1995 Nebraska, hands down, was the best college football team of all time.

The 1972 USC Trojans were coached by John McKay, not John Robinson.

first! and it was the bears

You have to be kidding me. 95 Nebraska was the best college team of all time. Usc barely makes the top 5.
1. 95 Nebraska
2. 01 Miami
3. 71 Nebraska
4. 75 Oklahoma
5. 72 USC

The 1976-77 Montreal Canadiens. 60 wins, 8 losses , 12 ties. If we were to use a baseball season as analgous to this season ( allowing the 12 ties to be spilt 50/50 thus having a record of 66 and 14 ) it would create a winning percentage of .825 or a record of almost 134 wins in a 162 game season. If we wanted to be even fairer we could take the tie games and allow them to be the same percentages as the wins and losses it would create a record of 143/19 over 162 games. This is from a Maple Leaf fan by the way.

LOMBARDI.
Greatest of all time.
Any sport.

His first Packers team completed an epic turnaround, later Packers teams simply ANNIHILATED their competition, they won the Ice Bowl in their graying years, and later, had he not died of cancer, the same probably would've happened to the Washington Redskins.

Belichick, meet Second-Only-To-God.

Arsenal was not only undefeated for 38 but also for the following 11 games which means 49 before losing to Manchester United.

Boston Celtics of the sixties.

I would put any of the 70's Steelers teams against the Bears. Nobody will have as many hall of fame players as those Steeler teams.

I love that the '72 Dolphins aren't on this list.

Easily the 95-96 Cowboys. A team loaded with talent and as Jerry Jones said it best "any one of 500 coaches could have won the Super Bowl with this team, I just happened to pick Barry Switzer".

In the Super Bowl era, the best team was the '89 49ers (ESPN said so, too). Two unimportant losses by a total of 3 points, and the greatest post-season run ever (outscoring their 3 opponents by an average of 33 points per game).

All the college teams mentioned here were pretty great, but you could make a good argument for '72 USC. I still remember AD running all over Notre Dame.

1972 Trojans... John Robinson?... Sorry, never happened... The fat man wasn't there yet... Try John McKay...

As for the 95 'huskers, they were a good system team but I'd like to know how many of those players have done anything in the pros and/or will have ended up in the Hall of Fame (Lynn Swann from the 72 Trojans already there)? Ahman Green not likely, Larry Phillips not likely, Darin Erstad (good ball player)... I still think Berringer would have made the best 'husker QB ever; He certainly was a class act (RIP).

However, again, good team representing an amazing system but, honestly, I don't see any signs that this team would have definitively stopped the Toe-jams.

Just came across this... which, given the Patriots' season, seems rather appropriate

"USC's not the No. 1 team in the country. The Miami Dolphins are better." -- Washington State coach Jim Sweeney, on the 1972 national champion Trojans, widely recognized as one of the greatest college teams of all-time

'95 Nebraska - can anyone besides Neb fans name 1 player?
Tom O gets the national championship - because it's his last season.
Penn State was undefeated and just as deserving.

Ummm...anybody here feeling 2005's Texas Longhorns? 14-0, beating USC--"the greatest team of all time" to many--41 to 38 on the arms and legs of Vince Young--a player with a greater will to win than anyone other than Tom Brady.

'72 usc! you have to be kidding!

they couldn't have handled any of these three - '71 huskers; '71 sooners or '71 colorado buffs and would have been totally killed by nebraska's '95 juggernaut.

buckeye view

Brazil 1970.

hey anonymous,

1995 wasn't Osborne's last season. At the end of the 1995 season Nebraska has two consecutive 13-0 seasons, with '95 culminating with a thumping of #2 Florida. In fact, that team over the 93, 94, 95 seasons was 37-1 with the only loss coming in the 1994 Orange Bowl to the National Champion Seminoles, 18-16. Osborne also won the championship after the 1997 season, which was his last. You can't actually make comments and be incorrect by two years. The 1997team was also 13-0...what's your problem with that? Just curious.

The 1995 Nebraska squad beat teams by an average of 53.2-14.5. They beat four top-10 teams and their closest game was a two-touchdown win against Washington State early in the season. Despite being just 3.5-point favorites, they demolished #2 Florida in the title game, a team with a fast, throwing style of play. It wasn't Tom Osborne's last year (as a previous commenter tried to say), but it was definitely his best team and by far the best of all time. Put 'em up against anybody, and they'd win. I'm convinced of that (and I'm not even a Nebraskan).

Even I say 95'Nebraska is by far the greatest college football team ever. I'm a diehard USC fan. You must have been born after '95 or just slept through the 95 season not to know that they where the greatest team. You must be a husker hater. I don't like them but even I acknowledge them. By the way…I can name as many players on that historical team as you want Tommie Frazier, Brooke Berringer, Ahman Green shall I go on? You’re not a college football fan if you truly think that USC (My team) was better than the 95 Huskers.

The 1995 team at Nebraska included Tommie Frazier (2nd in the Heisman voting, Peyton was 6th), Ahman Green, Lawrence Phillips (yikes!), Mike Rucker, Mike Minter, Grant Wistrom, and Kris Brown...I think most could name those players if they knew college football...

I'd like to add these single-season powerhouses

1961 Yankees
1955 Browns
1972 Lakers
1976 Reds
1989 49ers (someone already mentioned them)

No college team should be on the list. Dominating amateur competition with rigged rosters and hokey schedules is not impressive. So you went 11-0 beating State U and Central Tech, so what?

1996 Kentucky Wildcat basketball team had so much talent they started a JV team, that had two players that eventually played in the NBA.

Die hard Gator fan and grew up watching 'Canes in late 80s and early 90s. Neb. '95 is the best college football team of all time.

NFL -'85 Bears/'89 Niners
NBA - Jordan's Bulls/ Magic's Lakers
College Bball - '91 UNLV/'92 Duke/'07 UF
Soccer - Brazil '70/AC Milan '89

I agree with some of the people who said '95 Nebraska. Also the '76-'77 Canadiens. If Ken Dryden hadn't retired they would have won several more Cups. Add the '98 Yankees and the Chicago Bulls team which won 72 games and the Chicago Bears from 1985. There are others but a perfect record doesn't always equate to greatest of all-time (Dolphins, but not this season's edition). Most boxing fans would say Joe Louis was the greatest of all time. But Rocky Marciano retired undefeated. Great? Unquestionably. Greatest? Very Debatable.

