If you are a gambler, then it is odds-on that you would put $10 on a Te Puke and Tauranga Sports Baywide premier final.
But you only have to go back to semifinals time 12 months ago to know nothing is guaranteed in rugby.
Tauranga Sports were odds-on to overcome Whakarewarewa on Tauranga Domain and book themselves into another grand final, before going on to rack up their seventh Baywide crown.
Mount Maunganui were also expected to roll Te Puke Sports to make it a "battle of the bridge" final.
However, both Tauranga sides were sent packing and it was left to Te Puke Sports and Whaka to contest the prize.
At the halfway mark of that particular grand final, Whaka looked ready to carry the trophy back to Rotorua, but a spirited 40 minutes of rugby meant the prize stayed in the Western Bay.
Fast forward to tomorrow and you have Te Puke, who have lost just one match this season, at home to Opotiki and the almighty Tauranga Sports hosting a vastly inexperienced Rotoiti side.
In the Te Puke and Opotiki match it is hard to look past the form book. Opotiki have had nine wins, two draws and seven losses compared with Te Puke's solitary loss and 17 wins.
Te Puke were methodical against Te Puna last week, thanks to the class of first-five Jamie Nutbrown and the Dan Carter-like boot of Nick McCashin.
But Opotiki have one of the hardest, uncompromising packs in the Bay of Plenty, lead by veteran front rower Dean Elmiger.
Although a number of sides have come close to upsetting Te Puke, their game last week against Te Puna shows they are on song.
It is hard to see Tauranga making the same mistake they made last year against Whaka. They simply did not show up in the first 30 minutes and were never able to come back.
But Rotoiti have enjoyed the underdog tag this season and have turned around their 2011 seventh-place finish to third.
A lot of that can be credited to Steamers legend Wayne Ormond. He has taken a group of youngsters with a few wily old veterans and turned them into title contenders.
In Division One, Rangiuru will be shooting for a remarkable 18th straight win, when they square off against Te Teko at Centennial Park in Te Puke.
Te Teko have had a rollercoaster season and left it to last weekend to finally book a semifinal berth.
While the Te Puke side will enter the encounter as favourites, post-section rugby often inspires the underdogs to victory.
Paroa have also been in outstanding form in finishing second in the qualifying competition, to earn the second home semifinal.
The Eastern Bay side will host Kahukura at Lawson Park in a match the home side are expected to win.
There is always real desire to win the Division Two competition where the prize is a Division One place next season. Katikati showed their wish to return to a permanent Baywide place last weekend, when they ran over Murupara 82-7.
The team from one of the Bay Union borders will face Edgecumbe, while Arataki will meet former Division One contenders Kawerau in the Eastern Bay.
The one certainty in this year's Baywide competition is that a Western Bay side will take the honours in the age-group championship, with all four semifinalists coming from the region.
Tauranga Sports will host defending champions Te Puke Sports, with Mount Maunganui at home to Te Puna.
There will be little regional loyalty in the reserve grade playoffs, with Rotorua and Western Bay local derbies taking place.
Ngongotaha will square off against Whakarewarewa at the Ngongotaha Domain, with Tauranga Sports at home to arch Western Bay rivals Mount Maunganui. The first Baywide final of the year will take place when Waikite play Rangataua in the Colts Section Two final.