When April comes, playoff season for most professional sports soon follows. There's nothing like the playoff atmosphere. The roar of the crowd, the goose bumps you get when a goal is scored, a home run hit, or a basket made. From basketball to hockey, it's time to power rank every major sports playoff.
Football
I am probably alone in this statement, but I think that playoff football is rather boring. Don't get me wrong, the Super Bowl is an awesome event, but the build up to it just isn't that great. If I were judging straight on the Super Bowl, this would be a lot lower on the list. I could be biased here because I don't really like the NFL that much either. If I could leave it off the list I would, but that really wouldn't be fair, and I also believe that the College Football Playoff was a success in its first year, for the most part.
UEFA Champions League
People are really going to hate me for this one, but just hear me out. The best players from all over the world are competing in the knockout phases of the Champions League. Quality-wise, this is a better tournament than the World Cup. The players have had at least a whole year playing with their respective teams. During the World Cup, players have been playing with each other for maybe a month. The team chemistry in Champions League contenders is phenomenal. Oh, and what about the atmosphere? A home-and-home series allows each stadium to set the bar in terms of energy, before playing at their opponent's field. Beautiful mosaics in the stands are accompanied by top-level soccer.
Basketball
This one is two-fold. I believe that March Madness is much better than the NBA playoffs. That is why it's so high on this list. There's nothing like the thrill of brackets getting busted by that number 9 seed that no one picked. There's nothing better than a buzzer beater to keep your dreams alive.
Baseball
Baseball has the longest and grueling seasons of all of the seasons in sports. It is a season that is 162 games long and spans from April until October. The MLB playoffs are a time when anything can happen. The atmosphere is crazy and loud in the ballparks, and the best teams in the country are fighting for that World Series trophy. Playoff baseball can get rather nail-biting and I think that adds to the suspense, especially in close games. Games can go on for hours, well into the next day. Walk-offs and the suspense, make playoff baseball a great sight to see, but not the best one.
Hockey
There's nothing like playoff hockey. It's all about the rush of the game, the hard hits, the highlight goals, the miraculous saves, and not to mention the playoff beard. The best two words in sports are GAME 7, and the most amount of sudden death games are in hockey. The atmosphere is like no other. The fans are like none other. They live and die with their teams. Hockey also has the most iconic trophy out of all sports: Lord Stanley's Cup. There's so much tradition entrenched in this sport. Playoff hockey is the best around.