I agree with some of the people who said '95 Nebraska. Also the '76-'77 Canadiens. If Ken Dryden hadn't retired they would have won several more Cups. Add the '98 Yankees and the Chicago Bulls team which won 72 games and the Chicago Bears from 1985. There are others but a perfect record doesn't always equate to greatest of all-time (Dolphins, but not this season's edition). Most boxing fans would say Joe Louis was the greatest of all time. But Rocky Marciano retired undefeated. Great? Unquestionably. Greatest? Very Debatable.

"Everyone loved the 1985 Bears"?

I think they were a lightining rod team that you either loved or hated...and if you were a Packer fan...YOU F%$&*!'IN HATED THEM!

"Everyone loved the 1985 Bears..."??? They were a lightining rod team that you either loved or hated. And if you were a Packers fan...
YOU F#$%^#'IN HATED THEM!!!!

2003 Florida Marlins. Go look at that roster and tell me it's not the most talented you've ever seen.

1985 Edmonton Oilers. Gretzky, Messier, Fuhr, Coffey, Lowe, Kurri, Anderson. 'Nuff said.

What an idiotic list. How old is this guy, 20?

Here's a list:

1. Murderer's Row Yankees
2. Auerbach/Russell Celtics
3. A couple of Wooden's UCLA teams
4. 68 Ohio State Buckeyes
5. The 70s Steelers, 60s Packers, and 50s Browns were all better than the 85 Bears.

Team USA's 1992 olympic basketball team anyone???

The 1976 Indiana Hoosiers basketball team. The last undefeated team in college basketball to win the championship... And they probably would have done the same thing in '75 had May not gotten injured.

Agree with the "85 Bears on the gridiron and the '76 Candiens on the ice. But with due respect to his airness you did say "team" so I would go back to the Bird/Magic teams in pro b-ball and '75 and '76 Hoosiers in college. Don't forget the '27 and '32 Yankees, '32 had 11 HOF players - most ever.

I am pretty positive that nobody watches cricket here, but I thought might as well educate America about the australian National cricket team. Three consecutive world championships which are held 4 years apart. 8 years of world domination, where their record is 72 wins and 10 losses. BTW, thats not the same as 72-10 in a basketball season. This is being the Patriots/Bulls/Canadiens/Yankees all in one.

Now I will admit to being 'old school' but where are Bill Russell & Bob Cousy's Celtic teams? And did you guys forget about the 1927 Yankees Murderers Row with Ruth, Gehrig,etc.

1995 Nebraska may have been good and miss this list, but they got into the Top 5 Criminal Teams list. Kudos, date rapists.

1995 Nebraska Huskers missed this list, but ended up in the Top 5 Criminal Teams Ever. Kudos, date rapists.

1976-1977 Montreal Canadiens. They were absolutely untouchable, AND they ushered in a decade and a half of beautiful, fast-paced hockey.

Glad to see a few posters acknowledge older great teams like Ruth's Yankees, Army football during WWII, Notre Dame during the Leahy years, and even Brazil WC 1970. Not all great teams or players competed during the lifetimes of the average reader here.

Let me give you guys some information...

Australian Cricket Team

1998 to Present

- 16 consecutive Test Match wins
- 23 consecutive ODI wins
- 3 straight World Cups
- Every player potentially heading to the hall of fame
- Leads test match victories all time

They are 1972 Dolphins, 1985 Bears, 1989 Niners, 1977 Yanks, 76 Canadiens, 60's Celtics, 1970 Brazil all rolled in one.

Case Closed

Guys,

Let me tell you something about these guys on the list...

90's and 00's Aussie Cricket Team

here are some facts....

- 16 consecutive test match wins from 1999 to 2001

- 23 consecutive limited overs matches in 2003

- 3 straight world championships
1999, 2003 and 2007

- All the players will eventually land up in the hall of fame

- Greatest cricketer ever...Steve Waugh

That is the 72 Dolphins/85 Bears/89 Niners/70's Steelers/76 canadiens/Ruth's Yanks/Jordan's Bulls all rolled up in one

Case Closed....

1986 New York Mets. All the players were on drugs and still won 108 games and the world series. That's impressive. It is also impressive that the start players from that team (Strawberry and Gooden) played huge roles on the 196 and 1998 Yankees.

Easily, the 1976-77 Montreal Canadiens

60-8-12.....two losses in the playoffs

DUH! Your watching it right now. The 2007 New England Patriots!!!!!!!!!!

Early 80's Oilers.

4 Straight Cups...

Gretzky, Messier, Moog, Fehr, Huddy, MacTavish, Kurri, Tikkannen, etc, etc, etc....

1976 Reds All Stars: Johnny Bench (HOF), Dave Concepcion, George Foster , Ken Griffey, Joe Morgan (HOF), Tony Perez (HOF), Pete Rose. Team Batting Average: .280, Team ERA: 3.51

1998 Yankees All Stars: Scott Brosius, Derek Jeter (HOF), Paul O'Neill, David Wells, Bernie Williams. Team Batting Average: .288, Team ERA 3.82

credit where credit is due, not to the more popular team.

92 Broncos

No mention of the 1999 Florida State Seminoles? Ludicrous!

They were the first team ever to go wire to wire at #1!

I second "Itchy Brother"'s motion. The '90s are over. Let's dispense with the MJ hype. Bill Russell was the greatest basketball player of all time. Why not include the '65-'66 Celtics for winning their 8th NBA championships in a row?

Where's Baseball ? It's only the best time-tested true team sport.

How can you leave out the '75-'76 Cincy Reds?

Uhh, some serious holes here....

'27 Yankees
'58 Colts
Alcindor or Walton Bruins (pick 'em)
'69 Jets (changed the game forever)
'70 Brazil

1980 US Olympic Hockey team, anyone?

Another malqualified know-nothing unprofessional who can't write and gets his facts wrong and opinions from stupidville sees print in the esteemed SI--just because he has a PC. Sad times.

Yes, the 1985 Bears were a dominant foot ball team, particulary on defense. If an opponent was able to cross mid field, it was a major accomplishment.

