| Losing Teams Steve Whitewater |
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The New York Giants’ upset of the New England Patriots in Super Bowl XLII was a shock to almost everyone
who follows football: How could the most prolific scoring teaming team in NFL history, a team with three Super Bowl
titles, a team with a record-setting quarterback and receiver, a team with the mastermind head coach, fall short in
the biggest game of all? That question will be left to anyone who studies the X’s and O’s of football for a living, but
for the rest of us, it is just utter surprise.
The Patriots were unable to complete the perfect season, almost realizing the ultimate goal in team sports.
They were unable to match the exploits of the 1996 Chicago Bulls, the ’98 Tennessee Lady Vols, and the ’98 New
York Yankees as teams that followed through on their tremendous regular seasons with championships. The Pats’
unbeaten regular season has not been matched by many college or pro teams, but they do have company in the
department of great teams with historic postseason losses. The following is a list of the other teams since 1990 that
have had spectacular regular season highs and improbable postseason lows. If you have any more you would like to
add to this Big Ten-number list, add them to the “Contact Us” page and I will put them in the article.
-1991 UNLV Runnin’ Rebels: This defending national champion squad was 34-0 heading into the Final
Four in Indianapolis and featured future NBA players Larry Johnson, Greg Anthony, and Stacey Augmon. The Rebels
met their doom, however, in their rematch with the Christian Laettner-led Duke Blue Devils, who dethroned the
Rebels with a shocking two point win at the Hoosier Dome. After this loss, UNLV men’s basketball pretty much
became irrelevant, Jerry Tarkanian got fired, and LJ released his inner Grandmama on the unsuspecting public.
-1996 Detroit Red Wings: The Wings followed on their runner-up Stanley Cup finish in ’95 with a record-
breaking 62 win season in 1995-96. They were 27 points clear of Western Conference second place team Colorado.
However, the Wings would get bounced out of the playoffs in six games in the Western Conference Finals by the
Avalanche, who would sweep the Florida Panthers to claim the Stanley Cup. The Wings would get redemption,
though, as they won the next two Stanley Cups in ’97 and ’98.
-1998 Minnesota Vikings: This record-breaking offensive powerhouse was led by the rejuvenated Randall
Cunningham, the efficient TD machine Cris Carter, the solid running back Robert Smith, and the rookie phenom
Randy Moss. The Vikings scored a then-record 556 regular season points (broken by the ’07 Pats- Moss was on both
teams…hmmm…) and featured perfect kicker Gary Anderson. However, in the NFC Championship Game, Anderson’s
first miss of the season allowed the Dirty Bird Falcons to escape with a shocking overtime win. Afterwards,
Cunningham faded back to irrelevance, Smith retired, and Moss started paying all his bills with “straight cash,
homey.”
-1999 Duke Blue Devils: This men’s college basketball powerhouse program returned to dominance in ’99
with one of the finest squads ever put together: Elton Brand, Shane Battier, Carlos Boozer, Corey Maggette, William
Avery, and Trajan Langdon. They lost only one regular season game and steamrolled all the way to the National
Championship where they met up with Richard Hamilton, Ricky Moore, and the Connecticut Huskies. The Dukies were
expected to run roughshod over the Huskies but UConn shocked the college basketball world by upsetting the Blue
Devils at the Tropicana Dome in Tampa Bay. Duke would win the 2001 national title with Battier leading the charge
but the ’99 37-2 team goes down as one of the best non-champions ever.
-2001 Seattle Mariners: This franchise had lost Hall-of-Famers Randy Johnson, Ken Griffey, Jr., and Alex
Rodriguez in the three previous seasons and still won a record-matching 116 regular season games. AL MVP and
Rookie of the Year Ichiro and the suddenly awesome Bret Boone led a brigade of eight Mariners All-Stars that
season to one of the finest baseball regular seasons ever. However, the M’s succumbed to the Yankees in the ALCS
and have not returned to the postseason since. Ichiro remains on the team but Boone’s career nosedived rather
quickly: his name has been linked to steroid usage.
-2001 St. Louis Rams: “The Greatest Show on Turf” had won the Super Bowl in 1999 and seemed poised
to add another. This 14-2 team was led by NFL MVP Kurt Warner, who threw for 37 touchdowns, and Offensive
Player of the Year Marshall Faulk, who ran and caught for more than 2,100 yards combined in the regular season.
