League One Power Rankings: Playoff Push

It's time for the final push, with only a two weeks left in the regular season. Already, we've seen Omaha, Charlotte, Madison, Knoxville, Boise and Spokane clinch playoff spots, with Omaha and Charlotte also battling it out for the Player's Shield.

Here's how we're ranking the clubs heading into the final weeks of the season.

1) Union Omaha

Last Ranking: 2nd 🚀
Form Since Last Ranking (W-D-L): 7-2-1

With the exception of an outlying road loss at Naples, the Owls have been on a roll since our last rankings. They continue to find production across the board, practically flaunting their depth at the rest of the league. They also took care of business when fellow Player's Shield contenders Charlotte Independence came to town.

Omaha is built to win, and it seems like the Player's Shield is going to be theirs to lose over the next two weeks. But along the way, they'll have to face playoff contender Fort Wayne, chaos agents Westchester and then finish with a tough match at Madison.

2) Charlotte Independence

Last Ranking: 3rd 🚀
Form Since Last Ranking: 7-3-1

The Jacks had an unfortunate outing in Omaha in early September, going down a man early and losing 2-0, their only one since the last rankings. But other than that, they've continued to build a cushion to stay in the top two of the table and now sit within a point of Omaha. And compared to Omaha, Charlotte will have a ridiculously easy schedule to finish out the season with matches against the Cosmos, Greenville and Portland, all teams that are already eliminated.

3) AC Boise

Last Ranking: 8th 🚀
Form Since Last Ranking: 5-3-1

Last time we checked in on AC Boise, they were struggling to re-launch after a rough summer. But since that time, they've gone nine matches with only one loss and climbed back up the table. Down the stretch, they'll compete with Knoxville and Madison for the third or fourth seeds and a home playoff match, with a match in hand over Knoxville.

All of this comes along the backdrop of the club announcing it was exercising an option to move to the USL Championship next year. While they can't win the table, it would be a nice exit if they were to win the playoffs, wouldn't it?

4) Forward Madison

Last Ranking: 1st 📉
Form Since Last Ranking: 4-4-3

At last check, the Mingos were on an absolute tear, but since early August, they've fallen a bit back down to earth. Losses against Boise, Chattanooga and Spokane may come back to haunt them should Knoxville or Boise overtake their spot in the table over the next two weeks.

Madison will have a relatively easy schedule to finish out, with matches against Westchester and Portland leading up to a home face-off with top-ranked Union Omaha. Picking up at least six points should secure at least a home playoff match.

5) One Knoxville

Last Ranking: 6th 🚀
Form Since Last Ranking: 4-6-2

For a team that has left a lot of points on the table, and suffered an inexcusable loss to Richmond, Knoxville has still proven to be resilient down the stretch. A dominating performance at Chattanooga last night may give this squad the momentum they need to finish strong, with a home match against Spokane and a road trip to the Cosmos coming up. If they wish to avoid a road trip to open the playoffs, they'll need all six of those points.

The keys to finishing strong are held by Knoxville's strongest offensive contributors, Denis Krioutchenkov and Teddy Baker. Against Chattanooga, we saw exactly what they are capable of, as each added a goal in the performance. Add in a resurgent Nico Rosamilia, last year's playoff hero who also notched a goal and an assist last night, and they just might pull it off.

6) Spokane Velocity

Last Ranking: 4th 📉
Form Since Last Ranking: 4-3-2

Spokane appeared to sneak up the table and displace both Knoxville and Boise, after leading Portland 3-0 at the half on Saturday. Unfortunately, we saw an epic second-half collapse and Spokane had to settle for a point as Portland scored three of its own to equalize.

On the upside for Spokane, they'll have five chances to earn points to re-try that movement. They're the only team remaining besides Charlotte with an outside chance to win the Player's Shield, although it would require a five-match win streak along with an unprecedented collapse by both Omaha and Charlotte. So we're saying there's a chance?

The biggest downside for Spokane? Four of five matches to finish the season are on the road, a place where Spokane hasn't exactly thrived this year.