2. 1996 Chicago Bulls - Michael and the boys simply knew how to win. Oh, they won with class and dignity. Great team!

3. 1998 New York Yankees - They went 114 - 48, totally ridiculous!
Paul O'Neil, Derek Jeter, Rivera, Scott Brosious, Bernie Williams and Joe Torre were the true pride of the Yankees. Again, a truly great team!

4. 1995 Nebraska Cornhuskers Tommy Frazier and the boys, enough said!

5. 1989 San Francisco 49ers - Montana, Rice, Ronnie Lott - enough said!

2003-04 Arsenal ?!
Ok, They went undefeated in EPL, but they didn't enjoy much success other competitions : they "only" reach the semis in both national cups, and the quarter-finals in Champions League.
If you wanna talk about the greatest season for a soccer team, you have to mention the Manchester United of 1998-99, who won the treble.

First of all, no one named ANONYMOUS gets a vote. Second, the '27 Yankees were the greatest sports team of all time; Third, PATALLAMERICAN: sorry, but '71 Nebraska doesn't even belong in the conversation, and '95 Nebraska, as good as they were, should probably be fourth, with '54-'56 Oklahoma being number three (and it pains me to say that because I'm a Texas-Ex), and '72 USC being No. 5. Da Bears (1985)were No. 2. '75 Sooners aren't eligible either (too much snoot and cash flowing around).

2007 Boston Red Sox.

Speed: Ellsbury, Crisp
Youth: Ellsbury, Lester, Pedroia, Papelbon, Buchholz
Starting Pitching: Beckett, Schill, Dice, Wake
Pen: Papelbon, Okajima, Timlin, Delcarmen
Power/Run Production: Ramirez, Ortiz, Lowell
Great Defense all around

Has there ever been a more complete team?

How can anyone pick the Bears when the same team lost to the 49ers 3 times in the NFC championship? The 1984 49ers were a much better team than the 1985 Bears, and even that 49er team probably wasn't as good as the 1966 Packers.

And the best team of all time, the 1927 Yankees. Anyone who disagrees with this knows nothing of sports history.

1. 1927 Yankees

2. 1955-56 Oklahoma Sooners (Ouch...I'm a Texas-Ex)

3. Da Bears (1985)

4. 1961 Yankees (I saw them in LA against the Angels at Dodger Stadium...Maris hit a grand slam, Mantle hit a two run homer and Elston Howard homered. The grand slam by Maris won the game. My childhood was never the same after that.}

5. 1995 Cornhuskers

UCLA basketball, 1965-1978, pick a year...

Could we change the title please? with the exception of the inclusion of Arsenal, this is really a list of best American teams of the last few years.

The rest of the world produces teams that aren't too bad. To name a couple:

Brazil's 1970 world soccer champions
St George - a Rugby League team in Australia that won 11 consecutive championships in the 50's and 60's.

and if you look a bit earlier than the 80-s, you'll probably find the odd team better than those listed - e.g. the 1972 dolphins, The Yankees of the 1920s, etc.

Someone had earlier stated that there should not be any college teams on the list, and I agree. Colleges/universities should have their own category.

In comparing professional teams, there should be a list of any professional teams that had won 5 consecutive championships. If not 5, then 4, 3, or 4 out of 5 years, and so on; that would definitely narrow it down. As far as the New England Patriots, they are a tremendous team, and certainly deserve consideration--and you can definitely put them on the top 5 list after they win the Superbowl this year.

One thing I liked about the list that is too often underappreciated (and will hamper the status of this year's Patriots) is that the teams listed were a joy to watch, even if they weren't your hometown team. Has any team ever had more fun than the '85 Bears? Today's Pat inspire awe just like the 72-win Bears did, but they are a joyless bore.

Sure there were some notable omissions, but I liked the theme.

The Mighty Beloved gave up a TOTAL of 10 points in the playoffs in for their Super Bowl run in 85. They caused QB's to wet themselves. Any team can run up the score. Real team prevent their opponents from scoring at all.

How can anyone say we loved the Bears. Go to a Bears game and see what *sses the fans are. Then tell me you love the Bears

The 1974-75-76 Steelers was the best team of all time. Won two Super Bowls lost the 76 championship game after entire backfield was out with injury. Dominated that three year span.

Then retooled (but did not materially change the starting lineup or roster) based on aging defensive line and emerging receiver corps (Swann Stallworth) and won two more.

This all happened just after the Dolphins won their second and staked their claim as greatest footbal dynasty. It happened as the Cowboys emerged as America's team and the Raiders made the own twisted history. And the Vikings were in the midst of going to three Super Bowls in four years.

Emerging over four other Hall of Fame laden teams to be top of the heap.

The Bears were one and done

the 66 bama team undefeated and untied and finished 3rd? to two teams that tied ? please coached by the greatest coach of all time the man the bear. or the 92 bama squad best defense of al time man what r yall smoking? roll tide

Miami Dolphins 1972. Regardless to what they are going thru this year, Miami is the best of all time, then Green Bay Packers, Chicago Bears, 49ers...

1985 Bears #1, you got to be joking or deliberately trying to invoke a negative reaction.

Well you succeeded, its the 1972 UNDEFEATED Miami Dolphins you IDIOT!!!!

1985 Bears #1, you got to be joking or deliberately trying to invoke a negative reaction.

Well you succeeded, its the 1972 UNDEFEATED Miami Dolphins you IDIOT!!!!

BIG RED MACHINE. give me a break...the 98 yankees?

I agree with you gnjaxon. It is actually unprecedented that on offense an NFL team tries to score as much as they can 'til games end (as the Pats do). The Bears were the defensive equivalent of that; doing it against playoff opponents was sick!

Don H, quit hatin' on Da Bears. Best dynasties is another post, and the 80's Bears aren't even on the radar screen for that one. However, with respect to single years, the '85 Bears season has been unequaled since. I've been to plenty of Bears games. Did you go to any in '85? Besides my comment was a national reference. The entire country was in on that party.

That being said, best of luck to the Pats. It's just too bad they're taking a lower road than necessary to greatness.

i sense that people here are failing to differentiate between "best collection of athletes wearing the same colored shirt" and "best TEAM"

best "TEAM" ever? easy.

