The 2026 NBL Playoffs are set to tip-off after a one month break. Many fans have been waiting and the time has finally come to see who will be crowned as the 2026 champions.

The regular season ended on 14th June with the UPDF Tomahawks being relegated on the final day while the Victoria Crocs moved to fifth place, also ensuring that the JT Jaguars stay in the playoffs spot while the JKL Dolphins survive being axed.

Since then, fans have been starved on NBL action but were able to watch the different National Teams games, which included; the World Cup Qualifiers for the Silverbacks, FIBA 3×3 Women’s Series, for the Gazelles, and U23 3×3 Nations league for both the men and the women. With all that out of the way, all attention will turn to the NBL Playoffs.

Men’s Quarter-finals

The defending champions, the Namuwongo Blazers, will take on the JT jaguars in the quarterfinals. This is expected, by many, to be a one-sided affair, but as they say in sports, never say never.

The Blazers have been dominant this season and the same can’t be said for the JT Jaguars who have largely struggled throughout the year. Nonetheless, this shall be an interesting game to watch as we see if the Jaguars can go against the odds.

The 10-time champions, the City Oilers shall lock horns with the KCCA Panthers. City Oilers had the best record (tied with the Namuwongo Blazers) in the regular season. On the contrary, the Panthers had a good first round but the second did not treat them well. The biggest question is, can the Panthers upset the Oilers?

Number 3 seed, the Rezlife Saints will face Sommet. Sommet was among the only 4 teams that defeated the Rezlife Saints and that was in round one. In round two, the Saints owned the game from the start to the end.

This fixture has a number of things to look out for, for example, the new Sommet Coach, Julius Lutwama, how far can he take the team? The Spartans gave the fans an exciting semi-finals series in 2025 when they faced the City Oilers, can they once again return to the final four.

Rezlife Saints also has some questions to answer. Can they carry their regular season momentum into the playoffs? How far can they go this season?

The final quarterfinals fixture shall be the University derby between the UCU Canons and the Victoria Crocs. The 2 teams had a similar record and although UCU defeated Victoria in both games in the regular season, one can’t say that they are so much better than them.

The Canons have had their struggles this season and their production from the forwards has been questionable. At the end of the day, the series may come down to who wants its more.

Women’s Quarter-finals

The number one seed, the JT Lady Jaguars shall be taking on the defending champions, the JKL Lady Dolphins in what could be a one sided affair. For the first time in eons, the JKL Lady Dolphins come into a series when they are the heavy underdogs.

From unavailability of players, to players departing and dropping in quality, the Lady Dolphins have faced significant problems this year and going past an organised Lady Jaguars side will be a hard ask. Two big clubs will be facing off but the game may not deliver much.

The UCU Lady Canons, who had the same record as the Lady Jaguars, shall face the KIU Rangers. The Rangers have largely been poor and UCU thumped them during the regular season. Seeing them advance past the mukono side will be a miracle.

The KCCA Leopards will flock horns with the UPDF Lady Tomahawks in what could be an interesting tie. The last time these 2 sides met, the army-side shocked the Leopards in a 48-44 victory. KCCA has had a thin squad while UPDF has plenty of players available. Who comes out on top? We shall await to see.

The 2 most evenly matched teams are the Magic Stormers and the Pearls Queens who finished 4 and 5 respectively. This series will be very interesting because neither team appears to be stronger than the other, although the Stormers were semi-finalists in 2025. Two big questions here, will the Stormers return to the final 4 or will the new comers, the Pearl Queens, make a top 4 finish?

All quarterfinals series will be in 3-game series, the semi-finals, a 5-game series while the finals will be a 7-game series.