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What On Feb. 11, Super Bowl LVIII (that’s 58) will be played at Allegiant Stadium
On Feb. 11, Super Bowl LVIII (that’s 58) will be played at Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas, and it’s a matchup that will look familiar to those with a passing interest in the sport of professional football: the Kansas City Chiefs vs. the San Francisco 49ers. This is, of course, the exact same matchup we saw in Super Bowl LIV (that’s 54), four years ago, when the Chiefs beat the 49ers, 31-20.
You know where championship rematches are rare, though? The World Series.
This century, in fact, there has been only one: The Boston Red Sox and the St. Louis Cardinals met in both 2004 and 2013. (The Red Sox won both.)
There are plenty of reasons why this will likely to continue to be uncommon, but that doesn’t mean the drought won’t end this year. So we’re going to look at every World Series matchup this century — we’re including 2000, which we know is not technically this century, but c’mon, don’t be so pedantic — and rank them by the likelihood of seeing a rematch in 2024.
1) 2017: Astros vs. Dodgers
There will be many 2024 preseason predictions that include this very World Series matchup, and don’t let any lingering controversy about this Astros team distract you from how great the 2017 version was. The only bummer was that Game 7 was the least exciting one of the seven they played. This year was also the start of the Astros’ active streak of seven consecutive ALCS appearances.
2) 2021: Braves vs. Astros
At many points during the regular season in both 2022 and 2023, it looked like we would get this very rematch. It may look that way at several points in 2024 as well.
3) 2020: Dodgers vs. Rays
Until the Dodgers win a World Series after a full 162-game schedule, this Series win — unfairly, I’d very much argue, but it’s nevertheless true — will be seen as somehow lesser. The Dodgers have clearly muscled up to erase that sort of blasphemy from people’s lips: To do so against the Rays would have a certain poetry to it.
4) 2022: Astros vs. Phillies
These were the two League Championship Series losers last year, so we did just come quite close to a Fall Classic rematch.
5) 2023: Rangers vs. D-backs
Is it possible that both of these teams will be better, start to finish, in 2024 than they were in 2023? Perhaps. That doesn’t necessarily make it likely they’ll return for the first back-to-back World Series matchup since the Dodgers and Yankees in 1977-78, but it’s certainly on the table
6) 2008: Phillies vs. Rays
This wasn’t just the first World Series appearance for the Rays — it was the first playoff appearance in franchise history. They’ve made it eight times since then, including one more World Series appearance in 2020. The Phillies are a legitimate contender to make it this year, if not quite the favorite the Dodgers are. Let’s just hope if we get this rematch, the final game doesn’t take three days to complete.
7) 2009: Yankees vs. Phillies
Did you hear this was the last time the Yankees made the World Series? You might have heard something about that. The Phillies are still smarting from how close they came to making their second consecutive World Series last year, and out of all the teams the Yankees have played in the World Series this century, the Phils do seem like the most likely to make it back in 2024.