1980 US Olympic Ice Hockey Team.

20 college kids, mixed together mere months prior, took on a professional military squad who had been an established dominant force in the game for nearly 25 years prior.

if you chose to define a "team" in such a way, the 1980 US squad was BY FAR the greatest example of the whole being far superior than the sum of its parts. in the most elemental sense, there was greater "team" ever than these guys.

I agree with Anon 12:51 - this guy must be a teenager.

NBA - Any Celtic team during the Auerbach years.

MLB - Ruth/Gehrig Yankees...'27 Yanks...this isn't even up for debate.

College Basketball - Wooden's teams and maybe NC State of '74...UNLV and Duke teams only other consideration in last 20 years.

College Football - let the voters decide like in any football season.

NFL - 40's Bears, 50's Browns, 60's Packers, 70's Steelers

How about the 80-83 NY Islanders, won 4 straight Cups (not 80's Edmonton, they won 4 out of 5)and a record 19 (!) straight playoff series. Came up 3 games short of 5 straight Cups, all with practically the same roster, which included at least 4 hall of famers.

For all those who are confused about the best college team ever. Forget the nebraska ( overrated ) cornterdchuckers, Penn State that year would have destroyed them.

2002 Red Wings one of the best teams of all time, there will never be another team in any of the team sports with a Salary Cap as good as this one was, Yzerman, Lindstrom, Hull, Shannahan, Lironov, Robitaille, Hasek, Chelios and Federov.

It's not the Harlem Globetrotters?

Hey statdoc,

I don't hate the bears, but the post is best team not best one year team not best team not considered a dynasty.

Jordan and da bulls were a dynasty you change the players around him and he even goes to play baseball for a while. comes back and presto three more and they were better team than the theams that won the first three.

The 1990s Yankees had a core but changed many pieces

The 1980s 49ers changed pieces around Montana, even Montana then even the coach.

After the Steelers I would say the Cowboys of the 1990s, even though that pains me.

The point in that the Team remains in tact over a short span to win all in can before it changes. "Does all it can specifically mean just in one season" - and I think it does not.

The Yankees are a dynasty. How many great teams have they put together over the years to win multiple WS.

The same can be said for the Canadians.

The Pats will be a dynasty. But how many Super Bowls will this current team win before it is broken up.

The Bears were great, love um. But what makes the 1972 Dolphins better is that the same team returned and won again the next year. Same team continued to roll their winnings over to the next year. Dolphins are not a dynasty like the Steelers or 49ers or even Pats.

1995 Nebraska was nasty and pretty much untouchable. Also 1992 Alabama was pretty incredible. What about 1989 SF 49ers? What a team. 55-10 in the Super Bowl speaks volumes.

1995 Nebraska was nasty and pretty much untouchable. Also 1992 Alabama was pretty incredible. What about 1989 SF 49ers? What a team. 55-10 in the Super Bowl speaks volumes.

1995 Nebraska. It doesn't matter who was on the team or how those players did in the pros. This is about the greatest TEAM ever in CFB. The 1995 Cornhuskers had it mastered.

Black and Blue ask how many Huskers went to the NFL from the 1995 NU team. I may have missed a few but I counted 38 members of that team frosh/senior played or are still playing in the NFL. Including Grant Wistrom, Mick Rucker, Mike Minter, Jay Foreman, Cris Dishman, Adam True, Lawrence Phillips, Scott Frost,Aaron Graham, Chad Kelsay, Peter bros, Eric Warfield, Tyrone Williams, etc.........

Something tells me there was sports being played before 1972. Maybe you should retitle the blog as "Best teams I remember." The Yankees of the 20s, the Packers of the 60s, the Canadiens from about the 20s through the 70s all had teams greater than what you mentioned.

How can the Montreal Canadiens of the late '70's be left off this list? In addition to the 60 win season in 76-77, they won 4 consecutive Stanely Cups between '75 and '79, achieved an NHL-record 132 points in the '76-'77 season and have had 11 individuals associated with that era inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame. I notice the 1995 Nebraska team defeated that football powerhouse Pacific. Gimme a break. Pacific scrapped its football program the next year!

Don H, I would actually agree with you if the author agreed with you. Each of the teams listed in his article one were one-year considerations.

I believe that they are many teams, including those you listed that because of their longevity merit consideration as 'greatest ever', but only if we're talking dynasties. I just think from the reading of the article, the topic is single year greatest ever teams.

I agree with Dumpus on the whole team aspect and would like to throw in the ORIGINAL DREAM TEAM. I still think they could have won another 2 gold medals.

2007 soon to be New England Patriots.
Tom Brady: Best quarterback ever w/ out Moss, Welker, and Stallworth
Defense: veteran future hall of famers (Tedy Bruschi, Junior Seau, Mike Vrabel, Rodney Harrison), great players (A. Thomas, Seymour, Wilfork, Ty Warren, A. Samuel).
Bill Belicheck: top 5 head coach of alltime(Walsh, Lambeau etc.)
O-Line: Crazy

This is simply the dumbest idea for a list I could think of . . . a list of the top 5 "sports" teams regardless of sport or era. Simply ridiculous. You could do a "top 20" list and include backstories, facts, anecdotes, etc to make it a very interesting collection. This? This is just useless.

How about the 70-72 Boston Bruins? Back to back Stanley Cups. Bobby Orr, Phil Esposito, Gerry Cheevers. They were fun to watch.

07 Patriots

Putting the 03 Arsenal team on this list is ridiculous. Everybody that follows European soccer knows that this team, while good, deosn't deserve to be in this kind of company. They didn't even win the Champions League that year. U.S. journalists consistently greatly overrate the Premier League and British soccer in general, both of which fare poorly on the international stage.

best teams of all time? this has to be a joke. it's such a bad list there's no reason to even argue with it.

Cricket is not a sport...sorry.

The two greatest college football teams of them all: 1966 Michigan State Spartans and 1966 Notre Dame Fighting Irish. MSU's Webster, Smith, Apisa, Thornhill... ND's Conjar, Eddy, Lynch, Page... Which team was better? Well, let's just call it a tie.

You Wrote "'95 Nebraska - can anyone besides Neb fans name 1 player?
Tom O gets the national championship - because it's his last season.
Penn State was undefeated and just as deserving."

