Ranking the best playoff series left, plus an argument over college football rankings

By / / Sports / 6 minutes of reading



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Good morning! We’re ranking things today.

Things, Ranked: Get out your popcorn

We are finally through the second rounds of both the NBA and NHL playoffs, which means we will get all progressive and re-seed our series rankings from a couple of weeks ago. We’re going worst to first here, with unassailable watchability data included:

4. NHL: Hurricanes-Panthers
Apologies to Florida, our defending NHL champion, but I can’t muster a ton of enthusiasm for this matchup. Carolina has even acknowledged its boring brand of hockey but doesn’t care what we think, which 
 fair. The boring team has our second-highest odds to win it all, which is interesting. I’m sure this series will go seven games with four overtime finishes now. 

Popcorn meter: 🍿🍿
Pulse prediction: Canes in 6

3. NBA: Timberwolves-Thunder
To be honest, we’re splitting hairs here. None of these series are actually boring, and I feel bad putting such a good matchup down here, but this is reality. Anthony Edwards facing Shai Gilgeous-Alexander is fun, and whoever wins this will reach a new apex for his team (Minnesota) or the current core (Oklahoma City). 

Popcorn meter: 🍿🍿🍿🍿
Pulse prediction: Thunder in 6

2. NHL: Oilers-Stars
Both outcomes here are delicious: Either Edmonton returns to the final, the site of its massive-choke-turned-massive-comeback loss last year, or Mikko Rantanen and Dallas advance to potentially face Carolina, with whom Rantanen spurned a long-term extension. Fun! 

Popcorn meter: 🍿🍿🍿🍿
Pulse prediction: Oilers in 7

1. NBA: Knicks-Pacers
I mean, this has to be here. Built on a legendary rivalry in the ’90s, burnished by last year’s playoff series and sealed by the WWE of it all, this is the best series of the playoffs thus far, maybe in either sport. The winner will make the finals for the first time in at least 25 years. Two elite point guards battling, no matter what Tyrese Haliburton’s peers say. 

Popcorn meter: 🍿🍿🍿🍿🍿🍿🍿🍿
Pulse prediction: Knicks in 7

News to Know

Eagles lobby to protect tush push
The reigning Super Bowl champions are calling teams around the league, sources told The Athletic, to protect the “tush push,” the play made famous by Philadelphia, which could be banned at owners meetings this week. I still think this is all silly — the play should be perfectly legal, the Eagles are just really good at it. Also in Philly, Nick Sirianni got a multiyear contract extension after winning a ring.

In the air, a misunderstanding
Juan Soto flies on the team plane with the rest of his Mets teammates, sources confirmed to The Athletic yesterday, after a dustup in the media caused by a simple misconception. During Sunday’s broadcast, ESPN’s Karl Ravech mentioned one of Soto’s contract perks, which includes the team helping his family travel to some games. WFAN morning host Boomer Esiason took that to mean Soto flew private to all games, separate from the team, and thus the brouhaha began. Whoops. More context here.

More news

  • Caitlin Clark said bigotry has “no place” in the WNBA as the league investigates allegations of hateful fan comments toward Angel Reese. Read our full report here.
  • Two-time defending Indy 500 winner Josef Newgarden will start at the back of the field Sunday after his car, along with teammate Will Power’s car, failed inspection. More details here.
  • The preliminary USMNT Gold Cup rosters premiered yesterday, with interesting inclusions and omissions due to this summer’s Club World Cup.
  • The first-ever PWHL expansion draft will happen next month. See all the rules here.
  • 49ers star LB Fred Warner agreed to a contract extension to make him the NFL’s highest-paid linebacker. More here.

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Rankings, Pt. II: Yes, we’re doing this

Today is a sunny day in May, and my employer is making me mad about college football. 

This week is also a rankings week on the college football desk, which is a lovely thing. There is nothing better to do with our offseason time than to argue about the greatest teams and players of this century. Unless those rankings personally affect me. 

Let’s start with the teams, which you can see in full here. I want to focus on the top two:

  1. 2001 Miami
  2. 2019 LSU

Sigh. Sighhhhh. I will never be fully objective here, because I had the pleasure of watching my alma mater complete the greatest run in college football history in 2019. Joe Burrow, Ja’Marr Chase, Justin Jefferson and an unstoppable offensive revolution. It was magic.  

But I do admit I am a bit biased, so I asked Until Saturday author Jason Kirk for an objective take: 

💬 It’s hard to argue against 2001 Miami, a team loaded with future All-Pros. I will try anyway. Based only on what these Canes did in college, rather than as future pros, advanced metrics don’t consider them even the best team of the decade — and was the QB of the millennium’s best CFB team really Ken Dorsey? Give me 2019 LSU, a team that also had plenty of pro talent, including a massive upgrade at QB: Heisman winner Joe Burrow. More important is what the Tigers did against a brutal schedule, beating five final top-eight teams by an average of 20 points each. To top that, 2001 Miami would’ve needed to obliterate everything on its schedule, not require a bouncy miracle to beat Boston College.

We also ranked the best players of the 2000s today, and you won’t find any quibbles from me. Here’s your top four: 

  1. Burrow
  2. Ndamukong Suh
  3. Reggie Bush
  4. Cam Newton

It’s easy to see gripes on behalf of Bush, but no one swept through this sport like Cam. He remains the best athlete I’ve ever seen play, pummeling linebackers and running away from speedy cornerbacks with the same gusto. Auburn was meh before he got there, went undefeated, and was awful after he left. He is singular. 

Read the full player rankings here. I love college football.

What to Watch

đŸ“ș NHL: Panthers at Hurricanes
8 p.m. ET on TNT/Max
Our first hockey conference final begins, and we’ll see how Florida is feeling after a rousing blowout win on the road against the Maple Leafs in Game 7 on Sunday. Carolina has had nearly a week of rest. I loved this story about Canes GM Eric Tulsky, “The Doctor,” who isn’t stressed about anything. 

đŸ“ș NBA: Timberwolves at Thunder
8:30 p.m. ET on ESPN
Can Minnesota survive Oklahoma City’s defense? Adjustments will be key, but we’ll learn a lot here in Game 1. 

Get tickets to games like these here.

Pulse Picks

I found this story on the coming ABS robot ump system, ahem, striking. Players are worried, and there is a margin of error with the robots that hasn’t been discussed publicly. Read all the details here. 

John Hollinger was in Chicago for the NBA Draft Combine, where the lottery shock was still a massive topic of conversation. What was more interesting: the ripple effects of the Mavs’ win. 

Fixing the Nuggets for next season will be trickier than you think. And no, it’s not just “find guys to play alongside Nikola Jokić.” 

North Wilkesboro Speedway was once left for dead. Now, it has a different problem: Should it get a NASCAR points race? Jordan Bianchi breaks it down. 

Most-clicked in the newsletter yesterday: Our story on the WNBA investigating alleged hateful comments directed at Sky center Angel Reese. 

Most-read on the website yesterday: Sam Amick’s story on the Thunder, who “stayed in character” during the playoffs’ biggest test.

Ticketing links in this article are provided by partners of The Athletic. Restrictions may apply. The Athletic maintains full editorial independence. Partners have no control over or input into the reporting or editing process and do not review stories before publication.

(Top photo: Trevor Ruszkowski / Imagn Images)



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