Understanding the 2026 BAL Playoffs Rankings and Brackets

The 2026 Basketball Africa League (BAL) season is set to reach its climax with the Playoff, which are scheduled to take place later this month.

This follows the conclusion of the Kalahari and Sahara Conferences, in which the 12 teams played a total of 30 games from 27 March to 3 May in Pretoria, South Africa, and Rabat, Morocco.

Eight top teams from the two conferences remain in contention for the 2026 BAL trophy, while the four teams that finished bottom across both conferences were eliminated. 

Before the playoffs take place from 22–31 May in Kigali, Rwanda, here is an overview of the 2026 BAL playoff rankings and brackets.

Given that four teams – two from each conference – finished with the same win-loss record of 4–1, the tiebreaker was applied: the team with the highest point differential was ranked higher. 

This means that Petro de Luanda’s loss to RSSB Tigers and Al Ahly’s loss to Club Africain during their respective matchups in the Kalahari and Sahara conferences had no influence on the 2026 BAL Playoffs rankings; instead, the teams' higher scoring differential decided the tiebreaker.

Petro de Luanda registered the highest point differential by any team, finishing with a surplus of +106. This was followed by Al Ahly with +38, the RSSB Tigers with +28, and Club Africain with +18.  

Consequently, Petro de Luanda were ranked No. 1, followed by Al Ahly (No. 2), RSSB Tigers (No. 3) and Club Africain (No. 4).

Meanwhile, three teams from the two conferences finished with the same win-loss record of 3–2. Al Ahly Ly ranked higher than the other two teams with a 3–2 record due to their higher point differential of +64. 

However, a head-to-head tiebreaker was used to determine the highest-ranked team between ASC Ville de Dakar (+16) and FUS Rabat (+51), who faced each other in the same conference. ASC Ville de Dakar defeated FUS Rabat 67–66.

Dar City and Nairobi City Thunder both finished with a 2–3 win–loss record, but Dar City advanced to the playoffs due to their head-to-head advantage and higher point differential. Dar City defeated the Nairobi City Thunder 90–85.

Brackets

The Playoffs matchups see higher-ranked teams take on lower-ranked teams, with the No. 1 team facing the No. 8 team, the No. 2 team facing the No. 7 team, the No. 3 team facing the No. 6 team, and the No. 4 team facing the No. 5 team.

In the quarterfinals, teams will play a two-game series, with the team that registers the highest aggregate points advancing to the semi-finals.

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