ON TODAY'S SCORECARD
Get Outta Here!

This is hard to believe: In recent NBA history, especially the 2020s, defending champions have struggled to repeat or make deep playoff runs the following season, often due to parity, injuries, roster changes, fatigue, and stronger competition.

The 2025 NBA champions are the Oklahoma City Thunder (defeating the Indiana Pacers in 7 games in the Finals, with Shai Gilgeous-Alexander as Finals MVP). They enter the 2026 playoffs as strong favorites after posting a dominant 64-18 record (.780 win percentage), the No. 1 seed in the West, and the league's best net rating (+11.1)

Repeating as champions is rare overall: It has happened only about 29-34% of the time historically when looking at back-to-back wins, with just 23 successful defenses in league history (concentrated in dynasties like the 1950s-60s Celtics, 1990s Bulls, early 2000s Lakers, and 2010s Warriors). Many more reach the Finals but fall short.

Recent 2020s "curse" or parity trend:

• 2024 Celtics: Lost in Conference Semifinals (2025 playoffs).

• 2023 Nuggets: Lost in second round.

• 2022 Warriors: Lost in second round.

• 2021 Bucks: Lost in second round.

• 2020 Lakers: Lost in first round.

• Similar early exits for 2019 Raptors, etc.
  

This has contributed to seven straight unique champions (longest streak ever), reflecting high league parity rather than just bad luck.

More strikingly, see our STAT OF THE WEEK below that will knock off your socks.

Why the Recent Decline in Title Defenses? Factors include salary cap constraints leading to roster turnover, load management/injuries after long playoff runs, opponents adapting or improving, and overall league balance (more teams with star talent and depth). Post-title "hangover" is real but not universal

OKC is well-positioned to challenge the trend: They have retained core talent (high continuity), boast elite defense and offense, young stars in their prime (SGA, Chet Holmgren, etc.), and historic regular-season dominance similar to past repeat contenders. They are frequently listed as top title favorites. However, the 2020s pattern shows even strong teams can face upsets from motivated challengers.

In summary, while long-term history shows occasional repeats by elite teams, the modern trend—especially this decade—points to tough sledding for defenders, with early-to-mid playoff exits more common amid parity. The Thunder represent one of the stronger bets to break that in 2026. For the most current bracket and matchups, check ongoing NBA coverage as the 2026 postseason begins.

However, I wouldn’t bet on it. Down go the Thunder!

Moving forward, the ‘Grinding Out the Profits’ section in the Coffee Club will share exclusive insight into the 2026 College Football season directly from the 2026 Playbook Football Preview Guide magazine. Check out today’s insight:

‘STAT YOU WILL LIKE’:

New Florida head coach Jon Sumrall is 17-1 ATS away versus sub .900 opponents.

Back at the NFL scouting combine, Texans general manager Nick Caserio described the trade speculation around C.J. Stroud as “moronic.” He also called the exercising of Stroud’s fifth-year option a “no-brainer” a few days ago.

But one has to wonder if it would also be ridiculous to consider extending Stroud at a time when Houston just made Will Anderson Jr., an edge rusher who went one pick after Stroud in the 2023 draft, the highest-paid defensive player in football. 

Having the offensive and defensive rookies of the year from the same draft class is a luxury issue, but we’re going to discover in real time what happens when those players’ career arcs begin to resemble less of a steady ascension on parallel tracks.

The Jets didn’t have to wonder. Both Sauce Gardner and Garrett Wilson were extended within days of one another in 2025. Ever since their starlit rookie campaigns in ’22, the team has made a conscious effort to market them together and promote them as a kind of dual-headed hydra of the future. That is, until new management deemed Gardner tradeworthy in a sweetheart deal that even members of the Jets’ organization employed when Gardner was drafted would have taken without much hesitation.  

Here’s where a situation can be deemed “nothing” until it’s “something.” Stroud is entering the final year of his rookie contract before the club option kicks in for 2027. Then, there’s the arduous franchise tag year standoff after that. 

Stroud has not been able to return to form after an incredible rookie season. The team has changed offensive coordinators and is in the process of retooling the offensive line. Stroud’s initial offensive coordinator, Bobby Slowik, was let go and wound up becoming an integral part of Mike McDaniel’s staff; so much so that Slowik was a kind of pseudo coordinator for the Dolphins during McDaniel’s final season and received enough positive reviews to get the title promotion under new coach Jeff Hafley. 

