| 100% | BYES | 4 | Automatic advances in the playoffs |
| 58% | CHOKE | 5 | Perform poorly in the playoffs |
| 56% | EVOLVE | 6 | Advance in the race? |
| 56% | BYE | 3 | Automatic advance in a tournament |
| 55% | BYES | 4 | Automatic advances in a tournament bracket |
| 55% | ALIVE | 5 | Still in the playoffs |
| 55% | BERTH | 5 | Spot in the playoffs |
| 53% | LOSE | 4 | Get upset in the playoffs, say |
| 52% | HEARTBREAKER | 12 | Overtime loss in the playoffs, for example |
| 51% | PENNANTS | 8 | Flags won by baseball teams in the playoffs |
| 48% | NEXTLEVEL | 9 | Advancing in a video game means going to the __ |
| 46% | PREPAY | 6 | Settle the mortgage in advance |
| 46% | TCU | 3 | Loser in the 2023 College Football Playoff National Championship (abbr.) |
| 45% | PREHEAT | 7 | Turn the oven on in advance |
| 45% | PREHEAT | 7 | Put the oven on in advance |
| 44% | HAWKS | 5 | Atlanta ___, NBA team that has won 170 games in the playoffs over the course of their history |
| 44% | CELTICS | 7 | Boston ___, NBA team that has won 407 games in the playoffs over the course of their history |
| 44% | PISTONS | 7 | Detroit ___, NBA team that has won 189 games in the playoffs over the course of their history |
| 43% | SACS | 4 | Outs that advance the runner, in baseball lingo |
| 43% | OLDEST | 6 | The one most advanced in years |
| 43% | ALABAMA | 7 | Team defeated by 48-Across in the 2022 College Football Playoff National Championship |
| 43% | KNICKS | 6 | New York ___, NBA team that has won 193 games in the playoffs over the course of their history |
| 43% | LAKERS | 6 | Los Angeles ___, NBA team that has won 466 games in the playoffs over the course of their history |
| 43% | SPURS | 5 | San Antonio ___, NBA team that has won 222 games in the playoffs over the course of their history |
| 42% | ORI | 3 | Advanced alien race that became the primary antagonists in "Stargate SG-1" |
| 40% | UNITAS | 6 | Winning QB in the first N.F.L. playoff game to go into sudden-death overtime |
| 40% | PONTIAC | 7 | Ottawa leader who fought British advances in the Great Lakes area during the 1700s and whose name was a car brand |
| 40% | ELS | 3 | He won the 1994 U.S. Open in a 20-hole playoff |
| 40% | CLEMSON | 7 | Second seed in the 2021 College Football Playoff, who lost to 49-Across in the Sugar Bowl |
| 39% | BOWLGAME | 8 | Either of the College Football Playoff semifinals featured in this puzzle (2 wds.) |