7) Fort Wayne FC

Last Ranking: 9th 🚀
Form Since Last Ranking: 4-3-4

The expansion side continues to see ups and downs as the season comes to a close, but has just enough ups to build a five-point cushion above ninth place Naples in the race for the final playoff spot. Secondary contributors Javier Armas, Kabiru Gafar and Tiago Dias took care of business in a must-win at Corpus Christi last night to help maintain the lead over Naples and Corpus Christi in the table.

They'll need all the help they can muster from around the roster with Omaha, Sarasota and Boise looming to close out the season.

8) FC Naples

Last Ranking: 17th 🚀
Form Since Last Ranking: 6-2-3

The turnaround hasn't been perfect by any means, with an embarrassing 4-0 loss to lowly Greenville in the mix. But there's no doubt this is a different team than the bottom-feeders we reviewed back in early August. Suddenly, Naples is a threat to steal away the final playoff spot from Fort Wayne, just five points out with three to play.

Interim coach Zak Gordon may have solved the lineup problem that plagued most of the season, and could be making his case for the full time job heading into 2027. Along the way, he's seen a resurgence in goal-scoring from Gio Miglietti; renewed steadiness from star goalkeeper Lalo Delgado with the emergence of Jamaican international goalkeeper Joshua Grant as a solid backup; signed Omar Ciss to provide some much needed-stability to the midfield; and perhaps set up the future with academy standout Ty Collins.

Even if the playoff run falls just short, there's at least a glimmer of hope for next season.

9) Westchester SC

Last Ranking: 13th 🚀
Form Since Last Ranking: 4-2-4

With very mixed results since the last ranking, it's difficult to see which direction this squad will go to end the season. Over the last four though, they've picked up ten points, indicating that at the very least, they'll be a tough opponent, even if a playoff berth is out of reach. With three matches remaining, Westchester sits at 11th in the table and nine points behind 8th place Fort Wayne. It would require three wins and an improbable collapse by Fort Wayne, Naples AND Corpus Christi.

In the meantime, can Westchester continue its recent form and play spoiler? They'll face both Madison and Omaha at home, two sides looking to secure high seeds, and then finish the season at Sarasota.

And can we talk about Conor McGlynn? The dynamic midfielder is having a career season, and is currently the frontrunner for Golden Boot. No matter the finish in the table, they could at least boast about having back to back Golden Boot winners should McGlynn end the season strong.

10) Sarasota Paradise

Last Ranking: 14th 🚀
Form Since Last Ranking: 4-3-3

Like Westchester, Sarasota's late season success is coming too-little-too-late to clinch a playoff berth. Instead, we're catching glimpses of a bright future under Mika Elovaara now that he'll have a full season of experience as Sporting Director and Head Coach.

We've seen Sander Røed and Anderson Rosa become breakout stars in the league, backed by a resurgent performance by veteran Jonathan Bolanos. It couldn't be more obvious who Elovaara should build around next season. That is, unless USL Championship comes calling for Røed or Rosa like it came for Callum Stretch.

11) Corpus Christi FC

Last Ranking: 5th 📉
Form Since Last Ranking: 4-1-5

Another surprise Summer surge that fell back down to earth with inconsistent results, Corpus Christi still has an outside shot at a playoff spot. They're six points behind Fort Wayne with three to play, but have done themselves no favors by dropping the last two and giving up six goals in the process.

Head Coach Éamon Zayed put together a solid group of players that should easily be in demand this off-season. This includes standout defender Blake Bowen, who leads his squad with eight goals, seven assists and 58 chances created. We have to think what might have been had Zayed been able to snag a reliable star striker to augment Bowen's performance. Players like veteran Jake Keegan, rookie Bubu Medina and late-season addition Dominick Bachstein have done what they can, but Corpus Christi could have used a standout.

12) Chattanooga Red Wolves

Last Ranking: 7th 📉
Form Since Last Ranking: 5-2-6

Let's be clear: the Red Wolves will be clinching a playoff birth this weekend, regardless of results. But the results since our last rankings have been anything but consistent, making another early exit from the playoffs a high probability.

