We're now seven weeks into the season and even though #1 is far ahead of everyone else, it's still anyone's game. Anyone could walk away from the Royal Rumble with the championship. With five more weeks and one more pay-per-view left, that leaves forty-nine more games left to be played.
Ben has been dominant the entire season so far, opening the initial standings ranked #1 and only increasing the gap between him and everyone else since then. He's looking every bit as strong as he did in Season 8 with an 85.06% win percentage, just barely lower than the 87% he finished with in Season 8. Although, there were only fifty games played in that season while he's already played seventy-seven this season. At 315 points already, can anyone stop him from winning a championship this season?
Chris is back for the first time since Season 1 and picking up right where he left off. After a slow start, he's fought his way up to #2 and doesn't appear to be moving anytime soon (either up or down). There's potential for a rematch of Season 1's championship game with Ben if the standings remain as they currently are. Nothing would match the 'Old School' theme as well as that.
Jeff and Terry round out the top four with very similar win-loss records. Both are no strangers to playing in the postseason and both are clearly capable of winning another championship. In fact, every single championship game since Season 9 has featured one of them. And it's not outside the realm of possibility for Ben to drop from #1, allowing a potential all-Cagle final.
Austin is currently on the outside looking in to the top four with a 47.4% win percentage. However, he does currently have the second-most points. And, the last time he was ranked #5, he jumped into the playoff at the last minute and went on to win the Season 11 Championship.
Carl still has a chance due to the fact that he has silently stayed within ten wins of fourth place. A push to make the playoffs would make this his best season ever and would be his first ever playoff appearance.
Madelyn and Jacob are battling for seventh place at the moment but that doesn't mean they're out of competition. It's extremely unlikely, but both are still mathematically in the running for that #4 ranking and a shot in the playoffs. Jacob currently sits twenty-two wins back while Madelyn is eighteen wins back. But... there are forty-nine games left.
As a reminder, the playoff structure is different than any season before. The #1 ranked team will not play in a playoff game. They will automatically advance to the championship game. #2-4 will face off in a triple threat to determine his opponent. That said, let's look at some hypothetical odds:
----As it stands now, Chris would be the favorite to win with Terry a 5-point underdog and Jeff an 8-point underdog.
----That would make the championship game Ben vs Chris where Ben would hypothetically be a 13-point favorite.
----Of course, this will almost certainly look different at the end of the season.
To finish this up, here is every team's current chance to finish in the top 4:
Ben- 96.85%
Chris- 85.05%
Terry- 64.20%
Jeff- 60.31%
Austin- 39.34%
Carl- 31.55%
Madelyn- 11.90%
Jacob- 6.71%
