Ben Khayat ’28: Only one Big Ten team will make the College Football Playoffs. The sample size is small, but the Big Ten has been downright shameful to start the 2026 season. The obvious examples are the Michigan Wolverines coming back from the dead to prevent a home loss to the Western Michigan Broncos, and the Rutgers Scarlet Knights succumbing to the UMass Minutemen, a team that didn’t win a single game last season. The rest of the conference hasn’t been much better. The Oregon Ducks came into the season ranked #2 in the country, but came up limping in their one-score win over the Boise State Broncos before getting dispatched by Oklahoma State on Saturday. The Ohio State Buckeyes led 23-3 against the Texas Longhorns, only to allow 21 unanswered points and choke what would have been the first statement win the conference has had this season. Come January, I can’t imagine many of these “top” teams will have impressed anybody enough to get an at-large bid over some other power conference opponents.

Luca D. Jordan ’28: The Chicago Bears will make the Superbowl this season. After having an amazing breakout season under head coach Ben Johnson and making their first playoff appearance since 2020, the Chicago Bears have shown explosive growth with a new offensive direction. Defined by their comeback wins, the Bears almost clinched the semi-finals last season, but quarterback Caleb Williams threw a bad pass that led to an interception against the Los Angeles Rams. Despite an unfortunate play that ended his season early, Williams has shown flashes of an all time great quarterback. When it comes down to the last few seconds, Williams is known to perform herculean throws to save the game. Although their offseason wasn’t particularly exciting, expect a surprising surge in performance across the board from the entire roster. Previous champs Seattle Seahawks are dead in the water without Sam Darnold and the Rams have added some big names to their roster, but it’s just stars over substance. The Bears have a few decades of an underdog legacy behind them, and that’s too much destiny to ignore. 

Bryan Wolfe ’27: The New York Knicks are running it back! I have faith. Even though the Philadelphia 76ers have the starting five of doom and despair, I believe in the king of New York Jalen Brunson to lead us back to the promised land.

Chava Thiell ’29: Alexander Zverev will finish the 2026 ATP season with an ATP finals win and the World #1 ranking. As unfortunate as it may be for diehard Sincaraz fans, Jannik Sinner isn’t healthy and Carlos Alcaraz is still adjusting to his return to tennis after a four-month hiatus. After Zverev clinched two Slams this year, his momentum cannot seem to be stopped. Conversely, I think Aryba Sabalenka will walk away with the WTA Finals trophy, inspired by a heartbreaking US Open final loss to rival Elena Rybakina and a mission to come away from the season with a big tournament win. 

Eli Sandalow ’28: The New England Patriots will go 4-13. Drake Maye looks like he regressed, AJ Brown is prone to long-term injuries and Rhamondre Stevenson is one of the most overrated running backs in the NFL right now.

Alyssa Wu ‘29: The Dodgers won’t three-peat this year.The Dodgers have a stacked lineup, with Shohei Ohtani, Freddie Freeman and Mookie Betts, plus a star-studded starting rotation of Yoshinobu Yamamoto, Blake Snell and Tyler Glasnow. Along with their veterans, new acquisitions this year include stars like Tarik Skubal, a two-time American League Cy Young winner. Despite this, the Dodgers have not dominated through the season as many expected. They went 13-14 in August, though they have found their footing again in September. Injuries raise more concerns; Ohtani only returned to the lineup on September 23 after a stint on the injured list and is not expected to pitch for the remainder of the season. Reliever Blake Treinen, who has helped bring three championships to the Dodgers in his six seasons, suffered a season-ending injury on September 26. With Kyle Tucker and Andy Pages being the only starting position players under the age of 30, the question is whether these Dodger veterans will be healthy and as productive as they used to be during the postseason. The MLB Playoff bracket itself does not always reward the ‘best’ team. The Dodgers in 2022 are one of the clearest examples of this. In 2022, they went 111-51 and won 14 of 19 regular-season games against the Padres. However, after winning Game 1 of the NLDS, they lost three straight to the San Diego Padres, ending their season. The postseason can bring plenty of surprises, and a team’s regular season does not always predict its success in the playoffs. The Dodgers had to come back from a 3-2 deficit to win last year’s World Series, and this year’s team seems to be much more vulnerable. The Dodgers are sure to make it far in the playoffs, but another championship is far from guaranteed.