That would be 94 Penn St, and Tom Osborne's last year was the 97 season. Thanks try again.

For someone named Statdoc you sure goofed up.

The 72-win Bears??

It was the BULLS who won 72 games on the way to the 1995-1996 NBA Championship.

The 1985 BEARS won 18 games total in the regular season and playoffs, including Super Bowl XX.

There have been lots of great CFB teams over the years, but I'd agree nothing like the 95 Nebraska team. They were untouchable.

the 1995 Nebraska team is one of the most over rated teams of all time. they played in a weak conference in an old system against no one. you can make them equal in size to the Miami '01 team and Miami would absolulty crush them. They could not beat any of the champs over that came after them and would probably have lost to '93 FSU and '92 Alabama and '91 washington. they were a one dimensional team. The best teams of all team are
'01 miami
'04 USC
'87 miami
'66 MSU
'91 washington
NO doubt

OK lets end this now
Basketball 1972 lakers (wilt, west, big O)

College Basketball UNLV '90

pro football 1995-96 cowboys

college football 2001 Miami Hurricanes

Baseball is the yankees with murder's row

hockey Oilers of 1985

Soccer pick a team with pele on it

Cricket who give a f#$K how many countries play and watch that sport?
answer 4

1972 USC Trojans were undefeated, untied & uncontested! The GREATEST college football team of all time....

wat r u joking about pacific???

u cant play all top ten teams

do u even watch football??

that is the most ridiculous argument i have ever heard, u can disagree that 95 wasnt the greatest team ever but its the dumbest thing ever to say that they werent the best because they played pacific

go home

John, get your facts straight. Robinson was not coaching SC at that time. Shows your credibility. Born and raised in LA I know about the 72 USC team. However the 71 OU team would have beat them. In fact so would have the 75 OU squad, 83 Nebraska, 97 Nebraska, 71 Neb squad that beat OU in 71 in the Game of the Century. 01 Miami team was a good one to be considered as well. OU had some good teams in the mid 50's as did Army 44-46. But the Greatest team is clearly the 95 Huskers. Frazier was the best player that year and showed it in the Orange Bowl. Best offense and the best defense that year. Demolished every team in their path including Spurier's Gators.Just because they did not have 40 pros on that team doesn't mean they were not the best team. TEAM is the key word. No weaknesses or selfishness.



Other than NCAA football, what about Boston Celtics of the 60's, Yankees with Ruth and Gehrig, UCLA basketball with Al Cinder of the redhead.

This list is a complete joke. I think SI writers need to be out of diapers before they're allowed to post an article to the website.

Oh -- and tossing in a token soccer team doesn't make you sound like you aren't biased toward American teams.

These retards forgot about Manchester United in the 1998-1999 season. They won the Treble

2005 USC trojans

The Dream Team? Anyone?

To whoever says that there is no debate about the '27 Yankees being the greatest baseball team ever, I present you the '31 Homestead Grays, with Oscar Charleston, Josh Gibson, Smokey Joe Williams, Jud Wilson, Willie Foster, and a record supposed to be around 138-6 to 163-23.
Teams before integration should have an asterisk.

Yeah the 95 huskers played pacific. but still had time to beat 4 top ten teams. Demolish Florida in the Bowl game. Also they seem to win pretty much every greatest college football team of all time list made.

The 1976-77 Montreal Canadiens. Went 60-8-12. Won more than 7 times as many games as they lost, a much better ratio than even the dominant 114-48 Yankees. Like those Yankees, the Habs lost only 2 playoff games, and swept the Stanley Cup Final. Roster included nine(!) future Hall of Fame players (Cournoyer, Dryden, Lapointe, Savard, Robinson, Lafleur, Shutt, Gainey, Lemaire), and was coached by the legendary Hall of Fame coach Scotty Bowman. The Canadiens' GM at the time, Sam Pollock, also went on to enshrinement in the Hockey Hall of Fame. This was easily one of the single most dominating and talented teams in North American sports history, and is unfortunately often overlooked due to lack of interest in hockey.

I am by no means a Texas Longhorn fan, but their undefeated championship season included wins over Ohio State, Oklahoma and USC. And not one of those games was played in Austin. They are the greatest college football team I have ever seen.

1976-77 Montreal Canadians.

how many super bowls have chicago won? what ever happened to the 1985 qb...Jim what's -his name? you have got to be kidding me with your choices. How about the celtics or the 2004 red sox? I don't want to sound like a "homer" but listen for the resounding "POP" when you finally pull your head out of your butt!

Bears?Bears? Is there a gas leak in your office?
1970's Steelers->4 rings, granted the last one was a weak win in a weak season, but still.
Joe Green & Jack Lambert would have had bear meat for lunch on any given Sunday.
Also have to agree with the Byrd b-ball college years. Lastly, '95 Nebraska all the way

2001-2002 Detroit Red Wings

1990-1994 Buffalo Bills if not for corrupt officiationg they win 4 Super Bowls in a row

1972 MIAMI DOLPHINS

Basketball has to be the Celtics. Pick a team - say the 1963 team with 6 hall of fame players
Havlicek * (8 championships)
Heinsohn (9 championships)
KC Jones (12 championships)
Sam Jones * (9 championships)
Ramsey (7 championships)
Russell * (13 championships)

(* indicates Basketball Hall of Fame one of 50 best players during 50th anniversary)

and a hall of fame coach
Auerbach

1976 Steelers. How many shutouts did they have? The '85 Bears wouldn't have sniffed the end zone.

1995 Nebraska was not even the best team THAT year.. That's right check out the year PSU had !!!

Penn St. went 9-3 in 1995....

Laughable to say 95 Nebraska had no one and played no one. They played 4 top 10 teams that year. And I guess if you don't have receivers of note, that means you had "no one". The Husker defense was absolutely incredible. Grant Wistrom, Mike Minter, Mike Booker have had pretty good NFL careers in their own right. 8 of the 11 starters on D saw time in the NFL. Plus the fact that they played as a team instead of as a bunch of insanely talented individuals.

Penn State finished 13th in the polls in 1995...

2005 University of Texas. Young, should I say more. He also will be the best in the PROS before he's through
2. Second best. University of Texas 1969. The wishbone ran by them was unstobbable in yardage gained and scoring during a ten year period.

