Week 15 Preview: all you need to know
A tough and very close loss to Indy Eleven last weekend; time to get ready for the next opponent.
The most important part
Well, we’ve already had a twofer with one city this season down in Tampa Bay; it’s time for another one with San Antonio.
Oh, wait… that’s two completely different teams and two completely different sports. Anyway, in a monumental coincidence, the Birmingham Stallions will be playing for their third straight title this Sunday (4:00pm, FOX) against the ridiculously named San Antonio Brahmas (an intentional misspelling of Brahman, the bull cross-breed which is apparently Dwayne Johnson’s personal mascot, he being part-owner of the team). The Legion will be playing San Antonio here on Wednesday (for which we will do a preview later, as it will technically be a Week 15 game).
San Antonio is the only team to have beaten the Stallions this season (18-9 in the Alamodome) and the only team in the league they have yet to beat. The Brahmas got to the championship game by beating the St. Louis Battlehawks 25-15. That means the Stallions will likely have the crowd on their side as the game will be played in St. Louis, where the league has also had its best attendances.
Prediction: The Stallions get the three-peat. No question.
The other most important part
Legion 2 now finds itself dead last in the South Central division after a busy week that saw the team lose 1-3 to Asheville City and 0-2 to Southern Soccer Academy before drawing 0-0 with Athens United in a late game after the Legion-Indy game and then 2-2 with East Atlanta. A much less hectic week coming up, with just one game on the schedule, at Asheville City again (Saturday, 6:30pm). Asheville are top of the division.
The other other most important part
The ladies are doing a bit better; they are 6th in the South Central. They had just one game last week, losing 0-3 to division leaders Tennesse SC. Two games this week: Sunday they play at Chattanooga Red Wolves (6:30pm), then play the lead-in to the Legion-San Antonio game at Protective (4:00pm) against Greenville Liberty.
Best of the rest
With the Legion idle this weekend, you have a wide open slate of games to choose from. Here are our picks:
Loudoun United v. Las Vegas Lights (Friday, 6:00pm, ESPN+)
Las Vegas is showing signs of returning to its impressive form earlier in the season. Loudoun, however, is a team the Legion has to keep an eye on; they are just one point behind the Three Sparks. A draw would keep the Legion ahead after the 3-1 win at Protective a while back.
Detroit City v. Charleston Battery (Saturday, 3:00pm, ESPN+)
Detroit just pulled back ahead of the Legion, winning 2-0 in Rhode Island, although they well off their great start. They are however the Legion’s next opponent (a week from Wednesday), so keeping them within reach (they are ahead by 2 points) is important. The Battery for their part will be keen to get back closer to the Easern Conference lead after a few weak results.
Indy Eleven v. San Antonio FC (Saturday, 6:00pm, ESPN+ and TUDN)
Hmm. The Legion’s last and next opponents facing off. Indy of course are in a monumental win streak and will be highly motivated to keep it going, especially at home, where they need to keep the local pols under notice. San Antonio has lost 3 of the last 4 games, including 1-2 to FC Tulsa last week and 0-1 to El Paso the previous week. They are hanging on to the last playoff spot in the West on tiebreakers. Time to check them out, obviously.
Tampa Bay Rowdies v. Louisville City (Saturday, 6:30pm, CBS Sports Golazo)
Probably the biggest game of the week. However, the Rowdies lost 0-1 in Oakland last week and have not been what you would call consistent. Lou City, of course, just can’t quit scoring. This one will have major implications for both teams as far as the standings are concerned, too.
Back in the Old Country
Not much going on in the Blues world this week. All that happened was the 2024-25 kit reveal. It’s Nike. It’s boring.
