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With seven weekends to go, we’ve reached the business end of the season. While the main focus over the final stretch is going to be on which teams will reach the 2023 USL Championship Playoffs, there’s another race that’s shaping up to potentially go to the final weekend of the campaign.

The Players’ Shield is awarded to the team with the best record at the end of the USL Championship regular season. After San Antonio FC ran away with the prize last season – on the way to becoming the first team to end the season with the best record and win the USL Championship Final since a Tyler Adams-led New York Red Bulls II in 2016 – this year things are up for grabs.

Here’s a look at the four main contenders for the shield, where they currently stand, and what’s ahead in the final stretch of the season.

Tampa Bay Rowdies

Record: 14-6-5, 47pts
Projected Finish: 1st, Eastern Conference (58 percent)
Maximum Points Available: 74pts
Games vs. Current Playoff Teams: 6
Key Contests: at San Antonio FC (9/16), vs. Pittsburgh Riverhounds SC (10/7), at Louisville City FC (10/14)

Outlook: The Rowdies have the highest potential points ceiling of any team in the Championship, but they also might have the hardest road left of any of the four teams in with a serious chance of claiming the Players’ Shield. The side has to play both of its games against Louisville City FC in its final nine outings, and both games against Memphis 901 FC, with contests against San Antonio FC and Pittsburgh Riverhounds SC also on the slate.

Sacramento Republic FC

Record: 13-4-9, 48pts
Projected Finish: 1st, Western Conference (53 percent)
Maximum Points Available: 72pts
Games vs. Current Playoff Teams: 4
Key Contests: at Phoenix Rising FC (8/30), at Oakland Roots SC (9/2), at Colorado Springs Switchbacks FC (9/23)

Outlook: Republic FC only has eight games to play, but it might be the most favorable remaining schedule of the group. Only one of the four teams currently in the playoff positions is a contender for a top-four finish in NorCal rival Oakland Roots SC, and Sacramento ends the season with three consecutive games against Las Vegas Lights FC (12th, West), Rio Grande Valley FC (11th, West) and Miami FC (10th, East), with two of those at home. Add that it holds the head-to-head tiebreaker over San Antonio FC, and ended all square with both Pittsburgh Riverhounds SC and the Tampa Bay Rowdies and Republic FC might be the favorite at this point.

San Antonio FC 

Record: 13-4-9, 48pts
Projected Finish: 2nd, Western Conference (37 percent)
Maximum Points Available: 72pts
Games vs. Current Playoff Teams: 6
Key Contests: vs. Tampa Bay Rowdies (9/16), at Oakland Roots SC (9/30), at Orange County SC (10/7)

Outlook: Undefeated in its last six games, San Antonio FC might be in the best form of any team in the Championship outside Orange County SC and its current seven-game winning streak. At the same time, its final six games are all against teams currently in the playoff positions, and two of those are the home-and-home series against Orange County SC that feels like it will be pivotal to whether SAFC can claim the Players’ Shield for a second consecutive season. Add in a game at home against the Tampa Bay Rowdies and road trips to Colorado Springs Switchbacks FC and Oakland Roots SC and this is not an easy run-in at all.

Pittsburgh Riverhounds SC

Record: 14-5-9, 51pts
Projected Finish: 2nd, Eastern Conference (44 percent)
Maximum Points Available: 69pts
Games vs. Current Playoff Teams: 2
Key Contests: at Miami FC (9/16), at Tampa Bay Rowdies (10/7), at Detroit City FC (10/14)

Outlook: The bad news for Pittsburgh Riverhounds SC is of the four teams here, the Hounds have the lowest potential points ceiling. The good news, though, is historically it’s always tended to be better to have points in hand rather than games in hand. Combine that with what on paper seems like a very favorable schedule – each of the Hounds’ next four games are against teams currently below the playoff line – and the season could come down to Pittsburgh’s trip to face the Tampa Bay Rowdies on the penultimate weekend of the season. That would certainly be a treat for all of us if it comes to fruition.