Sean Kennedy vs Stephen April

We already know the first Peyton Manning Award of the 2025 season will go to the winner of this matchup, a Game of the Week rematch of Sabol Bowl XII. Their head-to-head series is deadlocked at four games apiece with two regular season matchups on the horizon for 2025.

Alex Kincaid vs Alex Mayo

The first of two entries in the 2025 Battle of the Alexes, each Alex has three victories in their all-time series.

William Battle vs Will Massimini

This will be the 16th entry in the Battle of the Williams in league history. It is one of the 20 most played matchups, with Will holding a 9-6 advantage through the AFL's first 12 seasons.

Anthony Battle vs Sean Kennedy

One of the nine most played matchups in AFL history, Ant and Sean will face off for the 18th time in their careers in this early-season tilt. Sean holds a 10-7 series lead, with one of those wins coming in the wild card round of the 2019 playoffs and the most recent knocking Anthony out of last year's postseason.

William Battle vs Brandon Saunders

While one other head-to-head pairing will reach its 20th matchup in AFL history this year, the long-standing rivaly between William and Brandon is the AFL's biggest one, for sure. With 21 meetings already under their belts, Brandon needs a win in this Week 2 faceoff to avoid being 10 games under .500 in their series. William is 15-6 against Brandon, including a wild card playoff victory in 2018 and a dominant 41-point victory over his rival in Sabol Bowl X in 2022.

Brandon Saunders vs Anthony Battle

With 18 head-to-head matchups already under their belts, including a 1.50-point victory for Brandon in their only playoff meeting to date all the way back in the AFL's inagural 2013 season, this pairing will stand alone as the second most played matchup in league history when the 2025 regular season comes to a close. Brandon holds a 10-8 series advantage.

Cory Puffett vs William Battle

In a rematch of Sabol Bowl III from the 2015 season, Cory holds a 10-4 advantage in their all-time series including that win in his lone Sabol Bowl appearance.

Eric Meyer vs Evan Ash

One of two series in AFL history with 17 games played and a very narrow 9-8 margin, Evan currently has one up on Eric, including a snoozer in Week 6 of last season when Evan won by a score of 66.53-59.00. The two have never met in a playoff game or they'd be eclipsing 20 games played against one another this season.

Cory Puffett vs Eric Meyer

Another one of the 20 most played series in AFL history, this will be the 16th meeting between the AFL's commissioner and his co-commissioner. After losing six of their first seven head-to-head meetings, Cory has won seven of their last eight, including a nearly 35-point win in their second meeting of the 2024 season, to take an 8-7 series lead.

Alex Mayo vs Anthony Battle

Currently facing a 6-3 series deficit, Alex Mayo gets another crack at his most-faced opponent in this early-season tilt.

Alex Mayo vs Alex Kincaid

The two Alexes have only shared a division once in the now six seasons they have been in the league. This year they are interdivision rivals, making this only the second time in their careers they'll face each other a second time in the same season.

William Battle vs Eric Meyer

Including a wild card victory earning him his first Sabol Bowl berth back in 2015, William has 10 wins in 16 games against Eric in their AFL careers. This is one of the 13 most played head-to-head matchups in league history.

Stephen April vs Sean Kennedy

In the second rematch of last year title game, the loser of their Week 1 meeting will be looking for a measure of revenge in this contest to even their all-time head-to-head record back up.

Anthony Battle vs Evan Ash

Their head-to-head has been rather one-sided in their careers, but this is one of the nine most played head-to-head matchups in AFL history. Evan has 12 wins in their 17 games played to date, including consecutive wild card victories in 2020 and 2021. Those 12 wins are the second most any manager has against any other one manager in the AFL. Interestingly, despite the one-sided nature of their series, Evan only holds about a 30-point net point advantage in their series.

Eric Meyer vs Anthony Battle

Their 15 head-to-head matchups in league history make this one of the 20 most played matchups. Eric holds a comfortable 9-6 advantage in series history, but Anthony got the victory in their most important matchup to date, a 2018 wild card meeting Ant won by more than 60 points.

Alex Kincaid vs Evan Ash

In a rematch of Sabol Bowl IX from the 2021 season, Evan holds a 6-4 advantage in their all-time series including that title game, when he was coming off a Sabol Bowl loss the year prior.

Sean Kennedy vs Brandon Saunders

Though Brandon's 11 head-to-head victories in series history are tied for the third most wins by a manager in any head-to-head series, the most important matchup they've played to date went Sean's way in Sabol Bowl VII back in 2019.

Evan Ash vs Stephen April

Evan is one of two managers Stephen selected for his division in 2025 who he's already shared a division with four times in his first seven years of competition in the AFL. This one may be to the defending champion's disadvantage, though, as Evan currently holds a narrow 7-6 series advantage. That said, Stephen scored a huge win by more than 50 points when they met in Sabol Bowl VIII back in our Covid year, the first of his two league titles.

Will Massimini vs Eric Meyer

After losing three of their first four matchups, Eric has turned the series around against Will and currently holds a 9-7 advantage. Will did win their most recent meeting in Week 4 of the 2024 campaign.

Jeffery McDonald vs Brandon Saunders

In his second season, Jeffery has just one division opponent he also shared a division with in 2024, and that's Brandon. He'll be looking for a measure of revenge in this first meeting of the 2025 campaign after losing both matchups last year, the first by 63 points. The second loss knocked Jeffery out of the playoffs in the final week of the season.