Laremy Tunsil was traded in a move that was couched as more of a locker room-based decision than a skill-related one. Tytus Howard was traded. Coming into 2026, there will be three new starting offensive linemen (plus whatever Houston comes up with in the draft). Stroud will also have a new quarterbacks coach after Jerrod Johnson, who had been with the quarterback since he was drafted, was let go after the ’25 season.

2026 will indeed be a year of reckoning for Stroud and the Texans.

The Stanley Cup Playoffs are set to get underway today on Saturday. We’ve reached the point in the year where hockey fans, both casual and die-hard, come forth with a plethora of questions about the league’s slightly bizarre playoff format.

It’s a poorly structured system that many fans aren’t too fond of. And for good reason. Before explaining what’s wrong with the setup, let’s briefly go over how seeding for the Stanley Cup Playoffs works.

Sixteen of the NHL’s 32 teams qualified for the playoffs, including eight from both the Western and Eastern conferences. The top three teams from each of the league’s four divisions make up the first 12 playoff seeds, while the final two seeds in each conference are determined by the wild-card race.

The division winner with the best record in each conference will face off against the lower of the conference’s two wild-card teams, while the second division winner matches up with the better of the two wild-card teams. For example, this year the Avalanche and Golden Knights won the two Western Conference divisions. Because Colorado had a better record overall, it will face the West’s bottom wild-card team––the Kings––in the first round, while the Knights will play the conference’s top wild card team, the Mammoth.

The NHL’s unique playoff format comes with its share of pros and cons. The format causes divisional rivals to meet in the opening round, which has resulted in many repeat matchups over the past few years. Most notably, the Kings and Oilers have met in the first round of the playoffs in each of the last four seasons. That’s exciting in that it enhances their rivalry on a yearly basis, but seeing the same two teams meet in the opening round can also get a bit stale, and also takes away the opportunity for fans to see some other intriguing matchups.

Additionally, 2026 is prime example of how the current format overvalues winning the division. The Golden Knights’ 95 points are the most in the Pacific Division, but in the Western Conference as a whole, Vegas has just the fourth-best record. The Wild and Stars, who placed second and third in the Central Division behind the Avs respectively, both fared significantly better than the Knights in the regular season. Despite that, Dallas and Minnesota will meet in the first round, meaning one of them will be bounced early in the playoffs despite an exceptional regular season.

The NHL’s playoff format effectively penalizes teams that succeed in the regular season but fail to win their division. The Wild, who had 104 points in the regular season, will be a No. 3 seed in their section of the bracket, and are effectively treated like a No. 6 seed in the West because they’ll likely face the President’s Trophy-winning Avs in round two.

The same problem exists for the East, wherein four of the best five teams in the conference are all in the Atlantic Division.

The NHL needs to revert back to its old playoff format, one which essentially mirrors that of the NBA’s postseason, not including the play-in tournament. It’s the system they moved away from starting in the 2013-14 season, as the league aimed to up the ante on rivalries between divisional foes.

Division winners should both be guaranteed a spot in the playoffs, but they should not be guaranteed a top-two seed. Additionally, there should be no automatic playoff bids for coming in second and third in your respective division. Instead, outside of the conference winner, the remaining seven teams should be ranked in the order of their regular-season records.

The Golden Knights winning the Pacific Division is a big accomplishment, but they didn’t have as strong of a regular season as some of the teams ranked below them. Winning the division should serve as a means of guaranteeing a spot in the playoffs, but nothing more.

If the NHL seeded its teams one to eight, here’s how things would tentatively look in the West:

1. Avalanche
2. Stars
3. Wild
4. Golden Knights
5. Mammoth
6. Oilers
7. Ducks
8. Kings

The first-round matchups would be as follows: Avalanche vs. Kings, Stars vs. Ducks, Wild vs. Oilers and Golden Knights vs. Mammoth.

And here’s how it would tentatively look for the East:

1. Hurricanes
2. Sabres
3. Lightning
4. Canadiens
5. Bruins
6. Senators
7. Penguins
8. Flyers

The first-round matchups would be as follows: Hurricanes vs. Senators, Sabres vs. Flyers, Lightning vs. Penguins and Canadiens vs. Bruins.

It’s a more balanced format that would result in a much higher chance of the top teams meeting in the conference finals. Instead, the top three teams in the Western Conference will meet before the end of round two, and only one will qualify for the conference finals.