20 Best Sports Teams That Never Won a Title

The 1997-98 Utah Jazz had two of the greatest players of all time and one of the greatest coaches of all time, but never won a title. Karl Malone and John Stockton were the best pick and roll duo the league has ever seen, and Jerry Sloan led the Jazz to a record of 62-20. Unfortunately, for the second straight year, the Jazz faced Michael Jordan's Chicago Bulls. The Bulls again defeated Utah in six games on Michael Jordan's game-winning shot.

The San Francisco 49ers were coming off back-to-back Super Bowl wins and were looking to take home their fifth Lombardi Trophy of the decade. With Joe Montana, Jerry Rice and Ronnie Lott all returning, the 1990 49ers went 14-2 and reached the NFC Championship Game. The 49ers held a 13-12 lead against the New York Giants, but a Roger Craig fumble and Matt Bahr field goal gave the Giants a 15-13 win in Candlestick Park.

Miami went 11-1 during the 2000 regular season with their only loss being a 34-29 defeat to the Washington Huskies who went onto win the Rose Bowl. NFL stars like Andre Johnson, Ed Reed, Reggie Wayne, Bryant McKinnie, Dan Morgan, Santana Moss, Clinton Portis and Jeremy Shockey headlined the Canes star-studded roster. The 2001 Hurricanes went on to win it all the next season as one of the best teams ever assembled.

The Red Wings went 62-13-7 during the 1995-96 regular season. Their win total of 62 was an NHL record for most in a season. They also scored 131 points during the year which was second all-time to the 1977 Montreal Canadiens who scored 132. The Red Wings, however, lost to the eventual Stanley Cup champion Colorado Avalanche in the Western Conference Finals in six games.

The 1973 Cincinnati Reds boasted stars like Pete Rose, Johnny Bench, Tony Perez and Joe Morgan. They were stacked and went 99-63 during the regular season. The pitching, however, was less than impressive as not one of their four starters recorded over 20 wins during the season. The Reds were bounced in the NLCS to the New York Mets in seven games.

Michigan's "Fab Five" appeared in two straight National Championship games, but the last one had the best team. The 1992-93 Wolverines featured sophomores Chris Webber, Juwan Howard and Jalen Rose, and reached the final game against North Carolina. Unfortunately, Michigan lost again as Webber called a timeout that Michigan never had. Michigan would lose 77-71, but this season would be vacated late following the Ed Martin scandal.

Hakeem Olajuwon and Clyde Drexler’s Phi Slama Jama was one of the most talented and fun to watch college basketball teams ever. Known for their dunks, the Houston Cougars made the Final Four three straight years, but their 1982-83 squad was their best. In the 1983 NCAA Championship Game, the Cougars were stunned by North Carolina State 54-52.

The 1983 Washington Redskins, led by Joe Theismann and John Riggins, were the NFL's most prolific offense, scoring over 500 points that season. On their way to Super Bowl XVIII, the defending Super Bowl champions defeated Bill Walsh's San Francisco 49ers in the NFC Championship game. Facing the Los Angeles Raiders in the Super Bowl, the Redskins couldn't do anything right, losing 38-9 in one of the most lopsided losses in Super Bowl history.

The 1969-70 Los Angeles Lakers featured three of the greatest scorers in NBA history all on one roster in Wilt Chamberlain, Jerry West and Elgin Baylor. The Lakers didn’t even win their division in the regular season, but were dominant in the postseason. However, each star was over 30 years old and the much younger New York Knicks, inspired by Willis Reed's dramatic entrance, won the NBA Finals in seven games.

The 2003-04 Los Angeles Lakers put together one of the most impressive starting lineups on paper ever after adding Karl Malone and Gary Payton to join Shaquille O’Neal and Kobe Bryant. The Lakers finished 56-26 and reached the NBA Finals. However, the Lakers lost to the Detroit Pistons in five games as Shaq and Kobe feuded and Karl Malone was lost for most of the series with a knee injury.

