MLB playoffs begin on October sports calendar
Major League Baseball begins its postseason schedule, and the NHL and NBA start their seasons. Here’s a look at 10 highlights on the October sports calendar, including the big matchups on the NFL schedule.
MLB Postseason (October 1-30)
Baseball’s playoffs get started right away in October with the Wild Card Series taking place from October 1-3 and whittling eight teams down to four. Those four then advance to the Division Series to face the higher seeds, with those series set for October 5-12. The two League Championship Series run from October 13-22, with the World Series set to open up on October 25 and continue to early November.
WNBA Postseason (October 1-20)
The WNBA playoffs started in late September with four best-of-three series – No. 1 New York vs. No. 8 Atlanta, No. 2 Minnesota vs. No. 7 Phoenix, No. 3 Connecticut vs. No. 6 Indiana, and No. 4 Las Vegas vs. No. 5 Seattle. All four of those series were sweeps, setting up best-of-five semifinal series between the Liberty and the Aces, and the Lynx and the Sun. The winners of those series advance to the WNBA Finals.
NFL Regular Season (October 3-31)
The October opener on the NFL schedule is a Thursday night game between the Buccaneers and the Falcons in Atlanta, with the Ravens at the Bengals and the Cowboys at the Steelers on October 6. The Bills and the Jets meet in a Monday Night Football matchup on October 14, with the Chiefs taking on the Niners in a marquee matchup on October 20. The Cowboys and Niners meet in primetime October 27.
College Football Regular Season (October 3-31)
The first October weekend of the college football schedule has Missouri at Texas A&M and Auburn at Georgia on October 5, while Ohio State is on the road at Oregon and Texas takes on Oklahoma on October 12. Georgia battles Texas and Alabama meets Tennessee on October 19, with Nebraska at Ohio State, Illinois at Oregon, and Michigan State at Michigan on the college football slate for October 26.
NHL Regular Season (October 4-31)
The NHL’s season will get underway in Europe this year, as the Buffalo Sabres and the New Jersey Devils will play a pair of games the O2 Arena in Prague on October 4 and October 5. Back in North America the season opens on October 8 with three games – the St. Louis Blues play on the road at the Seattle Kraken, the Chicago Blackhawks are at the Utah Hockey Club, and the Florida Panthers host the Boston Bruins.
UFC 307: Pereira vs Rountree Jr. (October 5)
The UFC 307 card at the Delta Center in Salt Lake City features a pair of championship bouts, with champion Alex Pereira taking on challenger Khalil Rountree Jr. for the UFC Light Heavyweight title and champion Raquel Pennington fighting challenger Julianna Pena for the UFC Women’s Bantamweight title. Also on the card is Stephen Thompson facing Joaquin Buckley in a matchup between two welterweights.
YellaWood 500 (October 6)
The four-race NASCAR slate for the month of October begins with the YellaWood 500 at Talladega Superspeedway, as the circuit continues its Round-of-12 playoffs. The drivers will then move on to the Charlotte Motor Speedway Road Course for the Bank of America Roval 400 on October 13 before competing at Las Vegas Motor Speedway (October 20) and Homestead-Miami Speedway (October 27).
United States Grand Prix (October 20)
The drivers of Formula 1 return to the track at the United States Grand Prix at the Circuit of the Americas in Austin, Texas. Max Verstappen leads the way in the Formula 1 driver standings heading into the month by a 331-279 margin over Lando Norris, with Charles Leclerc back in third place in the standings with 245 points. Verstappen has been the champion at the United States Grand Prix in each of the last three years.
NBA Regular Season (October 22-31)
The NBA’s regular-season schedule tips off on October 22 with a doubleheader on TNT, as the Boston Celtics get a visit from the New York Knicks and the Minnesota Timberwolves play on the road at the Los Angeles Lakers. Marquee matchups on the following night’s slate include the Milwaukee Bucks at the Philadelphia 76ers and the Phoenix Suns at the Los Angeles Clippers as 10 games hit the hardwood.
UFC 308: Topuria vs. Holloway (October 26)
The UFC heads to Etihad Arena in Abu Dhabi for UFC 308, with the headline bout featuring champion Ilia Topuria taking on challenger Max Holloway for the UFC Featherweight title. Also on the card is a bout between middleweights Robert Whittaker and Khamzat Chimaev and Sharabutdin Magomedov and Armen Petrosyan, plus a light heavyweight meeting between Magomed Ankalaev and Aleksandar Rakic.
With zero championships between his MLB, NHL, and NFL teams over the last 30 years, Dave keeps one foot in the past while shaking his fist at the present. Having provided content to all manner of sports websites over a 20-year career in the industry, Dave brings to Attiq an eye for all things editorial and a disdain for all things New York Yankees. Click here for Dave's posts.
