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We’re coming ever so close to the end of The Amazing Race. It’s been an enjoyable season, with likable teams and entertaining locales and challenges. Let’s examine how the teams stack up heading into the penultimate episode.

1) Hayley & Blair

Loath as we are to put Hayley in this position, they’ve earned this ranking. Even though she snipes at Blair constantly, they somehow are able to work together as a team. Also, they’re smart enough to read their entire clue and notice instructions like, “You can ask about an earlier flight if you like.” They’re both smart and have the ability to perform well on challenges, and they don’t seem to be directionally challenged, either. If they can avoid the bickering for a few more days, they might just be collecting a million bucks.

2) Tyler & Laura

Yes, Laura’s 30th birthday leg was a bit of a rough patch for them. After not reading their clue fully (and winding up on the later flight as a result), they had a few other bumps along the way to finishing ahead of the now-eliminated Matt & Ashley. Nonetheless, they’re smart, they have great chemistry, they’re terrific when it comes to challenges, and they seem like they really ought to be the prohibitive favorites to win. Hopefully they’ve gotten their “bad leg” out of the way.

3) Jenny & Jelani

At the beginning of the race, it seemed like this team could dominate to the end. Since then, Jenny & Jelani have been neither amazing nor terrible. They’ve just kind of managed to hang around in the middle of the pack. Sometimes, they have issues in challenges. On other occasions, they’ve gotten lost. Jenny tends to browbeat Jelani, though it’s less glaring and apparent when she does it than when Hayley does. Maybe they can get it together enough to cruise to the final three, but if not, they should look out for…

4) Mike & Rochelle

Our lone remaining dating couple is still in the game. Like Jenny & Jelani, they have never been overly impressive, but they’ve also never been eliminated despite finishing second from the bottom four times and near the bottom in four of the other legs. That means they’ve been above average only twice, once when they won the third leg, and the other time when they were able to achieve a third place finish. They seem incredibly easy-going and are a lovely duo, actually. With that said, they’ve actually received very little screen time in comparison with the other three. That tends to make us believe that they’re probably next to go.

No matter which three teams make the final, there’s no bad combination. This is a fun bunch from a highly competitive season. We’re looking forward to seeing who makes it to the final.