You all are completely lost........

Im not even a fan of this sport, but if you want complete domination, 1851-1980, 24 consecutive Americas Cup Titles. The United States completely dominated that sport for years.

Sailing should get some recognition here.

Because the list doesn't contain a Patriots/Boston team we are all smarter, thankful, and happy.

...And the '01 Miami team is the greatest in college football history. Not even an argument.

Hard to pick only 5, but my votes:

NFL: 1989 49ers -- 2 meaningless losses by 5 points total; won their playoff games by 27, 28, and 45 points, Montana's QB rating 112.4; all 6 skill players ... Montana, Craig, Rice, Taylor, Rathman, Jones ... were probably all the best in the NFL at their positions that year.

NBA: 1971-72 Lakers -- scary good, 33 straight wins; 12-3 in the playoffs; Wilt, West, Baylor, Goodrich, and a kid named Pat Riley.

MLB: Best hypothetical matchup in any sport would be the 1927 Yankees vs. the Homestead Grays of the late 20's/early 30's. The Yanks need no justification. The Grays had 2 of the 10 greatest players to ever play the game. Half a point each?

NHL: The most exciting hockey team I ever saw was the 84 Edmonton Oilers. What a lineup! Gretzky, Messier, Kurri, Coffey, Anderson, and Fuhr between the pipes.

NCAA BB: 1972-73 UCLA ... in the middle of 88 straight wins; smoked almost everyone they played, including Memphis State by 21 in the NCAA finals; Walton going 21-for-22 in the finals.

NCAA FB is just too hard. Too many great teams and no impartial way to tell which was best.

I'm not trying to insult any other great teams here (Bulls/Celtics, Bears/Steelers/Packers, Canadiens/Islanders, etc.). These are just the 5 that top my list.

1973-74 NC State Men's Basketball. 57-1 over two seasons and beat Wooden's Basketball dynasty. Which also should be considered. The ACC sport writers be damned. David Thompson was the best college basketball player ever.

I agree, Nebraska 95 was a better college football team. I'm a Gator fan, I remember the national championship game...

1991 Washington Husky Football Team. The most dominating defense.

1976-77 Montreal Canadiens

In addition to what else has been said by others.

1 - Lost only 1 game at home that year out of 40.

2 - The last team in league history to score the most goals and give up the fewest. 387 goals for and only 171 against, a difference of 216, also a league record.

1975-76 Canadiens 58-11-11
1976-77 Canadiens 60-8-12
1977-78 Canadiens 59-10-11
1978-79 Canadiens 52-17-11

Simply the greatest.

85 Bears.what a joke!
I agree with beedub
"The 1976-77 Montreal Canadiens. 60 wins, 8 losses , 12 ties. If we were to use a baseball season as analgous to this season ( allowing the 12 ties to be spilt 50/50 thus having a record of 66 and 14 ) it would create a winning percentage of .825 or a record of almost 134 wins in a 162 game season. If we wanted to be even fairer we could take the tie games and allow them to be the same percentages as the wins and losses it would create a record of 143/19 over 162 games"

I love the Aussies tryin desperately to bring cricket into the equation - you werent so perfect during the (english)summer of 2005.

How about the Manchester United team that won the Champs league, Prem and FA cup in '99 then went on to demolish the Prem again in 2000 (by 18 points!!) and 2001. Class.

I dont see how anyone can argue with the Bulls pick though - why should the fact that it included MJ be used against them? It was FAR from a one man team.

I love the Aussies tryin desperately to bring cricket into the equation - you werent so perfect during the (english)summer of 2005.

How about the Manchester United team that won the Champs league, Prem and FA cup in '99 then went on to demolish the Prem again in 2000 (by 18 points!!) and 2001. Class.

I dont see how anyone can argue with the Bulls pick though - why should the fact that it included MJ be used against them? It was FAR from a one man team.

The Arsenal "Invincibles" are on this list? That's comical. Their accomplishments pale in comparison to the 1999 treble winning side of Manchester United who went 45 games unbeaten starting in December of 98, and also won the World Club Cup to prove their worth as the best team in the world that year. They also went on to win the league the next two seasons easily.

Nevermind the fact that the AC Milan team of the early 1990's were the original Invincibles, and destroyed an excellent Barcelona team 4-0 in the 94 European Cup.

Clearly that shameless Arsenal fan Markazi had way too much input when you asked him about which soccer team should be on the list.

Man United treble winning team of 98/99 are the best English side of all time. They won epic games against Liverpool, Arsenal, Juventus and Bayern Munich. And had as much heart as any sports team ever.

How about the 1978-1986 Iowa Hawkeyes wrestling teams, 9 consecutive National Championships or even better the 1997 Hawkeye team won the championship by a record 56.5 points!!!

Habs of 1970s ;lost 8 GAMES IN 1976-1977 AND ABOUT 10 GAMES 3 OTHER YEARS; lost only one home game IN 1976

Habs of late 1950s close second;won 5 Cups in a row (ALBEIT IN 6 TEAM LEAGUE)

The Anon who keeps brining up 07 Pats, 07 Sox and Celtics teams of past - you're the reason the rest of the world can't stand Boston-area sports. You're worse than SEC fans.

Someone earlier got it right:

MLB: '27 Yanks
NCAA BB: Wooden Bruins or '90 UNLV
NCAA FB: '01 Canes, '72 and '04 Trojans
NBA: Showtime Lakers
NFL: '89 Niners
Soccer: ManU '98-'99 (Club) and Brazil '70

Sorry, but Cricket IS a sport. Typical comment from provincial couch-potato US sports fans.

72 Trogans??? I vote for the 2008 Kansas Jayhawks!!

How about the 2003 Spurs? Tim Duncan the greatest PF of all-time (Malone is close) and The Admiral (a top 10 all-time C and the classiest guy ever to play in the NBA). You know this team could have beaten any Jordan Era Bulls team in 7 games.
Duncan may be the greatest of all time. Jordan was overrated and benefited from friednly refs.

Didn't the Dolphins go 17-0 in 1972...yea that's what I thought. And they're not on this list because....???

