ESPN Analysts Must Eat Crow After Fever Playoff Prediction Ages Like Milk

The Indiana Fever made three ESPN analysts eat their words after their playoff win against the Las Vegas Aces.

Apr 3, 2025; Tampa, FL, USA; ESPN gameday analyst Chiney Ogwumike at Amalie Arena. Mandatory Credit: Kirby Lee-Imagn Images | Kirby Lee-Imagn Images

The Indiana Fever have surpised a lot of people over the past seven days.

Exactly one week ago, the Fever had suffered a double-digit loss to the Atlanta Dream in Game 1 of their first-round WNBA playoffs series. This meant that Indiana had its back against the wall and would need to win two straight games if the team were to upset the Dream and advance to the next round.

Before the WNBA postseason began, nine members (out of nine who were asked) of ESPN's staff predicted that Indiana would lose in this first-round series against Atlanta, with eight of them asserting that the Fever would get swept. All nine of them must have been feeling good last Monday.

Since then, Indiana rattled off two straight wins against the Dream, thus cementing the upset and moving on to the WNBA Semifinals, where they would face the No. 2-seeded Las Vegas Aces. After the second win, Indiana's social media team pulled the receipts of the ESPN prediction and rubbed it in their faces.

Now You Know. pic.twitter.com/DMkEJNLtTT

— Indiana Fever (@IndianaFever) September 19, 2025

However, this didn't keep ESPN from unanimously predicting that the Fever would lose to the Aces in the Semifinals in an ensuing article, thus continuing to assume the Fever's demise is imminent.

Several WNBA Analysts Fall Flat With Fever vs. Aces Prediction

It's still too early to know whether the Fever or the Aces will win this series. However, the Fever cruised to an 89-73 win on the road against the Aces on September 21, thus giving them a 1-0 lead in the series.

Sep 21, 2025; Las Vegas, Nevada, USA; Indiana Fever guard Odyssey Sims (1) celebrates with teammates during the third quarter in game one of the second round for the 2025 WNBA Playoffs against the Las Vegas Aces at Michelob Ultra Arena. Mandatory Credit: Lucas Peltier-Imagn Images | Lucas Peltier-Imagn Images

This result surely came as a surprise to ESPN analysts Chiney Ogwumike, Andraya Carter, and Elle Duncan, as shown through their Sunday appearance on ESPN before the Fever vs. Aces began.

X user @Sudharsan_AK10 posted a clip of these three WNBA analysts speaking after previewing Sunday's game. When it came time for them to reveal who they thought would win Sunday's game, all three said, "Aces" in unison.

Better to be the underdogs🫡🫡🫡 https://t.co/zsrRB9ugc5 pic.twitter.com/akbptEz15b

— AK (@Sudharsan_AK10) September 21, 2025

"They're not gonna lose after [A'ja Wilson] just won MVP," Elle Duncan said.

"Period," Chiney Ogwumike added.

"Yeah. There's no way," said Andraya Carter.

Of course, all of these predictions went awry after Indiana produced an easy win and Wilson produced a lackluster performance.

It's worth noting that these three analysts weren't part of the initial prediction articles. Still, they're part of ESPN, which has done a swell job of getting any prediction regarding the Fever wrong over the past several weeks.