The 2026 World Series will feature a rare matchup between each league’s top regular-season team, just the sixth time that has happened in the Wild Card Era (1995). Both the Brewers (103-59) and Rays (98-64) will be in line for their franchise’s first World Series title, too, if they raise the Commissioner’s Trophy.

And if it winds up with the Brewers winning it all, we would witness history, not just in MLB, but across all four major North American sports -- MLB, the NFL, the NBA and the NHL.

Thus far in the 2026 MLB postseason, the team with a better regular-season record has won every series. Just once has a lower-seeded team been victorious, when the No. 6-seeded White Sox defeated the No. 3-seeded Astros in the American League Wild Card Series. But Chicago (84-78) had a better record than Houston (81-81).

Since the four major sports adopted their current playoff formats -- MLB in 2022, the NBA in 2021, the NFL in 2020 and the NHL in 2014 -- no postseason has been played in which the team with the better regular-season record won every game or series.

For example, in 2025, an “underdog” won in all four leagues. The Dodgers (93-69) defeated the Blue Jays (94-68) in the World Series; the New York Knicks (53-29) defeated the San Antonio Spurs (62-20) in the NBA Finals; the Buffalo Bills (12-5) defeated the Jacksonville Jaguars (13-4) in the NFL Wild Card round; and the Vegas Golden Knights (39-26-17) defeated the Colorado Avalanche (55-16-11) in the NHL Western Conference Final.

The regular season matters, especially in baseball, where a 162-game season helps diminish the sport’s nature for high variance. The Brewers and Rays were clearly their leagues’ best teams this season, and they now have the honor of duking it out in the Fall Classic.

The Brewers will have to play well to topple Tampa Bay and make this unique sporting history, but they’ve shown this postseason why they walked away with MLB’s top record in the regular season (for the second straight year).

Milwaukee defends and pitches well, backed by a lights-out bullpen. The Brewers also put pressure on the opponent offensively, putting the ball in play and using excellent team speed at every turn. But they’ve actually found a power surge in October, too, making them awfully dangerous.