Losses to Naples, Spokane and Knoxville overshadowed a 3-0 win over Corpus Christi, and Chattanooga will play its final two on the road at Spokane and the Cosmos. The best case scenario in which they win both might see the team threaten for a home playoff match, but more than likely, we'll see this team coast into the 7th spot and end up with a tough opening round match at either Omaha or Charlotte.

All that being said, we're still keeping an eye on Omar Hernandez as he is aiming to win the Golden Boot. The midfielder has 13 goals, just one behind Souaibou Marou and two behind leader Conor McGlynn.

13) NY Cosmos

Last Ranking: 16th 🚀
Form Since Last Ranking: 4-2-5

Despite turmoil in the technical and front office staff, the Cosmos have managed to string together more wins in the last two months than the entire rest of the season. But with five losses, it hasn't been enough to avoid playoff elimination, and they'll finish out the season playing for pride. The relative success has come from the veteran ranks, including Ajmeer Spengler, Sebastian Guenzatti, Lamin Jawneh, Shamit Shome and Ozzie Ramos. This ran counter to the local-youth-heavy roster built by the now-departed CEO Erik Stover and Sporting Director Giuseppe Rossi.

There's still a lot of work to do this off-season if the club plans to return to glory in 2027, but at least we now see a bit of direction moving forward.

14) Portland Hearts of Pine

Last Ranking: 12th 📉
Form Since Last Ranking: 2-4-5

After a shocking run to the playoff semi-finals in its inaugural season, there has been no such thrill in season two. Portland found itself eliminated from the playoffs two weeks early when Fort Wayne defeated Corpus Christi last night. There will be plenty of time to give this season a post-mortem, with unfortunate injuries at the top of the list. With a very large list of free agents, and a coach likely nearing the end of his contract, we'll keep a close eye on what new Sporting Director Ray Saari has in store.

15) Richmond Kickers

Last Ranking: 15th ↔️
Form Since Last Ranking: 2-2-7

Besides a recent freak win over Knoxville (and Omaha earlier in the season), there hasn't been much to highlight about Richmond's lost season. An abrupt coaching change, lots of injuries and a squad that didn't really find much chemistry has the Kickers sitting at dead last in the standings. The best thing to play for now is to not take the Wooden Spoon. Lucky for Richmond, they finish out the season with three other teams that probably won't make the playoffs, including Sarasota, Corpus Christi and Greenville. That final match, at home against Greenville, could determine last place.

There's an uncertain off-season ahead, with Brian Ownby still in interim status as coach, and a lot of players likely headed for the exits. Whoever takes over will start with a decent core of returnees, including Lucca Dourado, Josh Kirkland, Darwin Espinal, Dakota Barnathan, Nils Seufert and Yann Fillion. Now, if Richmond can properly build around them, and get through 2027 without a majority of these core players injured, there might be a turnaround.

16) Greenville Triumph

Last Ranking: 11th 📉
Form Since Last Ranking: 1-2-8

Last time around, it seemed like there was a glimmer of hope that this squad could turn things around. Unfortunately, they went the opposite direction since then with just one win and eight losses.

Muba Nour has been the lone bright spot, and perhaps there's an opportunity to build around the 22 year old midfielder next year. With seven goals in just 16 matches since joining in July, he should be priority one in the off-season, unless there's a transfer offer the team can't refuse. Everyone else? Let's just say it's looking like this may be an entirely different squad next year, and we know the new ownership isn't afraid to make those tough decisions.

17) AV Alta

Last Ranking: 10th 📉
Form Since Last Ranking: 1-0-8

After a promising first-half of the season, AV Alta continues to slide into rock-bottom territory, with just one win in its last nine. Despite what is still an MVP-eligible season from Jerry Desdunes, the squad as a whole is just failing to produce much of anything heading into the final two weeks. The question now turns into: will Brian Kleiban remain at the helm for a third year? After coming so close to a playoff berth in 2025, year two has been a disaster despite having a strong start.

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