Volume 26:43

MLB Playoff Race

The MLB regular season is coming to a close. So how is the playoff race shaping up? In the AL, the Tampa Bay Rays and New York Yankees have already clinched their playoff spots. Tampa has a four-game lead on New York for the AL East crown and likely the #1 seed in the postseason. The Boston Red Sox sit at third in the AL East and are expected to clinch their own playoff spot in the coming days. The 79-75 Cleveland Guardians have a one-game advantage over the Chicago White Sox in a race for the AL Central division title, and possibly a bye in the playoffs. Meanwhile, the AL West race is even tighter. The 77-77 Houston Astros hold the tie-breaker over the 77-77 Texas Rangers. The Rangers sit one game behind the White Sox for the final AL wild card spot. The Toronto Blue Jays and Baltimore Orioles also remain in striking distance– they are two and three games behind the White Sox, respectively. The Detroit Tigers, Seattle Mariners, and Minnesota Twins are all technically still in the playoff push. However, it is very unlikely that they get in.

In the NL, the playoff teams are all but set. The Milwaukee Brewers and Los Angeles Dodgers have both clinched their divisions. They are likely to secure the top two seeds, as the Brewers are at 96-58 and the Dodgers at 94-60. The Atlanta Braves follow them at 90-64. The Braves are five games ahead of the Philadelphia Phillies in the NL East. Philadelphia is 85-69. They hold the tiebreaker over the San Diego Padres, who have an identical record to them. However the Chicago Cubs are also 85-69, and currently hold the top wild card spot. The Arizona Diamondbacks and Pittsburgh Pirates are still alive, but very unlikely to make any noise. So let’s predict the remainder of the regular season and see how everything plays out.

Here is my predicted playoff field:

AL:

1. Tampa Bay Rays

2. Chicago White Sox

3. Houston Astros

4. New York Yankees

5. Boston Red Sox

6. Cleveland Guardians

NL:

1. Milwaukee Brewers

2. Los Angeles Dodgers

3. Atlanta Braves

4. Chicago Cubs

5. Philadelphia Phillies

6. San Diego Padres

Wild Card:

Astros 2-1 Guardians

Yankees 2-0 Red Sox

Braves 2-1 Padres

Cubs 2-1 Phillies

Divisional:

Rays 2-4 Yankees

White Sox 4-3 Astros

Brewers 3-4 Cubs

Dodgers 4-2 Braves

League Championships:

White Sox 1-4 Yankees

Dodgers 3-4 Cubs

World Series

Game 1: Cubs @ Yankees

Yankees win 5-2

Game 2: Cubs @ Yankees

Cubs win 7-6/10

Game 3: Yankees @ Cubs

Cubs win 6-4

Game 4: Yankees @ Cubs

Yankees win 3-1

Game 5: Yankees @ Cubs

Yankees win 5-4

Game 6: Cubs @ Yankees

Cubs win 7-3

Game 7: Cubs @ Yankees

Starters: 

Shota Imanaga-Cubs

Gerrit Cole-Yankees

1st Inning: Cubs 1-0

2nd Inning: Cubs 1-0

3rd Inning Cubs 1-0

4th Inning: Cubs 3-1

5th Inning: Cubs 3-1

6th Inning: Cubs 3-2

7th Inning: Cubs 3-2

8th Inning: Tied 3-3

9th Inning:

Carson Kelly-strikeout

Michael Bush-double

Ian Happ-groundout

Nico Hoerner-flyout

Anthony Volpe-flyout

Ryan McMahon-flyout

Trent Grisham-single

Aaron Judge-double, Grisham scores

Yankees win Game 7 4-3

Yankees win World Series 4-3

College Football Week 2 Recap

Week 2 of the college football season is behind us. So who got the shocking upset win, pulled of the late comeback, stunned the #1 team? Well, the answer to all of those questions is the Texas Longhorns. #4 Texas was hosting the #1 Ohio State Buckeyes. Last season, the Longhorns lost to the Buckeyes 14-7 in Columbus. OSU quickly jumped on top, taking a 10-0 lead at the end of the first quarter. Texas responded with their only points of the first three quarters, a field goal. Ohio State’s lead swelled to 23-3 before the third quarter was over. But Arch Manning and the Longhorns weren’t done. Early in the fourth, Texas cut the Buckeye lead to two possessions with their first touchdown of the night. Then, after forcing an Ohio State punt, Texas drove right back down the field and put another touchdown on the board. The Buckeyes got the ball back with a 23-17 lead. They managed to take the clock down to 4:16 left, but missed a 45-yard field goal attempt. That missed kick proved costly, as Manning drove the Longhorns down the field and capped the drive with the game-tying touchdown. The extra point went through the uprights, and suddenly Texas was leading. Ohio State failed to reach the end zone on their hail mary attempt and the game ended with a Texas interception as time expired. 

Other notable Week 2 college football games:

• Missouri Tigers beat their rival the Kansas Jayhawks 38-21

• Oklahoma State Cowboys upset #6 Oregon Ducks 39-31

  • Oregon beat Oklahoma State 69-3 in 2025

  • The Ducks likely did not expecting that strong of a Cowboys performance after Oklahoma State lost to the Tulsa Golden Hurricane last week

  • Oklahoma State ended a 12-game overall losing streak and 21-game losing streak against FBS opponents

• Michigan Wolverines stunned the Oklahoma Sooners with a 17-10 victory

  • Michigan has many confused after handling Oklahoma but struggling against Western Michigan

• BYU Cougars took down Arizona Wildcats 28-17

• Iowa Hawkeyes won the Cy Hawk game versus Iowa State Cyclones 16-13

• North Texas Mean Green beat the UNLV Rebels 44-6

  • What is happening with UNLV?

