Jeremy Conn: Greatest Teams To Never Win It All
So who are the greatest teams to never win the the title?
Everyone is entitled to their own opinion on this and of course everyone is talking about it now that the Warriors have to win three in a row to make it to the NBA Finals. The Warriors hold the best record of all time for single season wins and they are on the verge of elimination.
Golden State should be favored in all three of the games coming up and two of them will be at Oracle Arena. As the saying goes, "It don't mean a thing if you ain't got the ring."
You might hear choke artist or epic collapse when we get into this conversation, either way the team that wins the Championship isn't always the best team. In many cases it's the team that gets HOT at the right time. Here are a few that come to mind, with a little local flavor mixed in to rub a little salt in the wound.
Major League Baseball
The 2001 Mariners won 116 games and were clearly the best team in baseball, but were shut down by the Yankees pitching staff in the ALCS.
The 1906 Cubs went 116-36 and failed to win the World Series, many people believe that was one of the best teams to never win.
The 1971 Orioles had four, 20-game winners and won 101 games and still failed to win the World Series.
Basketball
The Warriors would surely be in this group if they should fail to come back.
The 2004 US Men's National team lost to Argentina. The dream team should have beaten teams by about 20-30 points a game and failed to win the gold in '04.
The '90-91 Runnin' Rebels of UNLV went undefeated and lost to the Duke Blue Devils in the Final 4. That happened to be Coach K's first National Championship.
There are plenty of College Hoops teams that could have been on this list.
Hockey
The 95-96 Detroit Red Wings and the 05-06 Red Wings are to of the best teams to never win. In 95 Detroit won 62 games and lost in the Stanley Cup Finals, but in 05-06 they won 58 games and lost in the first round of the playoffs.
The 1980 Russian National team lost to the US in one of the greatest upsets in history. Do you believe in miracles?
Soccer
Brazil stands out to me. In 1982 and in 2006 they were prohibited favorites to win and didn't come away as the victors.
I'm sure Soccer fans much smarter than me can come up with a few good ones.
NFL
The 1999 Vikings went 15-1 in the regular season and lost in the NFC Championship. They broke the single season scoring record and lost to the Falcons in the NFC Championship as Gary Anderson missed a 38-yard field goal in a dome. Anderson missed one field goal the entire year and it just so happened to be that kick.
The 2007 New England Patriots went 18-0 and lost in the Super Bowl. The Patriots broke a ton of offensive records that year and seemed unbeatable. The Giants pass rush gave the Patriots a ton of problems, but in the end David Tyree made one of the craziest catches in Super Bowl History to help the Giants win.
In your opinion, what are some of the greatest teams to never win a Championship?