Comparing teams in different eras is nearly impossible but Nebraska wasn't even contested in 1995, winning their closest game by two touchdowns (with the losing team scoring their second touchdown in the fourth quarter against scrubs). The Big 8 had fully half of their teams finish in the top 10. And, in case you forget, Florida would have a claim for greatest team of all time had they won that game. They were also undefeated, stacked with pro talent and were absolutely lighting up the SEC. Nebraska lit them up. All of the teams mentioned have a claim, especially the USC team that crushed Oklahoma and 2001 Miami, but they were both tested along the way, Miami by not that great BC and VTech. Oh well, none of this will ever be resolved.

1986 Celtics
1989 49ers
1993 Cowboys
2001 Miami Hurricanes
1995 Bulls

2001 Lakers-never thought of, but they were ridiculous.

The early 80s Oilers teams-probably the most dominant of all of these teams.

1998 Yankees. Best team I've seen.

the 1984 49ers were better than the Bears, and the 1972 McKay led Trojans would kick the crap out of the 1995Huskers.

How about the 1976-1977 Montreal Canadiens who lost a total of 8 games over an 82 game schedule?

Nobody likes the Patriots? I beg to diffrer. Romo is the one dating every teenaged boys dream girl. For the first time in a long time, the front runners are very popular. (Nothing like the bulls of the 90s.)

What about that 94 Penn State team that was screwed out of the title game and ended up pounding on Oregen in the Rose Bowl.

1967 Philadelphia 76ers. 68 wins, 13 losses. Alreay honored once by the NBA as the greatest team of all time. Oh, this team is closely followed by the 1983 76ers.

chicago bulls, are you kidding me. the 85-86 celtics would have killed em. it's not even close. even the hated lakers, of 86-87 were better than the bulls. the inclusion of this bulls team makes a mockery of this list and shows that you must be a chicago fan. check the teams that the bulls played against that year and compare them to the bird and magic years and you will find that the nba was heading down while the during the 80's we had teams that would won championships in other eras.42-40 houston rockets, nba champs, please

22. 1995-96 Chicago Bulls - Other franchises (the Celts and Lakers, for example) may have assembled starting line-ups with a better all-around starting five, but these Bulls (who finished the regular season 72-10 and won the NBA title) featured the greatest player of all-time performing at the top of his game.


When did Bill Russell play for the Bulls?

From Wikipedia:

The Edmonton Grads were a Canadian womens basketball team. While now defunct, the team continues to hold the North American record for the sports team with the best winning percentage of all time. Their record was 502 wins and 20 losses between 1915-1940.

The Grads dominated four consecutive Olympic Games from 1924 to 1936, winning all 27 Olympic matches they played. This achievement was unrecognized on the medal podium as women's basketball did not become an official Olympic sport until the 1976 summer games in Montreal.

So, what, the 1980 US Olympic team hockey team gets no love? What about the 1975-76 Big Red Machine? Murderers Row if the 30's? There were greater teams before 1990.

You guys got no taste.

1. 04 Red Sox
2. 60's Celtics
3. 07 Pats
4. 95 Nebraska
5. 72 Dolphins
6. 07 Celtics
7. 77 Yankees
8. Lombardi's Packers
9. YANKEES STINK

The 95 Nebraska Team is the best college team of all time there is no one close they ran over everyone that they came up against and USC plz

That's not a list.

NFL: 1972 Dolphins. '85 Bears weren't undeafeated.

MLB:'27 Yankees.Ruth,Gehrig 'nuff said.
NBA: Any Celtics team in the 60s.
That's a list.

There is only one team.
St George Rugby League team.(1955-1966)
11 consecutive titles in one of the most brutal sports in the world, against some of the toughest competion.

The best team of all time is St George Rugby League.
11 consecutive titles (1955-1966)
in one of the toughest sports against some of the best competition.

What about 1900s UM?!?!?!?!

Point a minute!

in response to some earlier posts:

the 61 yankees were probably not even one of the top ten yankee teams of all time: They had no real pitching behind Ford, despite decent performances from Terry, Stafford, et. al, no bench behind Blanchard, and, despite hitting all those home runs, didn't even lead the AL in runs scored that year, because they had Bobby Richardson (.261/.295/.316) and Tony Kubek (.276/.306/.395) in the 1 and 2 slots in the lineup, as well as Clete Boyer, who hit a whopping .224. Add to the fact that they had a 36 year old former catcher in left field, and it's hard to see how this was somehow an all time great team. Not that I need to, but to further this point, I'll point out that their supposed great offense finished not only second in runs scored in the AL, but also 4th in hits, 10th (out of 10) in doubles, 5th in triples, 9th in walks, 4th in BA, 5th in OBP, and 10th in Stolen bases. The 76 Reds finished first in every single one of these categories, including HRs and Slugging, which the 61 yanks also led in.

As to the supposed Hall of Fame players from this year's Pats team, (which, by the way, hasn't actually won yet, and has a much tougher road ahead then many fans seem to think) I'll eat the shirt I'm currently wearing if Teddy Bruschi, Mike Vrabel, or Rodney Harrison make the Hall of Fame, and though I'll accept Seau's induction as a given, it will come despite his meager contributions to this team at the age of 38. Counting him as a HOF contributor to the Pats is like counting Herb Pennock as a HOF contributor, which brings me to my next point.

As to the 32 Yanks having 11 Hall of Famers, even if you count the manager, they only have eight, and one was Herb Pennock, who was 38 and went 9 and 5 with an ERA 11 percent lower than the league average. Both Ruth and Coombs, though still productive, were only a few years away from retirement, and Tony Lazzeri has no place in the hall, despite the fact that he is there. That was a good team, but it was not nearly as good as the 27 team, any one of the 36-39 teams, the 98 team, and probably even the 23, 42, 49, and 77 teams, although it is still a lot better than the 61 team.

The 1980 US olympic hockey team would've been killed by the 1980 New York Islanders.

Bill Russell was a great player, but Wilt Chamberlain pulled down 55 rebounds in a single game against him once...While the argument for the 60's Celtics as the greatest team still stands, that of Russell as the greatest player, despite his greatness, certainly does not.

The 27 Yanks were great but they had terrible defense up the middle, no depth in the picthing staff or in the pen, and no bench. But they had Ruth and Gehrig who combined for 107 HRs, 339 RBIs, 307 runs, and hit a combined .364. Set the standard, but get a little too much press.

