Best teams that DIDN't win their championship

[vicfurth]

I remember reading a local paper (Fort Worth, kinda homer-ish this time) mentioning--in a passing part to a bigger article--that the 1994 Dallas Cowboys were the best teams of all time to not win a Super Bowl. That got me thinking...

What do you guys think are the best teams, not only NFL, but in any league--including NCAA--to not win and why.

[AHcreative]

Easy, the '98 Vikings. Gary Anderson... I feel so bad for that man. Granted, it wasn't a Super Bowl, but it was an NFC Championship, and many believed that the Vikings could've, would've, should've, gone to and win Super Bowl XXXIII.

[HedleyLamarr]

That 2001 Mariners team that won 116 games, but lost to the Yankees in the ALCS.

[infrared41]

Wow. Where do I begin? The 1985-86 Lakers. If memory serves the Lakers had injury problems in the conference finals and ended up losing to Houston.

The 1991 Braves. No way the Braves should have lost to that Twins team.

The Bills first two Super Bowl losing teams. Out coached against the Giants. Head up their asses against the Redskins.

The 2002 Miami Hurricanes. Even though I am an unabashed Buckeyes homer, I'll admit Miami was the better team. Miami just didn't take Ohio State seriously enough.

The 2007 New England Patriots. They play the Giants 10 times and they win 9 of them that season. Unfortunately the one time they don't came in the Super Bowl.

The 1988 Oakland A's. A team with Mickey Hatcher, Rick Dempsey, and Franklin Stubbs beats The Bash Brothers?

The 1980 Soviet hockey team. Do I really need to explain why I think this team losing the gold in Lake Placid was a bit of an upset?

[NJTank]

I remember reading a local paper (Fort Worth, kinda homer-ish this time) mentioning--in a passing part to a bigger article--that the 1994 Dallas Cowboys were the best teams of all time to not win a Super Bowl. That got me thinking...

What do you guys think are the best teams, not only NFL, but in any league--including NCAA--to not win and why.

Thats kinda of weird to consider the 1994 Cowboys, that is the one year out of four they did not win a Super Bowl, and it was more of the 49ers being the desperate team trying for one last shot at glory.

[rams80]

I'd like to nominate the 2001 Rams *ducks accusation of homerism*

Their only problem was self-inflicted injury through stupid turnovers. Otherwise a very dominating team.

[Cujo]

Obviously the '07 Pats come to mind in this category, but I'll throw out a few that have yet to been mentioned yet....

NFL: '90 49ers - Should have Three-peated. Would have happened if Montana wasnt blind-sided in the NFL Title game.

NBA: '93 Suns - Phoenix easily would've won the title in '93 if not for that Jordan guy.

MLB: '84 Cubs - Greatest Cubs season since '45. Leon Durham happens. The Curse continues.

NHL: '09 Sharks - Pretty much went wire-to-wire during the regular season and flamed out in epic fashion.

NCAAF: '05 USC - Personally, the greatest college football team I have ever seen, but upset by Vince Young in the Nat'l Title Game.

NCAAB: '90 UNLV - Defending champs. The last team to run the regular season table, but looked past Duke in the Final Four and were sent packing.

[DarkJourney]

The 1988 Oakland A's. A team with Mickey Hatcher, Rick Dempsey, and Franklin Stubbs beats The Bash Brothers?

That A's team should have three-peated. Getting swept by the Reds in 1990. WTF?

[BJ Sands]

1999 Duke men's basketball. They had Elton Brand, Shane Battier, Corey Maggette, Trajan Langdon and William Avery and just dominated everybody. Except UConn in the final.

The '07 Pats or '86 Bears could qualify too, as could the '05 USC football team. The '96 Red Wings won 62 games but lost to the Avs in the West Final.

[oddball]

*rolls eyes at this subject* 2nd place is just the first loser, or in team sports, the last loser of the year. So if you want to go on and talk about losers, have fun. If they were the "best" team, they wouldn't have lost. End of story.

[FiddySicks]

2002 Sacramento Kings. They would've beat New Jersey in three had they not been tripped up by the refs against Los Angeles in the WCF.

[heernumurr]

Some World Cup football:

1950s Hungary

1970s Holland

1982 Brazil

[Seadragon76]

That 2001 Mariners team that won 116 games, but lost to the Yankees in the ALCS.

Boy, does that bring back bad memories. Hell, I've even came up with a consipracy theory as to how the M's lost the 2001 ALCS to The Evil Empire. I'll spare the rhetoric unless you really want to hear from someone who many would a 'crackpot sore loser of a homer'.

[charger77]

I'll list the NHL teams since I have been watching. (In no particular order)

1993 Penguins

2003 Canucks (If they got past Minnesota I think they would have had a damn good chance)

1996 Red Wings

2009 Sharks (Choked to the team below)

2009 Ducks (If they would have got past Detroit I think they could have won the whole thing)

This is just a short off the top of my head list.

Good topic.

-Dan

[Cujo]

That 2001 Mariners team that won 116 games, but lost to the Yankees in the ALCS.

Boy, does that bring back bad memories. Hell, I've even came up with a consipracy theory as to how the M's lost the 2001 ALCS to The Evil Empire. I'll spare the rhetoric unless you really want to hear from someone who many would a 'crackpot sore loser of a homer'.

116 wins or not, I fully expected the Yankees to handle the Mariners in that series, which they did.

[BrySmalls]

*rolls eyes at this subject* 2nd place is just the first loser, or in team sports, the last loser of the year. So if you want to go on and talk about losers, have fun. If they were the "best" team, they wouldn't have lost. End of story.

1992-93 Los Angeles Kings

[WJMorris3]

I'd offer something along the same lines...

The '91 Eagles were #1 against the run, #1 against the pass, and won 7 of their last 8 games. They failed to make the playoffs.

Same vein, how about the '93 Giants? 2nd best record in the majors, and didn't make the playoffs.

[DDR]

*Homer Alert*

Here are a few of my teams that were on the brink of a Title, but came up short.

1997 Packers (lost to a due John Elway)

1994 White Sox (Strike-shortened season prevented a possible White Sox / Expos World Series)

1992 Blackhawks (Lemieux, Jagr and company proved too much for the Hawks. And then to add insult to injury, Jean-Claude Van Damme stops Jeremy Roenick on a penalty shot in 'Sudden Death' featuring a Pens/Hawks rematch)

[Billy B]

*rolls eyes at this subject* 2nd place is just the first loser, or in team sports, the last loser of the year. So if you want to go on and talk about losers, have fun. If they were the "best" team, they wouldn't have lost. End of story.

Unless you are the 1994 Montreal Expos.

[njmeadowlanders]

1994 Penn State Football:

12-0, defeated Oregon in Rose Bowl, finished #2 to Nebraska.