As the days burn brighter and the wildflowers peel open their eyes, the States get all hopped up on the NBA and NHL playoff season, and rightfully so. After long (sometimes tedious) seasons, NBA and NHL players are actually performing at the pinnacle of their game because winning a championship means more than an end-of-season bonus. A championship means eternal glory.

Now what if I told you the greatest playoff in professional sports doesn’t produce a champion? It doesn’t even produce a runner-up. Instead, the winner places third. You might think I’m crazy, but hear me out. The English Football League Championship Playoff has the most at stake and the greatest reward, and although you may not have heard of it, it is the greatest playoff in professional sports.

Before I dive into the EFL Championship Playoff, let me quickly describe the EFL and how the English football system operates. The English Football League Championship Division (often referred to as the Championship Division) is the second highest division in the English Football League System, just below the Premier League. You can sort of think of it as Triple-A. However, unlike the American baseball system, the top three teams at the end of the season from the Championship Division move up (get “Promoted”) to the Premier League for the next season. Consequently, the three worst teams in the Premier League will move down (get “Relegated”) to the Championship Division for the next season and will stay there until they get promoted back to the Premier League or relegated further down the English Football League System. Imagine if the White Sox, Royals, and Orioles (teams with the worst records in the 2018 MLB season) were sent down to Triple-A, and three Triple-A teams like the Memphis Redbirds, Durham Bulls, and Fresno Grizzlies replaced them. Makes the whole season a little more interesting. The hierarchical English Football League system continues with League One (3rd level) below the Championship Division, League Two (4th level), the National League (5th level), and all the way down to the 9th level with each league promoting and relegating teams at the end of every season.

The English Football League System Pyramid – By Bill Turianski 2007

Now let us return to meat and cheese of this story. The Championship Division is made up of 24 teams throughout England and Wales. Each team plays every other club in the Championship Division twice for a total of 46 games in a season. At the end of the season, the top two teams based on points (3 – points for a win, 1 – point for a draw, 0 – points for a loss) are automatically promoted to the pinnacle of English (and some could argue World) soccer. The four clubs ranked 3-6 at the end of the regular season have the opportunity to compete in the greatest playoff in professional sports to snag that final Premier League spot… and third place.

The playoff semi-finals are played over two legs (a home and away game for each team), with the 3rd place team playing the 6th place team and 4th playing 5th. The winner of each semi-final (based on the aggregate score of the first and second legs) goes forward into the playoff final. The Championship Division Final is a single game played at Wembley Stadium in London, with the greatest stakes in any professional competition. It doesn’t just involve promotion to the highest level in sports (which for many of the players is benefit enough), but the winning club also ends up an estimated £170 million ($224m) better off than the losers.

The £170,000,000 is primarily the result of increased commercial television revenue as well as a shareholder payment for being a Premier League club. Even if a team only lasted one season in the top flight, there is a guaranteed parachute payment of approximately £42m ($54.6m) to soften the blow of returning to the Championship Division. If a club manages to squeeze out 2 seasons in the Premier League before being relegated, it would be worth as much as £288m compared to the average Championship club worth of about £47m. For more details on the financial gains and losses from promotion and relegation check out this article.

So, who are the teams who will be duking it out for the greatest prize in professional sports? Well at the end of the regular season, top ranked Norwich City and second ranked Sheffield United automatically clenched promotion. The playoff will be made up of 3rd-place Leeds United, 4th West Bromwich Albion, 5th Aston Villa, and 6th Derby County. Here’s a quick breakdown of each team and their history with the Premier League.

#3 Leeds United (AKA The Whites and The Peacocks)

Leeds United Football Club is based in Leeds, West Yorkshire, England. They were last in the Premier League in 2004 having been there for 12 years before relegation. In 1975, Leeds played in the European Cup Final (similar to the UEFA Champions League now) losing to Bayern Munich. However, they have also been down in League One (3rd tier of the English Football League System) as recently as 2010. Leeds share rivalries with current Premier League teams Manchester United and Chelsea as well as Derby County in which they play in the Championship Division Semi-Finals.

#4 West Bromwich Albion (AKA The Baggies, West Brom, and Albion)

West Bromwich Albion Football Club is located in in West Bromwich, West Midlands, England. They were relegated from the Premier League just last season in 2018 after being up in the top flight for 8 years. They haven’t won a major trophy since the 1968 FA Cup. However, they have spent the majority of their time at the highest level of the English Football System since they were one of the founding members in 1888. They have a rivalry with current Premier League team Wolverhampton Wanderers and a rivalry with fellow Championship Division playoff team Aston Villa.

#5 Aston Villa (AKA Villa, The Villans, The Lions, and The Claret & Blue Army)

Aston Villa Football Club is situated in Aston, Birmingham, England. Villa is one of the winningest clubs in English Football having won the European Cup, in 1981–82 as well as the Football League First Division (the top flight before rebranding called it the Premier League) seven times, the FA Cup seven times, the League Cup (Carabao Cup) five times, and the UEFA Super Cup (winner of the UEFA Champions League and the UEFA Europa League) once. Aston Villa were relegated from the top tier of English football in 2016, having played in every Premier League season since its establishment (rebranding) in 1992.

#6 Derby County (AKA The Rams)

Derby County Football Club is based out of Derby, Derbyshire, England. Derby County’s heyday was in the 1970s when they won the First Division twice. They also won the FA Cup during war time in the 1945-46 season. They have a history that rivals some of the biggest clubs in England, but recently they are most notable for being managed by three-time Chelsea player of the year, two time England player of the year, and 2005 runner-up in both the FIFA World Player of the Year and the Ballon d'Or, Frank Lampard. Can old Frankie Jr. bring this club to the Premier League for the first time since 2008 in which they only won 1 game and finished with 11 total points (the fewest Premier League points ever)? Time will tell. In the meantime, they match-up against their rivals Leeds United in the Championship Division Semi-Finals in hopes to have a go at rival Leicester City in the Premier League next season.

The third place team in the Championship Division wins the playoff and is promoted to the Premier League 38.7% of the time. The fifth place team manages promotion the second most at 25.8% followed by the fourth place team at 19.4% and sixth place at 16.1%. Statistics can be a useful tool for predicting promotion, and yet my gut is directing me in a very different direction. I feel quite strongly about sixth place Derby County this year. They’ve picked up 11 points in their last five games, and have only lost once since April 5th. They’re on a hot streak with a fresh, young manager and a desire to redeem their last Premier League performance.

The first leg of the Semi-Finals starts Saturday May 11th, so choose your favorite now and claim you liked them before they were cool.