With one week left in the regular season, every team still has a chance at making the postseason. After the Denver Outlaws and New York Atlas clinched in Salt Lake City, the Carolina Chaos punched their ticket to the postseason in Denver.
This weekend, three more spots will be filled by the remaining five clubs including two playoff spots in the East and one in the West. Plus, two clubs will join the Outlaws and the Atlas in the 2026 Lexus Championship Series. Here are the scenarios to watch for.
Eastern Conference
New York Atlas: Win for the No. 1 seed (Playoff chances: Clinched)
While the Atlas have clinched the playoffs and a Lexus Championship Series appearance, they’re yet to lock up the No. 1 seed in the East and the bye to the semifinals.
New York can clinch the No. 1 seed with any one of three things: A win against the Philadelphia Waterdogs, a Cannons loss in one of their two games, or a score differential tiebreaker over Boston. The Atlas currently have a +16 score differential relative to the Cannons’ -3 differential, so they’re in a good spot.
Philadelphia Waterdogs: Win-and-in (Playoff chances: 81.4%)
The Waterdogs can make the playoffs in one of three scenarios. The simplest is by beating the Atlas on Saturday.
A Whipsnakes loss to the Cannons on Saturday night would also ensure that Philly makes the playoffs. Or, if Boston goes 0-2 on the weekend, the Dogs could still sneak into the postseason if everything else goes wrong.
Currently, the Waterdogs have a slight advantage over the Cannons in the score differential column at -2 compared to Boston’s -3 mark.
Boston Cannons: Win-and-in (Playoff chances: 79.7%)
The Boston Cannons can clinch a playoff berth with a win in either of their two games (vs. California Redwoods, Friday at 6:30 p.m. ET or vs. Maryland Whipsnakes, Saturday at 7 p.m. ET).
In a scenario where the Boom Squad loses both games, Boston could still clinch with a Waterdogs loss to the Atlas and the score differential tiebreaker over Philly.
Maryland Whipsnakes: Win plus help (Playoff chances: 38.9%)
The first step on the Whipsnakes’ path to the playoffs includes beating the Cannons when the two clubs faceoff on Saturday Night Lacrosse at 7 p.m. ET.
Beyond that, Maryland needs some help. Should the club beat Boston, the Whips also need either the Cannons to lose to the Woods on Friday night or the Waterdogs to fall to the Atlas on Saturday at 1 p.m. ET.
Western Conference
Denver Outlaws: Sitting pretty (Playoff chances: Clinched)
Ahead of their bye week this weekend, the Outlaws have already clinched the playoffs, a 2026 Lexus Championship Series berth and the No. 1 seed in the West. Now, they’re awaiting their opponent in the semifinals.
Carolina Chaos: Win for first Champ Series appearance (Playoff chances: Clinched)
The Chaos clinched their spot in the playoffs last week by upsetting the Denver Outlaws at home. If they can beat the Utah Archers on Friday night, Carolina would lock in its first-ever Lexus Championship Series appearance as well.
The Chaos could still qualify for the Champ Series with a loss. But their -14 score differential puts them at a disadvantage, so they’d need a lot of help to make it into the top-four in the standings.
California Redwoods: Win-and-in (Playoff chances: 83.8%)
The Woods enter the weekend with an opportunity to play their way into the postseason with a win against the Cannons on Friday night. That game is a win-and-in situation for both teams.
If California falls to Boston, the team could still make the playoffs with either a Utah loss to Carolina or a score differential tiebreaker over the Archers. Ahead of the weekend, the Woods’ -5 score differential is above the Archers’ -14 differential.
As long as California either wins against Boston or, at least, loses by just a few goals, they’ll be in a good spot to make the postseason in head coach Anthony Kelly’s first season.
Utah Archers: Win plus help (Playoff chances: 16.2%)
The two-time reigning champs are up against a wall as they look to keep their hopes of a threepeat alive. The Archers are facing a must-win game against the Chaos on Friday night.
Utah also needs California to lose to Boston on Friday and to overturn the nine-point score differential tiebreak margin to the Woods in the process. It’s a tall task, but still possible with a miracle.
For full playoff probabilities entering the weekend, check out PLL Stats’ predictive model.
