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The 2026 World Series promised a new champion, with the Milwaukee Brewers and Tampa Bay Rays both hunting for their first title in franchise history. The Brewers came out on top with a closeout victory in Game 5 on Wednesday night.
Which major sports team will be next to claim its first championship?
Across MLB, NBA, NFL and NHL, 36 teams have yet to win a title. While there is no end in sight to the drought for some of those organizations, others might be on the cusp of that long-awaited victory parade.
Ahead, we've highlighted the 10 most likely first-time champions now that the Brewers have officially exited the conversation.
MLB
Colorado Rockies
San Diego Padres
NBA
Brooklyn Nets
Charlotte Hornets
Los Angeles Clippers
Memphis Grizzlies
New Orleans Pelicans
Orlando Magic
Phoenix Suns
Utah Jazz
NFL
Arizona Cardinals
Atlanta Falcons
Carolina Panthers
Cleveland Browns
Houston Texans
Los Angeles Chargers
Tennessee Titans
NHL
Buffalo Sabres
Columbus Blue Jackets
Nashville Predators
Ottawa Senators
San Jose Sharks
Seattle Kraken
Utah Mammoth
Vancouver Canucks
Winnipeg Jets
First Season: 1976-77
NBA Finals Appearances: 2 (2000, 2025)
The development of Tyrese Haliburton into an All-NBA point guard and the addition of All-Star Pascal Siakam helped the Indiana Pacers make a surprise run to the 2025 NBA Finals.
They ultimately fell to the Oklahoma City Thunder in seven games, but the more crushing blow came in the fourth quarter of Game 7 when Haliburton suffered a torn ACL that would sideline him for the entire 2025-26 season.
The 26-year-old has returned to action this season, though he is now dealing with a hamstring issue. Once healthy, the pieces remain in place for the Pacers to return to their 2024-25 form and surge back from last year's 19-63 finish.
Reggie Miller never reached the mountaintop, but Haliburton still has a chance to etch his place in franchise history by delivering the organization's first title as the face of the franchise.
First Season: 1977
World Series Appearances: 0
The Seattle Mariners were eight outs away from reaching their first World Series during the 2025 ALCS when Toronto Blue Jays slugger George Springer hit a go-ahead three-run home run in a 4-3 Blue Jays victory.
With a stacked starting rotation, deep bullpen and offensive stars in Cal Raleigh, Julio RodrÃguez and Randy Arozarena, they looked more than capable of making another deep October run entering the 2026 season, but instead stumbled to a 76-86 record.
Despite that disappointing finish, there are still few teams that boast their stable of pitching talent, with Logan Gilbert, Bryan Woo, George Kirby, Bryce Miller and Emerson Hancock making up a fully homegrown rotation.
After a 20-year playoff drought, they have made the postseason twice in the last five years. With a deep farm system and money to spend, this still feels like a team on the rise rather than one that missed a fleeting opportunity.
First Season: 1968
Super Bowl Appearances: 3 (1981, 1988, 2021)
The Cincinnati Bengals have the biggest box checked in the Super Bowl contention discussion with one of the league's best quarterbacks in Joe Burrow. He has already played on the biggest stage in 2021.
At 29 years old, he is in the prime of his career. He currently leads the NFL in completion percentage (71.7) while logging 15 touchdown passes against just three interceptions. With Ja'Marr Chase, Tee Higgins and Chase Brown, the Bengals have one of the best offenses in football.
Despite missing the postseason the last three years, this team still feels capable of Super Bowl contention. A convincing 35-13 road win over the Baltimore Ravens last week backs that up.
If their defensive improvement (28.9 to 20.3 points allowed per game) proves sustainable, they look like a legitimate threat to return to the AFC Championship Game. Burrow is one of the few quarterbacks good enough to put a team on his shoulders.
First Season: 1995
Super Bowl Appearances: 0
The Jacksonville Jaguars went 13-4 last season en route to their second AFC South title in four years. While they were bumped by the Buffalo Bills in the Wild Card Round, the season was still a massive success coming off a 4-13 finish the year before.
The foundation of their success last season was the NFL's stingiest run defense, allowing just 85.6 yards per game on the ground. They sit atop that leaderboard again, allowing just 72.2 yards per contest through six games.
Meanwhile, quarterback Trevor Lawrence is enjoying the best season of his career, with personal-best marks in touchdown percentage (7.6%), yards per attempt (8.0) and passer rating (106.2).
Anchored by their defense and a quarterback who looks to be on the doorstep of taking the next step in his career, the Jaguars have seemingly gone from afterthought to legitimate title contender in just two short years.
First Season: 1961
Super Bowl Appearances: 4 (1969, 1973, 1974, 1976)
The NFL's last remaining undefeated team this season, with a 6-0 start, is the Minnesota Vikings. They belong squarely in the first-timer discussion as they celebrate the 50th anniversary of their last Super Bowl appearance.
