We will confess, being who we are, we find ourselves cheering against the Cubs in this series. This is not because we hate the Cubs; we do not. It is because Cardinals fans have become accustomed to the natural order of matters, and that natural order requires the Cubs to have not won the World Series in a century. Right now there are eight teams who can win the World Series; the Cubs are one of them. That is scary to Cardinals fans.

And we realize that makes us sound like a Yankees fan. And that's even more terrifying.

A look at predictions from around the Internets:

• CoolStandings: Cubs in four.
• AJ Daulerio: Cubs in five.
• Keith Law: Cubs in five.
• Will Carroll: Diamondbacks in five.
• Peter Gammons: Cubs in four.
• Viva El Birdos: Cubs in five.
• Jeff Passan: Cubs in four.
• Jeff Pearlman: Cubs in four.
• Jayson Stark: Cubs in five.
• Buster Olney: Cubs in four.
• DEADSPIN: Cubs in four. If the Cubs make it to the NLCS, you know Bartman's coming back. He has to, right?

Thoughts?

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