The Dominant 20: Best teams of last 20 years

[GatorJ]

http://www.espn.com/espn/story/_/id/22839747/the-20-most-dominant-champions-20-years-sports

Best CFB champion? 2008 Florida Gators

And they say it’s not even really that close:

8. 2008 Florida Gators (College football)
Keating's score: 1.65
Key stat: Led by Heisman Trophy-winning QB Tim Tebow, Florida's roster had 19 players eventually selected in the NFL Draft.

Keating's take: Beat nine -- count 'em -- nine bowl teams by an average of 31 points, including No. 1 Alabama to win the SEC and No. 2 Oklahoma to win the national championship. Twenty-four members of the team went on to play in the NFL, including a collegiate legend you might have heard of named Tim Tebow. Choosing the most dominant college football team of the past 20 years is a very close call, but maybe it shouldn't be: The biggest mark against the Gators is supposedly that they lost a game (by one point, to Ole Miss). To our spreadsheets, that's just one more week of data.

 

[Leroy Jenkins]

Saw that..a lot of people think you have to go "undefeated to be the best,", but with advanced metrics and the "eye and statistics test," people are more going away from that.

I'm a Dolphins fan, but most would say the 1985 Bears, who went 15-1 in the regular season (only loss to Dan Marino and the Dolphins), and not the only undefeated team in NFL History (1972 Dolphins) and dominated the Post Season and Super Bowl, are the best team in at least the Super Bowl Era.

So I'm in agreement with their analysis, and not just because I'm a Gators fan.

 

[78]

The '85 Bears would count if it were 2005.

 

[Slevin]

How does one “supposedly” lose to Ole Miss?

 

[Ancient Reptile]

How does one “supposedly” lose to Ole Miss?

The supposition is not that the Gators lost, but rather that the acknowledged loss is the biggest mark against the Gators, although that would appear to be obvious.

 

[GatorJ]

Saw that..a lot of people think you have to go "undefeated to be the best,", but with advanced metrics and the "eye and statistics test," people are more going away from that.

I'm a Dolphins fan, but most would say the 1985 Bears, who went 15-1 in the regular season (only loss to Dan Marino and the Dolphins), and not the only undefeated team in NFL History (1972 Dolphins) and dominated the Post Season and Super Bowl, are the best team in at least the Super Bowl Era.

So I'm in agreement with their analysis, and not just because I'm a Gators fan.

The only NFL teams that even compare to the Bears (IMO) is the 1992 Cowboys and the 1999 Rams. With the 2007 Patriots as an honorable mention.

That 1999 Ram’s team was crazy. I think they won something like four games the year prior. But then Marshall Faulk and Kurt Warner come in and create possibly the most dominant offensive team ever. More impressively, they don’t win the Super Bowl with offense. They won it with a spectacular defensive play.

The 1992 Cowboys absolutely crushed it in the playoffs.

Of course the patriots never won a championship so they can’t be considered a “Dominant championship team”. But you would be hard-pressed to find a more dominant team ever.

 

[GatorJ]

Speaking of the greatest show on turf – that’s kind of what the 2008 Gator squad reminded me of. You couldn’t stop them in the air or on the ground and it’s their defense that won the national Championship. That Oklahoma offensive was INSANE under Bradford. And that Gator defense shut them down.

 

[Captain Sasquatch]

I don’t think the fact that we held OU’s 60 point a game offense to 14 points can be emphasized enough. 14!

 

[AlexDaGator]

For college hoops they picked 2000-2001 Duke over our beloved Oh Fours (either season they won it all).

This is for a SINGLE season tho...

Give me your best argument for either our '06 or '07 teams over the '01 Blue Devils.

Some of their stats:

https://www.sports-reference.com/cbb/schools/duke/2001.html

Alex.

 

[GatorJ]

For college hoops they picked 2000-2001 Duke over our beloved Oh Fours (either season they won it all).

This is for a SINGLE season tho...

Give me your best argument for either our '06 or '07 teams over the '01 Blue Devils.

Some of their stats:

https://www.sports-reference.com/cbb/schools/duke/2001.html

Alex.

So of course I have a natural affinity for that gator squad BUT it took them about half the season to really start clicking. So they probably had the most dominant tournament ever that 1st run and that 2nd team kinda hit the doldrums On the back half of their SEC schedule.

I can’t recall the season, but the only team that I have ever seen that could match that gator team in talent and domination was the UNC team of the late 90s/early 2000’s.

But imagine how awesome it would’ve been to see the Duke back to backs competing against the Gator back to backs.

 

[GatorJ]

understanding of course that I did not see the UCLA teams of the 60s/70s or the Jordan UNC teams. I don’t think the Bobby Knight led Hoosiers were as good as those.

 

[AlexDaGator]

If you want to stretch the window...

Phil Slamma Jamma. Had Clyde Drexler and Hakeem Olajuwon. I mean, come on. 3 final fours in a row, but I don't think they ever won. Famously upset by Valvano's Wolfpack team.

There was a great UNLV team with Larry Johnson, Stacey Augmon, and Greg Anthony. They won the championship in 1990 then blew everybody out in 91 until they were upset by Duke in the Final Four.

1994 Arkansas, 40 minutes of hell. Not the most talent, but a great team.

Duke's back to back teams that won it in 91 and 92 with Christian Laettner, Bobby Hurley, Grant Hill, Thomas Hill, Antonio Davis.

It's hard to compare teams from the distant past where players stayed until they were seniors (or at least juniors) to the more modern era where your best players leave after one or two years. It wouldn't be fair to compare Lew Alcindor's UCLA teams to any of Calipari's Kentucky teams.

With that caveat, I would put the Oh-Fours up against any of the above named teams. I think UNLV and Duke give them a game, but I think the Oh-Fours are better than either of those teams.