Cory Puffett vs Sean Kennedy

Another of the 20 most played head-to-head matchups in AFL history, this is the fifth time Cory and Sean have shared a division across 12 seasons (Sean did not play in 2015). Cory is 9-6 in their 15 meetings, but Sean has won the last two matchups by 17 and 46 points, respectively.

William Battle vs Alex Mayo

Tied for Alex's most common division rival, William Battle shares a division with him for the third time and it hasn't gone particularly well for him. After winning in their second meeting of the 2020 season, Alex's first, William hasn't won since. It currently stands at a 7-1 series advantage for Alex with about 160 net points in his favor.

William Battle vs Anthony Battle

The Battle Bowl gets its 18th chapter in Week 8. Since taking a net point advantage in Week 5 of the 2015 season following their third meeting, William has never had fewer points scored in their series, but it's been very close in terms of wins and losses. William currently holds a 9-8 advantage, including a win in the most prestigous edition to date when they faced in Sabol Bowl VI in 2018. Anthony got a big 30-point win in their second meeting of the 2024 season to cut William's net point lead in series history down to 137 points.

Evan Ash vs Cory Puffett

Only five pairs of managers have faced each other 18 or more times in AFL history. This is one of those five. Cory has won 10 of 18 meetings with Evan, including a 69-point beatdown in the final week of the 2024 regular season. Cory is 3-1 in their last four games and the average margin of victory in those last four meetings has been 62 points. We'll see if this year's meeting proves more competitive.

Sean Kennedy vs William Battle

One of 13 head-to-head pairings with 16 or more games played, this matchup is a tale of two statistics. After Sean won the first three contests, William won the next three. Sean then won two straight with William returning the favor immediately after. Sean won another two straight before William finally took a series lead with three wins in a row before Sean evened the series back up in their Week 6 meeting last season. While the win-loss ledger has been pretty even throughout their history, Sean holds a net point advantage north of 220 points.

Stephen April vs Eric Meyer

Along with Evan Ash, Eric is one of two managers to share a division with Stephen five times since he joined the AFL in 2018. Where Stephen is one game down in his series with Evan, the opposite is true in this matchup, though Eric holds a 38-point advantage in the net points column.

Evan Ash vs Will Massimini

Evan holds a narrow 8-7 series lead in this, one of the 20 most played head-to-head matchups in AFL history. Each manager has a 4-game win streak in their history, but neither has managed consecutive wins since Evan swept their 2021 meetings. Evan won their Week 12 matchup by 37 points last season, so Will hopes, at least for this first meeting of 2025, their recent back-and-forth trend will continue.

Brandon Saunders vs Eric Meyer

One of the five most played matchups in league history, we'll only get one chapter between these two long-standing rivals, who have shared a division five times, in the 2025 regular season. Eric is up 10-8 in the series, but Brandon has been coming on strong of late winning their last three meetings and taking a 49-point advantage in series net points. The two have only faced off in the playoffs once in their history, when Brandon won a 2019 wild card game by more than 25 points.

Alex Kincaid vs Stephen April

Though they don't share a division this year, Stephen is probably Alex's biggest rival to date as the only manager he's shared a division with four times. Stephen leads their series 7-4 and, since losing their first meeting, he's built a massive 258 points net point advantage in their head-to-head; 127 points of that came in their Week 15 meeting in 2023, which stands as the biggest blowout in AFL history.

Evan Ash vs Anthony Battle

Following their Week 5 meeting, this will be the 19th meeting in AFL history between Evan and Anthony, who are interdivision rivals in 2025. That will make this one of the five most played matchups in AFL history.

Anthony Battle vs Will Massimini

This was the fifth pairing to reach 18 games played in their head-to-head. In the final week of 2025 interdivision play, they will play their 19th game against one another. Anthony won their first six matchups, and while Will has eaten into that series lead since 2017, he still trails 11-7 and is down about 138 net points to Ant. To reach 20 head-to-head meetings this year, they would need to record their first playoff matchup.

Stephen April vs Evan Ash

Sabol Bowl VIII rematch (Stephen won)

Brandon Saunders vs Alex Kincaid

No postseason meetings

Sean Kennedy vs Alex Mayo

No postseason meetings

Eric Meyer vs Will Massimini

No postseason meetings

Anthony Battle vs Jeffery McDonald

No postseason meetings

William Battle vs Cory Puffett

Sabol Bowl III rematch (Cory won)

Anthony Battle vs Brandon Saunders

2013 NFC Championship rematch (Brandon won)

Cory Puffett vs Alex Mayo

No postseason meetings

Evan Ash vs Eric Meyer

No postseason meetings

Jeffery McDonald vs Alex Kincaid

No postseason meetings

William Battle vs Sean Kennedy

2022 Wild Card rematch (William won)

Will Massimini vs Stephen April

No postseason meetings

Sean Kennedy vs Cory Puffett

No postseason meetings

Will Massimini vs Evan Ash

No postseason meetings

Brandon Saunders vs Jeffery McDonald

No postseason meetings

Alex Mayo vs William Battle

2023 Wild Card rematch (Alex won)

Eric Meyer vs Stephen April

No postseason meetings

Alex Kincaid vs Anthony Battle

No postseason meetings