It is no secret that the Fever were injury-ridden, already down 0-1 in the series. So when Game 3 demanded something out of the box, Aliyah Boston rose. With just 7.4 seconds on the clock, she drilled the go-ahead bucket. The crowd gasped, but before Atlanta could even breathe, Odyssey Sims made a free throw on the second attempt, taking the team two points. Just like that, Indy stunned the No. 3 Atlanta Dream, 87-85. But honestly, nobody, not even ESPN’s panel of nine analysts, saw this coming.

Indy pulled a miracle by winning two back-to-back games in a 3 game round. So when the final buzzer sounded, Fever didn’t just celebrate their first semifinal berth in a decade; they clapped back. Their official account dropped a savage post: “Now you know,” a not-so-subtle jab at every ESPN expert who picked them to lose. But now it ain’t Fever, but their fans vs. ESPN in full force.

On September 19, ESPN once again published an article predicting the chances of teams in the playoffs to win. And the ranking made some sense too, as they placed the Minnesota Lynx, who entered the playoffs as favorites to win the fifth championship in franchise history, first. Then, they placed the Aces second with +175 chances to win, as they were the second favorites to win their third championship title in four years. After them, it was Mercury, who were 1-1 against Liberty. But here’s the kicker.

ESPN placed the Liberty after the Mercury to win the championship at fourth best. And then, at the end, came the Indiana Fever. But wait.

It ain’t possible for both Liberty and Mercury to stay in the playoffs together. Well… they were playing against each other in Round 1. But ESPN had both teams ahead of the Indiana Fever on their championship-winning list, even when they discussed it on live TV. Yes, it’s a major blunder. But is it the first time ESPN has downplayed the Fever’s chances?

Even when the Indiana Fever won against the Dream, six of the nine staff members predicted the Fever to lose against the Dream with a clean 2-0 sweep. And Fever was well aware of their predictions, and when they won, they didn’t hesitate to post a screenshot of ESPN’s prediction on X with the caption, “Now you know.” For what it’s worth, even one of the writers, Alexa Philippou, responded with her own X post wherein she wrote, “touche.”

So, a prediction article for Indy’s WNBA semifinals series against the Las Vegas Aces was expected to be more accurate. But was it? No. Now you know why Indy’s fan base dived into the comment section!

What do fans gotta say about ESPN?

As usual, fans dived into the comment section to vent out their frustration. “Fever have the 5th best to win the WNBA title. What???” penned a User. Well, it hurts more because, ever since the beginning of the 2025 season, Indy’s been facing adversities. Their offensive core, Caitlin Clark, was limited to just 13 games due to four muscle injuries. They lost five players, including CC, to season-ending injuries. They even had to add a 17th player to their roster to keep up.

But from playoff contenders to underdogs, Indy remained resilient. They entered the playoffs with a W3 and even made it to the semifinals for the first time in a decade with a 1-2 against the Dream. Still, they’re underdogs, so it was quite natural for fans to get agitated with ESPN’s mistake.

“At the time of this segment, were both of these teams still in the playoffs?” asked a spectator. After forcing a decisive Game 3 in New York, Mercury entered PHX Arena against the Liberty in the first round on September 19. So it’s possible ESPN gave equal chances to Liberty and Mercury to win Game 3, especially since the defending champions won Game 1. Still, Mercury outlasted them in Game 2 and even had an edge over them in the regular season series with 3-1. Still… ESPN didn’t have Mercury and Liberty as options.

“lol while only one team can make it they are still 5 teams in the running for it as the last game wasn’t over yet, and they are the 5th best now they’re the 4th” penned another user. Well… this ain’t the first time ESPN encountered an oops moment due to their prediction for Indy. Earlier this year, when Indy entered the WNBA Commissioner’s Cup Finals against the Minnesota Lynx, one of the top teams, they did something similar. Since Fever entered the game without Caitlin Clark, ESPN, just like others, predicted them to lose.

“So I said the same thing. And let’s not forget the Fever also beat the Minnesota Lynx—the #1 seed in the Commissioner’s Cup and did it without Caitlin… just saying,” penned another user. ESPN didn’t stop just there. When Indiana Fever was still playing, they posted a YouTube livestream that read “Lynx dominate Fever.” But the script flipped as Fever beat the Lynx 74-59 to take the title home.

“Just think how hard it was to beat the Dreams… Aces will be 10X harder. I wish CC was able to play… as they need her court vision to unleash AB… I hope Odyssey S… toughen her defense bcuz Jackie Young or Chelsea Gray r both no joke,” penned another user. Some fans even ignored ESPN’s mistake and went on to calculate Indy’s chances to win against the Aces. Well, according to BET MGM, Indy’s got +6600 chances to win against the Aces. They’re averaging 80.7 points versus the Aces and have gone 1-2 in the regular season series. So… Fever can give Aces a run for their money. What do you think?