The Rams beat the Packers and Eagles in the NFC playoffs and only had to defeat the upstart Patriots in Super Bowl
XXXVI to claim their second title in three years. However, the Rams fell 20-17 to the young Tom Brady-led Pats, who
got a game-winning 48 yard field goal from Adam Vinatieri at the end to win the game. The Rams would never be the
same after that loss as Warner became injured and ineffective and Faulk would never gain 1,000 rushing yards
again.
-2002 Miami Hurricanes: This NFL prospect-rich squad was dominant over a three year stretch: one loss in
2000, an undefeated national championship season in 2001, and a perfect regular season in 2002. The program had
reclaimed its ‘80s glory and had stocked up many an NFL roster, but one thing stood in the Hurricanes’ way to back-
to-back titles: the Craig Krenzel-led Ohio State Buckeyes. OSU beat Miami in a surprising Fiesta Bowl 31-24 in OT,
punctuated by strong performances from Krenzel and Maurice Clarett. Miami has not returned to such prominence,
but 2002 Canes Andre Johnson, Kellen Winslow, Willis McGahee, Jonathan Vilma, and D.J. Williams have overcome
the OSU loss and have started their NFL careers strong.
-2005 Illinois Fighting Illini: This guard-heavy Big Ten squad nearly ran the table in the ’04-’05 season,
only falling to Ohio State in the final conference game and to North Carolina in the National Championship Game. The
Illini featured the three-headed monster of Deron Williams, Dee Brown, and Luther Head, and tied the NCAA record
for wins in a season (see above) in Illinois’ 100th season of men’s basketball. Illinois fell to UNC and its NBA lineup
after completing a miraculous comeback against Arizona in the Elite Eight. Williams would be picked third in the NBA
Draft and has become one of the NBA’s top point guards while Brown still contemplates whatever happened to his
massive orange headband collection.
-2005 USC Trojans: If the 2002 Miami Hurricanes represented an end to a minor college football dynasty,
then the 2005 Trojans cannot be far behind. USC had split the national title in 2003 with LSU, smoked Oklahoma to
take it outright in 2004, and returned ’04 Heisman QB Matt Leinart to a stacked roster replete with many future NFL
players and eventual ’05 Heisman RB Reggie Bush. USC was labeled as one of the best college football teams of all
time, if not the best. Only one team stood in the way of a three-peat: the Texas Longhorns. The also-undefeated
Longhorns featured mobile QB Vince Young, who scampered his way to an incredible performance in an incredible ’06
Rose Bowl: Texas won 41-38 to claim the national title. USC won consecutive Rose Bowls in ’07 and ’08 but has not
returned to the BCS title game. Despite the Texas loss, that USC team may go down as one of the best ever.
-2005 Indianapolis Colts: The Colts and their “finesse” offense had put up tons of points over the years
but never had the defense to match their offensive firepower. In 2005, the D stepped up and helped the Colts to a
13-0 start, and even after a loss to San Diego, nobody expected the Colts to struggle much in the postseason.
However, Peyton Manning and company once again fell short in the playoffs, losing 21-18 to Pittsburgh in a game
made memorable by Mike Vanderjagt’s attempted tying field goal at the end: Carmel residents had a better chance
of catching the ball than the net behind the goal posts. The Colts would rebound in 2006 with a championship,
beating the Bears in Super Bowl XLI 29-17. Manning would never again need to answer questions about not
winning the big one, so instead of holding impromptu press conferences answering those questions, he just went
ahead and starred in every television commercial known to man.
-2007 Dallas Mavericks: This ’06 NBA runner-up rebounded from their Finals loss to Miami with a stellar 67-
win regular season and an MVP award for Dirk Nowitzki. However, the running and gunning Golden State Warriors,
led by Baron Davis, would face the Mavericks in the first round of the playoffs and sufficiently beat down Dallas,
eliminating the Mavs in six games en route to an historic upset. It was only the third time an 8 seed had beaten a 1
in the NBA Playoffs. Baron and his beard would go on to lose to Utah in the next round while Dirk would claim his
MVP award and go sit in the corner listening to his David Hasselhoff records.