I, Sportstradamus, the all-knowing, all-seeing swami of sports prognostications, present to you my annual predictions for 2026.

This year, I peer deeply into my magic mirror in hopes of seeing the future of sports, but instead I see a guy who has a lot greyer hair than he did at this time last year.

Let’s recap a couple predictions I made last year that proved my psychopathetic abilities are still alive and well.

I predicted in the Jan. 16, 2024, edition of this newspaper that regarding the ORU women’s basketball team, they would win the Summit League title and advance to the NCAA Tournament. Although the Golden Eagles went to the championship game of the Summit League tournament, they lost that game and had to settle for a berth in the Women’s BIT. I came close on this one.

Same for the ORU baseball team. I predicted they would win the Summit League title and go all the way to the College World Series, but they lost in the Summit League championship game.

This year, I see the OU football team returning to the top of the SEC again. Last year, my prediction for the Sooners was, I see them winning eight games next season. Well, I was a little bit off. They won 10 games instead and were just as good as I thought they would be.

Last year, I saw the OSU Cowboys winning six games and becoming bowl eligible. Boy, was I off. This year, the Cowboys will struggle for another season under new head coach Eric Morris. The turnaround will have to wait another year.

For the TU football team, this will finally be the year that Tre Lamb leads the Golden Hurricane to becoming bowl eligible. They may only win six games, but they’ll be eligible for a bowl game.

Speaking of the University of Tulsa, I can see the basketball team winning the American Athletic Conference title and getting a bid to the NCAA Tournament. This is a really good TU basketball team. We haven’t seen one this good at 11th and Harvard in many years.

Last year, I predicted the Tulsa Oilers indoor football team would win eight games at make the IFL playoffs. Well, I nailed this prediction. The Oilers won a total of ten games, including advancing to the Eastern Conference quarterfinals and losing to Green Bay. This year, I can see the Oilers football team going deeper in the playoffs and playing for the Championship.

I also predicted the Tulsa Oilers hockey team would win their division and make it the ECHL playoffs. Well, they finished fourth in the Mountain Division, but did make the playoffs, losing to Kansas City in the division semifinals.

When it comes to the Tulsa Drillers, I was just a little off. The Drillers did earn a playoff spot in the second half of the season, but they did not make it to the championship series. Eric Wedge is back for his second season as the Drillers manager, and I can see the Los Angeles Dodgers stocking Tulsa with a championship caliber team. There probably won’t be as much movement at the Triple-A and Major League levels because the Dodgers are so solid, so hopefully the Drillers will find great success this season.

Here are my predictions for the major professional leagues:

NFL: Last year, I picked the Buffalo Bills to beat Philadelphia in the Super Bowl. Yeah, I know, my Bills just couldn’t get past the Kansas City Chiefs in the AFC Championship. I was right, however, about the Eagles playing in the Super Bowl, and they ended up beating Kansas City, 40-22. This year, I’m sticking with my Bills prediction. I would rather pick the Bills and be wrong, then pick some other team and be right.

NBA: Last year, I predicted that the Oklahoma City Thunder would defeat the Cleveland Cavaliers to win the NBA Championship. Well, I got the winner right, but OKC beat the Indiana Pacers for the NBA title. This year, I see OKC repeating by beating the Detroit Pistons.

MLB: I pretty much nailed this prediction. Here’s what I wrote last year; we may very well see the first repeat World Series winner since the Yankees won three in a row between 1998-2000. L.A. will beat Boston. Right, the Dodgers did win another World Series title, however, they beat Toronto not Boston. Still, that was another check in the win column for this prognosticator. This year, the Dodgers may make it to the World Series again, but instead, I predict the Baltimore Orioles will win the “Fall Classic.” It would be their first World Series title since 1983. I picked the Orioles to win the World Series two years ago, but I may have been a little premature with that prognostication. This year, I feel very confident about it being the Orioles year.

NHL: Last year, I said, watch for the Washington Capitals to beat the Winnipeg Jets in the Stanley Cup Finals. Washington and Winnipeg both made it to the second round of the playoffs before being upset by Carolina and Dallas, respectively. The Florida Panthers ended up winning their second consecutive Stanley Cup title. This year, the Panthers might not even make the playoffs, and instead it will be the Tampa Bay Lightning beating the Colorado Avalanche in the Stanley Cup Finals.

TULSA BEACON RADIO

Tune in to “Tulsa Beacon Weekend” radio show every week, featuring interviews with local and national level guests, talking about everything from politics to family issues. The guest this week will be author, speaker and networking guru, Peter Biadisz. We’ll discuss his new book, Total Prayer. The show airs on Saturday at 12:00 p.m. CST on 970am KCFO.