The 2001 Seattle Mariners recorded the most wins in MLB history for a team that didn’t win the World Series with 116. Led by Ichiro Suzuki and Bret Boone, Seattle had its best year in franchise history. Four players named starters to the All-Star Game and four who were reserves. In the ALCS against the New York Yankees, Seattle didn't score more than three runs in four losses as the Yankees won the series in five games.

In 1998-99, the Duke Blue Devils had four players drafted in the NBA Draft lottery in Elton Brand, Trajan Langdon, Corey Maggette and William Avery. Brand would be the No. 1 overall pick in the draft and the Naismith College Player of the Year. The Blue Devils went 37-2 during the regular season and undefeated in ACC play. However, in the Final Four, Duke lost to a UCONN team that was led by Richard "Rip" Hamilton 77-74.

In 2001, the St. Louis Rams finished 14-2 behind a powerful offense led by Kurt Warner, Marshall Faulk, Isaac Bruce and Torry Holt. The Rams scored an average of over 31 points per game that year and were heavy favorites against the New England Patriots in Super Bowl XXXVI. Instead of a Rams rout, the Patriots, led by Tom Brady, stunned the football world with a 20-17 win on Adam Vinatieri's last-second field goal.

The 1998 Minnesota Vikings put up a then-NFL record for most points in NFL history at a pace of almost 35 per game. They only had one blemish on their 15-1 regular season record, a three-point loss to Tony Dungy's Tampa Bay Buccaneers. In the NFC Championship game against Atlanta, kicker Gary Anderson missed a 38-yard field goal that would have sealed a Super Bowl appearance for the Vikings, but Atlanta tied the game and won in overtime.

The 2005 USC Trojans went and were being called by many as the greatest college football team ever assembled. Going into the national championship game, the Trojans were on a 34-game winning streak. USC had two Heisman winners on offense in Matt Leinart and Reggie Bush, but they didn't have Vince Young. The Texas QB ran roughshod against USC's defense as the Longhorns upset the Trojans 41-38.

The 1979 USC Trojans had one of the greatest collections of talent ever assembled. The Trojans had four future Pro Football Hall of Famers in Ronnie Lott, Marcus Allen, Anthony Munoz and Bruce Matthews along with Pro Bowl players like Joey Browner, Dennis Smith and Chip Banks. This team finished 11-0-1 with their only tie coming to Stanford 21-21. The Trojans finished their season with a 17-16 Rose Bowl win over Ohio State.

The 1984-85 Boston Celtics went 63-19 in the regular season and were headlined by their trio of Larry Bird, Kevin McHale, and Robert Parrish. They only lost four games total in the three playoff series leading up to the NBA Finals. In a rematch with the Los Angeles Lakers, Boston lost two games at home, including a pivotal Game 6, which gave the Lakers their first title against Boston after so many failures in years' past.

The Baltimore Colts were dominant in 1968, finishing the regular season with a 13-1 record. Quarterback Earl Morrall was the NFL MVP and linebacker Mike Curtis led a terrific defense that constantly harassed the opposition. In the NFL Championship game, the Colts slaughtered the Cleveland Browns 34-0. However, a quarterback named Joe Namath from the New York Jets manufactured the biggest upset in Super History with a 16-7 win.

The Russians, or Soviets at the time, had won Gold in hockey in every single Winter Olympic tournament from 1960 until 1980. The 1980 squad, led by Boris Mikhailov, Valeri Vasiliev, Sergei Makarov and Aleksandr Maltsev, the Soviets scored 51 goals while only surrendering 11 before facing Team USA in the Medal Rounds. Instead of Soviet domination, Team USA, led by Herb Brooks and Jim Craig, outlasted the Soviets 4-3, eventually winning the gold.

New England cruised through the 2007 regular season going a perfect 16-0. The Patriots broke the NFL record with 589 points that season scoring at a rate of almost 37 points per game. Both Tom Brady and Randy Moss set single-season records and were heavy favorites against the New York Giants in Super Bowl XLII. In the Super Bowl, New England's offensive line couldn't slow down the Giants pass rush in a 17-14 loss.