The first MLP event of 2026, MLP Dallas, is now in the books. The LA Mad Drops took home first place, defeating the 2025 champion Columbus Sliders in the final. Heavy favorites St. Louis and New Jersey played in the third-place match, with St. Louis prevailing.

In the NFL, the first Monday after week one games is called “Overreaction Monday” as everyone’s preseason predictions are tossed out in favor of thinking that week one results are the true measure of the teams. The same thing will happen in MLP, with everyone ready to believe that MLP Dallas is 100% predictive of what will happen all year. MLP Dallas did provide us with a lot of insight on the 11 teams participating, but what part of the results are fact and which are fiction? Let’s go through what happened and determine fact from fiction.

 

 

LA is a very good team. They were a good team before Dallas, and they are still a good team. I rated them as one of the five legitimate championship contenders before Dallas, and they clearly meet that test. Catherine Parenteau and Jade Kawamoto are a legitimately top women’s doubles team, a prerequisite to be a championship team. They started super hot in 2025 as well, but faded as the season went on. Ben Johns played hard, but the sustainability of his effort will remain a question mark. Max Freeman played well in Dallas, but can he hold up all season? The strengths of this team are unchanged by Dallas, as are the questions. They are who we think they are, capable of beating anyone, but not quite the same overall strength of St. Louis.

 

 

 

New Jersey, along with St. Louis, entered 2026 as the co-favorite to win it all. They stumbled in Dallas, finishing fourth. However, the three teams finishing ahead of them were all pre-season championship contenders. Anna Leigh Waters played well, but not quite up to her usual standards. Jorja Johnson and Waters did well, but were not quite as dominant as we all thought they would be. Will Howells and Noe Khlif did not play well, and the relatively poor result in Dallas is on them, particularly Howells. But let’s not overreact and sell all of our New Jersey stock just yet. Their two losses were to top five teams, with one loss being two points from going to a DreamBreaker and the other loss being in a DreamBreaker. They crushed Dallas, a playoff team. Do Howells and Khlif have to play better? Certainly. But this team still has top talent, they are still good top to bottom in singles, and they are still in that top tier of five teams.

 

 

 

Before the season, I did a public poll on X about whether fans thought the 2026 champion would be either St. Louis/New Jersey or would come from one of the other 18 teams. Everyone responding said it would be St. Louis or New Jersey. In my MLP preview, I said the 2026 champion would be one of five teams, St. Louis, New Jersey, Columbus, Brooklyn, or LA. MLP Dallas proved my point; there are five legitimate contenders, not two. Before the season, I had St. Louis at #1, and I would still stick with that thought. But there are five top teams, not two.

 

 

 

Dallas was one of the best teams in MLP last year. They entered the 2025 MLP Playoffs as perhaps a slight favorite to win it all, but they threw away their chances by not choosing to play Texas, and then the offseason was a nightmare. They entered play in 2026 as my 7th rated team; a solid playoff team, but no realistic chance to win it all. And that is exactly the team that showed up at MLP Dallas. Dallas was able to beat non-playoff teams like Phoenix, was evenly matched against playoff/non-championship teams like Orlando, but got beaten fairly easily by the two top five teams they played. Dallas can make the final eight in the playoffs, but that is their ceiling. Their championship window is closed for 2026.

 

 

 

Enthusiasm matters in MLP, quite a bit. Younger players, new to MLP, often get unexpectedly good results. Look no further than how Albie Huang played in a DreamBreaker in Dallas. Tama Shimabukuro, Danni-Elle Townsend, and Allison Phillips all are examples of players new to MLP who were clearly into it, and consequently played very well. Enthusiasm definitely plays a role in MLP, but the more important factor is talent. Shouting “Right here, right now!” helps the team, but only so much. In the end, the top five teams have the most talent, and the teams with the most talent will win. 

 

Next up is MLP Columbus starting Thursday. Watch it all on Pickleballtv.

 

Follow me on X @pickleball_jim.