filed a lawsuit against the University of Louisiana System (which oversees Louisiana Tech). They accused the school and the system of violating Louisiana public records tied to the school leaving for the Sun Belt Conference. CUSA claims that a letter written on May 27, 2025, by Louisiana Tech President Jim Henderson, which referenced the school's move to the Sun Belt, suggested LA Tech made the decision to leave the CUSA earlier than its official notice on July 14th, which came after the conference's June 27 revenue distribution. Under Conference USA bylaws, schools that notify withdrawal after the payout can keep that year's (2025-2026) distribution but must forfeit the next two. However, the actual timeline challenges this claim, suggesting the date of the letter was incorrect by clerical error. As mentioned above, the Sun Belt's void that Louisiana Tech ended up filling did not actually exist until June 30th when Texas State officially announced its departure, and SBC officials didn't vote on the move to bring in Louisiana Tech until mid-July, after which they sent a formal invitation for the school to join. Thus, there is no logical explanation as to why Louisiana Tech would have a letter written in May about the school moving over to the Sun Belt. CUSA also accused the school of improperly withholding documents from an August public records, though the school had already provided major materials including the Sun Belt agreement. Louisiana Tech University has denied any wrongdoing, stating that they have complied with both conference bylaws and state law. With the lawsuit still ongoing and a timeline not established, it has put the Sun Belt Conference and its teams in a bind, and could mean waiting a few more weeks, if not months, until seeing a definite finalized schedule. While the conference could put out a schedule which either does or does not include Louisiana Tech, it does not want to take the risk of having to change it all up if the result of the lawsuit changes those plans. Even if the Sun Belt were to release a schedule now, it would not be definite until the lawsuit is over and an outcome is obtained. It is also important to keep in mind that the Sun Belt Conference is the last remaining Division-I conference with divisions. With the conference currently (including Texas State) at 14 members, it has them separated equally into two geographical East/West divisions. With Texas State's departure bringing the West down to 6 teams, Louisiana Tech is supposed to be the filler to that. But the conference could be forced to ditch the unique divisional setup if Louisiana Tech cannot join in 2026, as the conference would be at an odd number of teams. The Sun Belt currently utilizes the East/West divisional setup to determine who makes the Sun Belt Conference Championship, with the winner of each division taking the honors of doing so. Other conferences like the Mid-American Conference and Mountain West Conference are also facing similar delayed schedule releasing situations due to conference realignments, but the Sun Belt Conference (and Conference USA) are the two where uncertainty still boils. For now, our three Louisiana schools (Louisiana Ragin' Cajuns, ULM Warhawks, and Louisiana Tech Bulldogs) will have to wait a little longer to find out their 12-game schedule for the 2026 football season.

New Orleans Saints vs Atlanta Falcons 2025 Week 18 Recap

By Greyson Jenkins • January 4, 2026
New Orleans Saints 17 - 19 Atlanta Falcons The Saints' season is officially over. As sad as it is to say that, this season ended on a much more positive note than I expected, and has me actually looking forward to the offseason, not dreading it. The defense finished on a positive note, Tyler Shough is definitely the guy for at least the next few seasons, and Kellen Moore improved over the second half of the year. If the season finished how we expected prior to Shough saving the team, this offseason would be much more bleak in appearance. This is supposed to be a week 18 recap, but why recap a game no one really had any expectations for or cared about? No one, not even us Saints fans or analysts, really expected Shough to be able to do much with this offensive group, and he couldn’t really. Sure, he made a few really good plays, but you could tell Kellen Moore was struggling to find plays that he felt confident running with the receivers, and I don’t view that as a negative, just a bad scenario for everyone. Because of this, I am not going to write this really as a week 18 recap, but more as a short preview of this offseason. Chase Young Chase Young has made it clear that he is the best young player on this Saints team. Maybe you could swap him out with Chris Olave, but I struggle to overlook his incredible performances and constant clutch play in big moments to close out the year. He finished this game with one and a half sacks and three tackles for losses, but should have even had one more sack and a forced fumble on his stat sheet. Mickey Loomis seemingly has gotten away with the deal of a lifetime, sorry Loomis haters, by signing Young to a three-year deal for only $17 million per year on average. That is more than $10 million less than what the top 10 defensive end salaries are on a per-year basis, and Young has 10 sacks in 12 games played. While watching this one, I texted my buddies and said that Young is a top 10 EDGE in the league at this point, but they disagree. Although he may not be right now, Chase Young is quickly improving and becoming what everyone expected him to be when he came into the league. If he continues down this path, it would be extremely reasonable for him to try and get a pay raise after next season. Going into this offseason, the Saints must add at least one other piece to the defensive end rotation, so teams are forced to take their focus off of Young and open up the opportunity for even more plays by him. Tyler Shough Tyler Shough did not by any means have a perfect game; he finished 23 of 39 for 259 yards and a touchdown and an interception. However, as I said earlier, I don’t think anyone expected him to with the weapons at his disposal. He led the team down the field multiple times, and a Charlie Smyth missed field goal, and Dante Pettis offensive pass interference made this game appear worse offensively than it was. He made some throws and plays out of scheme that once again added to the current mindset that he is the team’s future, so I am not worried about the interception that came late in the fourth quarter on the tenth or so double slant pattern of the game. However, I will say that Shough’s ability to make things work at times with this battered of a weapon room is impressive in itself, and means that if the team decides to go and get him weapons in the draft or free agency, he can be even more successful. I’d really like the Saints to leave the draft with one of the following: Jeremiyah Love, Jordyn Tyson, Makai Lemon, or Elijah Sarratt. If they do that, I think this offense alongside Shough would be extremely fun to watch next season. The Defense The Saints' defense finished the season without allowing a fourth-quarter touchdown since Week 11 against the Falcons. Yes, week 11. Although I felt the defense started off pretty rough, the second half of the season was a true testament to Brandon Staley’s abilities as a defensive coordinator. The Saints' defense improved this season in both total scoring and yardage allowed in comparison to last season, at 17th and 9th, respectively, before this game. They played another great game here with what should have been two turnovers if it weren’t for a bad call by the refs on the Chase Young strip-sack. Quincy Riley and Jonas Sanker both have been massive additions to this side of the ball, and Danny Stutsman appears to have the potential to be good whenever Werner or Davis leave. If the Saints decide to run it back with this same defense and bring back the vets, it would not be the worst thing in the world, but I would still like to see them bring in more young talent. Closing Time This season was my first writing for the team, and I really enjoyed recapping all of the highs and lows of the season and trying to let you guys know exactly how I felt about the team week in, week out. As much as I hate this team missing the playoffs and the season ending today, I’m happy I had this opportunity and look forward to doing the same next season. I may write a few offseason articles, but if not, I will definitely have a few Saints-focused episodes on my YouTube channel, Jenks Island. Until next time, Who Dat!! Offensive MVP: Tyler Shough Defensive MVP: Chase Young Special Teams MVP: NONE (Please fire Phil Galiano)
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