  • They went into this season as Group of Five favorites to make the playoffs, but those hopes are over

• Boise State Broncos beat the Memphis Tigers 38-20

Week 3 College Football Predictions

• Louisville Cardinals over SMU Mustangs 34-28

  • This is a battle many are calling “The Game for ACC 2nd” as both of these teams are favored to win their remaining ACC games. The winner is expected to finish 2nd and face the Miami Hurricanes in the conference title game

• LSU Tigers 36-33 over Ole Miss Rebels

  • The “Lane Kiffin Bowl”

  • Lane Kiffin jumped from Ole Miss to LSU this offseason, which became its own big controversy

• North Dakota State Bison 40-17 over Sacramento State Hornets

  • Both of these teams moved from the FCS to FBS this past offseason

• Texas Tech Red Raiders beat Houston Cougars 28-26 on Friday night

  • After beating Houston, Texas Tech cemented themselves as Big 12 favorites

Cole Times College Football Top 25

1. Texas Longhorns

2. Indiana Hoosiers

3. Miami (FL) Hurricanes

4. Ohio State Buckeyes

5. Georgia Bulldogs

6. Notre Dame Fighting Irish

7. LSU Tigers

8. Texas A&M Aggies

9. BYU Cougars

10. Alabama Crimson Tide

11. USC Trojans

12. Texas Tech Red Raiders

13. Ole Miss Rebels

14. Penn State Nittany Lions

15. SMU Mustangs

16. Tennessee Volunteers

17. Iowa Hawkeyes

18. Utah Utes

19. Missouri Tigers

20. Virginia Cavaliers

21. Louisville Cardinals

22. Oregon Ducks

23. Michigan Wolverines

24. Oklahoma Sooners

25. Washington Huskies

NFL Update

Week 1 of the NFL season is complete, and Week 2 is looming. So here is an NFL update with power rankings.

• The Seattle Seahawks and San Francisco 49ers beat the New England Patriots and Los Angeles Rams

  • Go to the last volume to read more about these two matchups

• The Cincinnati Bengals beat the Tampa Bay Buccaneers 33-27

  • Cincinnati forced four Tampa Bay fumbles

• The Detroit Lions beat the New Orleans Saints 31-30

  • New Orleans failed a two-point conversion late in overtime to lose

• The New York Jets beat the Tennessee Titans 23-10

• The Baltimore Ravens beat the Indianpolis Colts 41-23

  • Lamar Jackson had 324 passing yards, a passing touchdown, and a running touchdown

  • Derrick Henry rushed for 144 yards and three touchdowns

• The Pittsburgh Steelers beat the Atlanta Falcons 20-13

  • Atlanta started third-string QB Cooper Rush

• The Chicago Bears beat the Carolina Panthers 59-37

  • This was the highest scoring Week 1 game ever

  • Caleb Williams had 269 pasing yards, 65 rushing yards, two passing touchdowns, two rushing touchdowns

  • D’Andre Swift rushed for 124 yards and three touchdowns

  • Kyle Monangai had 100 rushing yards and one touchdown

• The Jacksonville Jaguars beat the Cleveland Browns 34-10

• The Buffalo Bills beat the Houston Texans 36-31

  • Josh Allen threw for 334 yards, and scored four total touchdowns

• The Las Vegas Raiders beat the Miami Dolphins 27-13

• The Minnesota Vikings beat the Green Bay Packers 39-22

  • Kyler Murray was sidelined early with a concussion and didn’t return

  • Minnesota scored 29 unanswered points to win

• The Philadelphia Eagles beat the Washington Commanders 24-22

• The Arizona Cardinals beat the Los Angeles Cardinals 26-14

• The New York Giants beat the Dallas Cowboys 28-20

• The Kansas City Chiefs beat the Denver Broncos 31-10

  • Kenneth Walker III had 173 rushing yards and a touchdown in his Chiefs debut

  • Patrick Mahomes had 184 yards and two touchdowns

Power Rankings

1. Buffalo Bills

2. Seattle Seahawks

3. Baltimore Ravens

4. San Francisco 49ers

5. Chicago Bears

6. Los Angeles Rams

7. Kansas City Chiefs

8. Philadelphia Eagles

9. Houston Texans

10. Detroit Lions

11. Denver Broncos

12. Jacksonville Jaguars

13. Los Angeles Chargers

14. Dallas Cowboys

15. Cincinnati Bengals

16. New England Patriots

17. Green Bay Packers

18. Minnesota Vikings

19. New York Giants

20. Indianpolis Colts

21. Tampa Bay Buccaneers

22. Pittsburgh Steelers

23. New York Jets

24. New Orleans Saints

25. Arizona Cardinals

26. Washington Commanders

27. Las Vegas Raiders

28. Carolina Panthers

29. Atlanta Falcons

30. Tennessee Titans

31. Miami Dolphins

32. Cleveland Browns