Defensive coordinator Brian Flores has built the league's most dominant scoring defense, allowing 12.3 points per game, highlighted by a signature victory over the Chicago Bears in Week 2, when they surrendered a lone field goal after the reigning NFC North champs piled up 59 points in Week 1.
The question is whether that defense can prop up one of the league's worst offenses all season. The offense has recorded just nine touchdowns through six games. Kyler Murray has not benefited as much as hoped from his offseason change of scenery.
All of that to say, defenses have carried teams to Super Bowl titles in the past. This is an awfully good Minnesota defense. The full picture of just how good this team is will take shape during their upcoming stretch of games against the Detroit Lions, Buffalo Bills, Green Bay Packers and San Francisco 49ers.
First Season: 1998
World Series Appearances: 3 (2008, 2020, 2026)
The Tampa Bay Rays will likely need to replace Freddy Peralta and Nick Martinez in the starting rotation, but aside from those departures, they will be running back essentially the same roster that just won 98 games and the AL pennant.
Few organizations do a better job finding value on the margins and maximizing every dollar they spend. The one-year, $13 million deal they gave Martinez in free agency is the perfect example of how they operate.
Buy low, maximize value and then let someone else pay for a standout season before moving on to the next potential source of value to continue contending on a shoestring budget.
With a bona fide face of the franchise in Junior Caminero, a pitching factory that helps guys level up time and time again, and a deep farm system, this is an organization built for sustainable success.
First Season: 1930
Super Bowl Appearances: 0
Two years removed from a 15-2 season that ended with a disappointing Divisional Round loss to the Washington Commanders, the Detroit Lions again have one of the most dynamic offenses in football.
Quarterback Jared Goff leads the NFL in passer rating (112.5), averaging 298 passing yards per game and throwing 14 touchdowns without an interception during the team's 4-2 start. He has established himself as one of the league's elite signal callers.
A potential statement game awaits on Sunday with a showdown against the Minnesota Vikings' No. 1 defense. They lost both head-to-head meetings last year.
An improved secondary looks like the missing piece to the Super Bowl puzzle. With Jahmyr Gibbs, Amon-Ra St. Brown, Aidan Hutchinson and Penei Sewell in place as foundational pieces alongside Goff, the roster feels extremely close to Super Bowl-caliber.
First Season: 2000-01
Stanley Cup Final Appearances: 0
It's shocking at the surface level that the professional team in a state known for its love of hockey has never even reached the Stanley Cup Final, let alone won a championship, but that could soon change.
The Minnesota Wild have a face-of-the-franchise talent in winger Kirill Kaprizov. With 14 goals and 23 points through the team's first 14 games, he is on his way to a career year in his age-29 campaign.
Joined by elite defenseman Quinn Hughes and rising young goaltender Jesper Wallstedt, the roster has some legitimate pillars to build around. With a 9-3-2 record so far this year, they sit atop the Central Division standings.
After a first-round playoff exit in 2025 and a second-round loss in 2026, this group looks poised to take another step forward in pursuit of a long-awaited Stanley Cup.
First Season: 1989-90
NBA Finals Appearances: 0
The case here has to be prefaced by recognizing that Anthony Edwards is expected to miss the next two months after undergoing an arthroscopic cleanup of his knee, but that does little to take the shine off the Minnesota Timberwolves' future outlook.
After back-to-back trips to the conference finals, followed by a loss in the semifinals last season, the T-Wolves have firmly established themselves as one of the top-tier contenders in the Western Conference.
Still only 25 years old, Edwards is a championship-level superstar entering the prime of his career. For the four-time All-Star, a cleanup procedure reads as far better news than a meniscus issue.
Flanked by defensive stalwart Rudy Gobert and complementary pieces like Jaden McDaniels, LaMelo Ball, Terrence Shannon Jr. and Ayo Dosunmu, this is a dangerous team that has already experienced postseason success and potentially not yet reached its peak.
First Season: 1960
Super Bowl Appearances: 4 (1990, 1991, 1992, 1993)
There is already a strong case to be made that Josh Allen is one of the best quarterbacks in NFL history to not win a Super Bowl ring. Unlike Dan Marino and some of the other retired legends often mentioned in that conversation, he still has plenty of time.
With seven straight 10-win seasons, the Buffalo Bills have consistently been in the postseason mix throughout Allen's time as the starting quarterback. He has finished in the top five in MVP voting five times while taking home the hardware in 2024.
It takes more than a good quarterback to win a Super Bowl, but the Bills are off to a 5-1 start despite allowing 28.5 points per game, so even marginal improvement around their high-powered offense might be enough to make them a title contender.
As long as Allen is producing at an MVP-caliber level, the Bills will be a serious threat to erase the decades of heartbreak dating back to that four-year run in the early 1990s when they came up empty.
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