The Los Angeles Dodgers did not need a decisive Game 5 to close out the Atlanta Braves, as they went 2-0 on the road and clinched their spot in the National League Championship Series. Momentum could have swung the other way, though. LA scored only nine runs across four games, relying on superb pitching and timely home runs to dispatch of the opposition. Despite the franchise's championship pedigree and wealth of talent, Mick Cronin was getting a little uneasy.

The UCLA men's basketball head coach expressed as much to manager Dave Roberts following the ballclub's NL Division Series victory. “Quit making me nervous,” he texted the three-time World Series-winning skipper, per the Dodgers Nation X account.

Things never got dicey, but Los Angeles will need to be a bit sharper against the team that earned MLB's best record. Cronin is thinking ahead.

“We've got to get {Shohei} Ohtani going again,” the two-time Pac-12 Coach of the Year said. “But with the lineup we have, the bottom of our lineup can get a couple of home runs and we win.”

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And therein lies the most terrifying component of the two-time defending champs. Their most talented player has been battling injuries and struggling at the plate for well over a month, and yet, the team continues to pile up wins. The Dodgers' offense boasts a potent blend of future Hall of Famers like Freddie Freeman, Mookie Betts and Shohei Ohtani, and scrappy underdogs who rise to the occasion like Kike Hernandez. Opposing pitchers have nowhere to hide.

But this squad is not unbeatable. The 2026 Milwaukee Brewers could present a fierce challenge, which is something LA did not really face in the 2025 NLCS. While Mick Cronin prepares for the Bruins' upcoming campaign, he will keep an eye on the Dodgers' three-peat pursuit.