When we talk about the Tampa Bay Rays, it’s usually regarding their plucky ability to surprise the baseball world and win more games than expected despite a meager payroll, sparse attendance an...
https://fivethirtyeight.com/features/tampa-bay-rays-hot-start/
The puck drops on the 2023 NHL playoffs on Monday, which means the most grueling postseason in all of professional sports will soon commence. In anticipation, let’s run down the list of top Sta...
https://fivethirtyeight.com/features/the-nhl-playoffs-are-here-can-anyone-stop-the-big-bad-bruins/
It warms this writer’s baseball-loving heart to see the MLB standings finally beginning to fill in anew this spring. Yes, that’s with an emphasis on “beginning” — we’re only a week in...
There were many impressive things about LSU’s victory over Iowa in the women’s NCAA Tournament championship game Sunday — from the Tigers’ first basketball title in school history to Kim ...
As we look ahead to Opening Day on Thursday, plenty of usual suspects lead the World Series odds in our 2023 MLB forecast interactive. But what you can’t see is how much variance there was arou...
As the men’s and women’s NCAA tournaments roll into their second week, starting with tonight’s slate of Sweet 16 men’s games, it’s time to take stock of just who the best and most excit...
https://fivethirtyeight.com/features/who-are-the-brightest-stars-left-in-march-madness/
The month of madness is upon us, and it didn’t take long for the moniker to deliver. In the third game of the opening full day of the 2023 men’s NCAA Tournament, No. 7 seed Missouri advanced ...
https://fivethirtyeight.com/features/the-stats-told-us-to-pick-utah-state-were-they-wrong/
On top of all those strange new rules, there’s another twist to baseball this March: the return of the World Baseball Classic, the always-entertaining tournament that is essentially baseball’...
https://fivethirtyeight.com/features/whos-the-team-to-beat-at-the-world-baseball-classic/
We knew MLB’s sweeping rule changes were going to shake up baseball heading into the 2023 season. But it’s been fascinating to watch exactly how much of an adjustment players are having to ma...
https://fivethirtyeight.com/features/mlb-rule-changes-winners-losers/
A pair of championships are on the line at UFC 285 in Las Vegas Saturday night, and both title bouts offer a study in contrasts. In the main event, former light heavyweight champion Jon Jones wil...
Just about everyone knows Wayne Gretzky is the greatest hockey player of all time. (I mean, come on, it’s right there in the nickname.) But there are still those who’ll argue for a select few...
Big baseball rule changes are coming this season, starting with Friday’s spring training openers. Among MLB’s many on-field adjustments: a pitch clock that limits pitchers to 15 seconds (or 2...
https://fivethirtyeight.com/features/how-mlbs-new-rules-could-change-baseball-in-2023/
Generally speaking, buying a Major League Baseball team is one of the best investments you can make. Franchise valuations have skyrocketed over the past few decades, even relative to other growin...
maya (Maya Sweedler, editor): Super Bowl LVII has just ended, and not a single part of the game disappointed. (We’ll get into *that* penalty call later.) In a long-awaited matchup between the c...
In some ways, it’s not surprising to see the Kansas City Chiefs and Philadelphia Eagles facing off in Super Bowl LVII. These two teams are pretty familiar with the championship limelight, as bo...
https://fivethirtyeight.com/features/how-the-eagles-and-chiefs-got-back-to-the-super-bowl/
While it has been far from a banner season for the Los Angeles Lakers, one bright spot has been LeBron James’s pursuit of an NBA record that was once considered unbreakable: Kareem Abdul-Jabbar...
https://fivethirtyeight.com/features/lebrons-path-to-the-nbas-all-time-scoring-crown-in-2-charts/
The teams are set for Super Bowl LVII, and now it’s time for the longest two weeks in sports — the wait between the NFL’s conference championships and the Big Game itself. One upside of the...
https://fivethirtyeight.com/features/which-stars-are-going-to-blow-up-in-super-bowl-lvii/
maya (Maya Sweedler, editor): We have our Super Bowl! And just like we all predicted in last week’s chat, it’ll be the Philadelphia Eagles versus the Kansas City Chiefs. (My crow … it’s d...
maya (Maya Sweedler, editor): After an almost (sorry, New York teams) equally fabulous divisional round, we’re looking ahead to some fabulous football in next week’s conference championships,...
It’s usually a special occasion when LeBron James has one of his patented statistical eruptions. In Monday’s victory over the Houston Rockets, James notched a hyper-efficient 48 points, to go...
https://fivethirtyeight.com/features/nba-stars-are-stuffing-stat-sheets-like-never-before-but-why/