2026 UFL Power Rankings: Storm, Defenders Skyrocketing After Week 4

The most volatile weekend of the 2026 UFL season featured not one but two trades of starting quarterbacks, and the toppling of a previously unbeaten team and has left us with a new face in the No. 1 spot in these rankings. The last remaining undefeated team is one of the league’s newest with an old flavor. The Orlando Storm have proven staying power going into the halfway point of a raucous season, but can they stay? We’ll know soon enough. That said, here’s a look at my fourth UFL power rankings list of the season: 8. Houston Gamblers (1-3) Week 4 results: Lost to Kings, 24-22 (OT)Current odds to win 2026 title: +10000 Running back Marcus Yarns might be the big-play threat in the backfield that head coach Kevin Sumlin craves. Though the Gamblers lost, Yarns broke loose for a 68-yard touchdown that had me thinking he might be enough of an offensive help to star wideout Justin Hall to create the kind of balanced offense that Houston has been missing. 7. Birmingham Stallions (1-3) Week 4 results: Lost to Storm, 16-0Current odds to win 2026 title: +1400 Head coach AJ McCarron sent starting quarterback Matt Corral, who was benched in the Stallions’ first shutout loss in league history this past weekend, packing in a trade to the Storm for backup Dorian Thompson-Robinson. With that, Corral leaves the only UFL franchise he has ever started for. The Ole Miss product completed 64.5% of his passes for 768 yards, five touchdowns and four interceptions through four games this season. Birmingham has dropped three straight and look nothing like what they’re famously known to be: the all-time winningest franchise in UFL history. 6. Louisville Kings (1-3) Week 4 results: Defeated Gamblers, 24-22 (OT)Current odds to win 2026 title: +6500 Quarterback Jason Bean was traded to the Defenders the same weekend that he led the Kings to their first victory in franchise history. It’s a wild fact but a true one. Bean completed just 47% of his passes through four games this season for Louisville. Head coach Chris Redmond played backup Chandler Rogers in Week 2, and now with the Kings getting backup Mike DiLiello from the Defenders, the expectation is that Rogers will be Louisville’s starter for Week 5. 5. Columbus Aviators (1-3) Week 4 results: Defeated Renegades, 28-14Current odds to win 2026 title: +2000 The Aviators pulled off the biggest shock of the weekend, knocking off the previously undefeated Renegades — my No. 1-ranked team in last week’s rankings — in Columbus head coach Ted Ginn Jr.’s return to the sideline. With the win, the Aviators joined the Kings in finally getting into the “W” column for the first time this season. The franchise notched its first 200-yard rushing performance in the win, with four players accounting for 37 yards or more. Jon Lovett headlined that list, rushing for 80 yards on 15 carries. 4. St. Louis Battlehawks (2-2) Week 4 results: Lost to Defenders, 28-22Current odds to win 2026 title: +800 Quarterback Harrison Frost tried to summon the magic he pulled off in the fourth quarter of the Battlehawks’ win in Week 3, but he couldn’t do it this time around. In fact, St. Louis fans are probably no longer wondering why he was the backup for the first three weeks of the season. Frost completed just 6 of 21 passes for 144 yards, with two of those completions and 109 of those yards coming courtesy of superstar wideout Hakeem Butler. Frost doesn’t play defense, however, and that’s one more worry for St. Louis head coach RIcky Proehl. 3. Dallas Renegades (3-1) Week 4 results: Lost to Aviators, 28-14Current odds to win 2026 title: +240 The Renegades discovered this weekend that they can be beaten, especially when the defense gives up over 200 yards on the ground and the offense struggles mightily to put up 232 total yards. For head coach Rick Neuheisel, it’s a moment to remind his team just how close to losing they might be if they don’t play their best football every week. 2. DC Defenders (3-1) Week 4 results: Defeated Battlehawks, 28-22Current odds to win 2026 title: +185 The Defenders rode the capable arm and legs of star quarterback Jordan Ta’amu to their third win this season. He finished 22-for-36 passing for 204 yards with two touchdowns, alongside 61 rushing yards. This week was yet another example of how the dual-threat signal-caller is the most capable offensive weapon in the league through four games. 1. Orlando Storm (4-0) Week 4 results: Defeated Stallions, 16-0Current odds to win 2026 title: +300 Head coach Anthony Becht’s team not only continues to find ways to win, but the Storm look like they’re turning into a complete team after recording the first shutout victory in UFL history just one week after becoming the first team in league history to win a game on a defensive penalty. Quarterback Jack Plummer completed 17 of 27 passes to seven receivers for a workmanlike 182 yards, with a touchdown and no interceptions.