Alex.

 

[GatorJ]

If you want to stretch the window...

Phil Slamma Jamma. Had Clyde Drexler and Hakeem Olajuwon. I mean, come on. 3 final fours in a row, but I don't think they ever won. Famously upset by Valvano's Wolfpack team.

There was a great UNLV team with Larry Johnson, Stacey Augmon, and Greg Anthony. They won the championship in 1990 then blew everybody out in 91 until they were upset by Duke in the Final Four.

1994 Arkansas, 40 minutes of hell. Not the most talent, but a great team.

Duke's back to back teams that won it in 91 and 92 with Christian Laettner, Bobby Hurley, Grant Hill, Thomas Hill, Antonio Davis.

It's hard to compare teams from the distant past where players stayed until they were seniors (or at least juniors) to the more modern era where your best players leave after one or two years. It wouldn't be fair to compare Lew Alcindor's UCLA teams to any of Calipari's Kentucky teams.

With that caveat, I would put the Oh-Fours up against any of the above named teams. I think UNLV and Duke give them a game, but I think the Oh-Fours are better than either of those teams.


Alex.

The Runnin’ Rebels were my first real exposure to college basketball. I was in high school at the time and watched way more NBA at that time.

I know a lot of people are nostalgic for 80s basketball – but 90s basketball was the best for me for both college and professional. It was the first time we went to the final four with meathook. Duke was a great team, and to your points above Arkansas and UNLV were fun to watch. I think it was 98 when Kentucky had that really good team with Ron Mercer.

There was the great Piston team, the Suns, Rockets, Supersonics, Bulls, Knicks, Pacers, and Jazz. All of them really fun to watch.

I don’t watch as much NBA anymore. Probably mainly because the malice in the palace disconnected me a bit. And although I really liked Iverson in the early 2000s And there are just as many great players today as there were then, I think we’re really missing out on great rivalries.

And while there are a couple top end talents over the last 15 years, they didn’t have the personalities and styles of the players in the 80s or 90s.

Again – I don’t follow today’s pro basketball a lot but I think that Harden, Curry, Durant, James, and Westbrook could dominate any era. What hurts today’s basketball is that players have no loyalty and they will just move from team to team with no respect to rivalries. And it’s killed the product.

Free agency has been good for the players’ pockets but not so good for viewership.

 

[Gator Fever]

Just on the eyeball test I think 2001 Miami was probably the most dominant college team of the last 20 years as an overall team anyway. That defense was very dominating when it needed to be. They didn't play the final games schedule our 2008 team did but they were a really good team.

 

[Gatorraid81]

Love that we’re the only CFB team on the list. A lot of haters always point to the fact that we lost to Ole Miss as a reason we weren’t as good as other teams that went undefeated. They should watch that game and see how much we had to screw up to lose by 1 point. We won all our games by double digits, I would put that team up against any team in the past and think they would have a pretty good chance of winning. ‘95Nebraska, ‘96Florida, ‘01Miami, and ‘04USC would probably be the stiffest competition to that team, and maybe throw in one of Saban’s championship teams from Bama. What a great season.

 

[Leroy Jenkins]

I thought a Bama Saban team might be on there..quite a few good ones over the years.

But they don't dominate and win big against the better or really good/great teams like the 2008 Gator squad did. They're more like our 2006 National Title team where they have dominating defenses most years and a good enough offense, where they don't need to or want to score a bunch of points and win the games 45-14 like we kinda did a lot in '08.

They probably couldn't if they had tried, thoguh. Haha.

 

[Leroy Jenkins]

Just on the eyeball test I think 2001 Miami was probably the most dominant college team of the last 20 years as an overall team anyway. That defense was very dominating when it needed to be. They didn't play the final games schedule our 2008 team did but they were a really good team.

Yeah. forgot about 2001 Miami..but they were in the Big East back then and I don't think it was very good. That's kinda a knock, if you ask me.

They moved to the ACC and won the Coastal for the first time but still haven't won an ACC Title in football, and the ACC isn't exactly vintage SEC. So there's that.

 

[TheDouglas78]

Yeah. forgot about 2001 Miami..but they were in the Big East back then and I don't think it was very good. That's kinda a knock, if you ask me.

They moved to the ACC and won the Coastal for the first time but still haven't won an ACC Title in football, and the ACC isn't exactly vintage SEC. So there's that.

quality of opponent is obviously a factor in this. That '01 team was loaded for the canes. how many of those guys ended up on NFL rosters with decent careers.

 

[soflagator]

How does one “supposedly” lose to Ole Miss?

Noon games on Jefferson Pilot aren't considered official.

The fumbles. The blown coverage. The 4th down. All here say.

 

[soflagator]

Just on the eyeball test I think 2001 Miami was probably the most dominant college team of the last 20 years as an overall team anyway. That defense was very dominating when it needed to be. They didn't play the final games schedule our 2008 team did but they were a really good team.

I traditionally avoid this conversation because as much as it pains me to say, that '01 team was beyond great. So it's a valid argument.

That said, the rationale--which is most often future NFL success of its players--has some definite holes in it. Those same UF players that made 2008 dominant were almost all on our roster in 2007 when we lost 4 games. A collection of insane talent, as important as it is, doesn't necessarily equal the best team.

People look at the highlights and forget the near losses at VT and Boston College(both late in the year when they should've been rolling), where it came down to one essentially one play, a fluke deflected pass in the case of BC. And handily beating a Nebraska team that ended the season by losing 50-99 in their final two games, and had no business even being in the NC discussion, isn't a deal sealer either.

I'll give them their credit and acknowledge some bias on my part. But from the fourth quarter against Arkansas on, I'm not sure there has ever been a team that people wanted to face less than our 2008 team. It was a machine that simply would not be stopped.