The 98 Yanks were a great team mainly in the fact that if you took any player off of the team it would've had very little effect on them. They were just good everywhere that year, despite the fact that a lot of their players weren't really all that good, and were simply having career years (see Scott Brosius, David Wells, Shane Spencer, etc. etc.) Concentrating on their record however, is not educational. Sure, they won 114 games, but the Mariners a few years later won 116 games. the 1906 Chicago Cubs won 116 as well, in a shorter season. In fact the Cubs of the early 20th century hold the record not only for the most wins in a season, but also for the most wins in two consecutive seasons, as well as three, four, five, six, seven, eight, nine, and ten consecutive seasons. No team, including the Yankees of lore, ever won as many games in any reasonable span as the Tinker-to-Evers-to-Chance Cubs of the early 20th century. Does this make them the best team of all time? Of course not. But it does inform us to look more critically at won-loss records than we are doing in this conversation.

The 95 Cornhuskers were dominant, but the best pro player they produced was Grant Wistrom, which takes them out of the conversation immediately. Also, to say that creeps like Christian Peter and Lawrence Phillips were team players somehow devoid of flaws like "selfishness" vaguely attributed to others is too idiotic to even respond to.

If the Big Red Machine had traded for Tom Seaver a few years earlier, we would not even be having this conversation, but as it happened, they didn't, and Don Gullett is not the ace of the greatest team of all time. (Greatest lineup, maybe, but there are a lot of other contenders for that title, including the 50's Dodgers, numerous Boston teams, and the 99 Indians, few of which managed to win anything, which, I guess is a testament to the quality of the Reds)

Jordan's Bulls had the convenienve of never having to face another truly great team, as they came around after the Halcyon Days of the Lakers and Celtics in the 80's, and before the development of the Shaq-Kobe Lakers. The Laker team they beat was well past its prime and lacking Kareem, the Blazer team never that good, The Suns team spotted them two games, and the Seattle and Utah teams were less than stellar. Add to the fact that every possible face off with the Knicks was horribly tainted (changing the refs in 92 with the Knicks up 3-2, the infamous Charles Smith no-call in 93, and the even worse suspensions following the Ward/Brown fight in the Knicks Heat series that prevented the best Knick team of the era from even facing the Bulls), and that Jordan's retirement kept them from facing Olajuwon's Rockets, who would've posed countless matchup problems for the Center-challenged Bulls and I think think there are enough mitigating factors to eliminate them from contention.

The 92 Olympic Basketball team obviously wins this, despite the fact that Magic and Bird were past their primes, but counting them is like counting an All-Pro team. Despite the medals, that was merely an exhibition, not a real competition. To draw a comparison, If they made American Football an Olympic sport, and you had Manning throwing to Moss, Owens, Wayne, and Smith, with LT and Westbrook in the backfield, with a similar type of defense culled from the best NFL players, they would dominate international competition win a way that made the Dream Team's wins look close. Because of this the Dream Team shouldn't even count.

03 Arsenal is so far from consideration that I won't even comment further.

As to the 31 Grays--teams before integration need not have an asterisk, as we all know what happened, and we don't need punctuation to tell us that. However, despite the greatness of Gibson and Charleston, which most eductated fans will recognize as being the approximate equals of Ruth and Gehrig, and playing more important defensive positions, throwing out their record isn't compelling, given the economics and logistics of the Negro leagues, which often led to vast accumulations of talent on a few teams, as well as the practice of barnstorming which led to wins against vastly inferior teams. Also, it should be remembered that African-Americans represented only about a tenth of the US population at the time, and so, by mere probability, the quality of their opponents would necessarily be lower than that of the Majors. That being said, I wouldn't bet against that team, despite Charleston's advanced age, against just about any team of that era, including the 27 Yanks and the 29 A's.

Also, meaning no insult to the 76-77 Canadiens, you cannot compare winning percentages in different sports, as the inherent qualities of the sports have a large effect on records. To say that the Canadiens were better because their winning percentage was better leaves you open to the counter claim that the 72 Dolphins were better than the Canadiens were on the same basis (along with a number of 15-1 teams like the 84 niners, the 85 Bears, etc.) What's important is how much better they were than everyone else in their own sport.

Tim Duncan is not nearly that good, and neither were the Spurs, who were beaten twice by the Lakers during their threepeat, one of which was a total joke, as the Lakers beat them by an average of 21 points per game in a four game sweep. Also, Duncan is a center who plays power forward, mainly because the Spurs, in a smart move, realized that he wouldn't have a prayer against Shaq on either side of the floor, and made sure that there was someone else out there to take fouls.

The 01 Lakers were mentioned, as they should be, as they, along with the 83 sixers were the only NBA teams to lose only a single game in the playoffs, although the knock on that LA team was that they were essentially a two man team, but you can say that about the Bulls too, and Scottie Pippen is no Kobe Bryant. Also, why no love for the Dr. J/Moses Malone Sixers--one hell of a team, although the Fo' Fo' Fo' thing was mitigated severly by injuries.

The 85-86 Celtics would have a good case had the Laker team that beat them both the year before and the year after not screwed up against the Rockets. Had the Lakers made it to the Finals and the Celtics then crushed them, it would be more convincing, but unfortunately, they wind up an asterisk team, much like the 98 Broncos who never got to face the Vikings. (I also note that the 98 Broncos, who started the season 13-0, had John Elway, Shannon Sharpe, and a 2,000 yd 25 TD Terrell Davis is getting no attention at all here. This was a 500 point offense that won consecutive Super Bowls, and would've had a shot at three straight had they not screwed up against Jacksonville in 96, and was probably the most balanced offensive powerhouse of all-time. I mean, most high scoring teams were pass heavy. The Broncos were a run-first team, and everyone knew it, and yet no one came close to stopping it. Hell, Davis sat out the second half of a bunch of blowouts that year. Had he actually played every down, he would've gone for 2500. If you put eight in the box it had absolutely no effect, and if you put nine, Elway would've picked you apart. Although they get no love here, I think that that Bronco team would've killed the 85 Bears. The 89 Niners, I'm not so sure...)

LetsAllDisagree probably comes closest to my opinions, although I have a few other things to point out.

So, to end this insanely long rant, I'll posit my list of the greatest single season teams of all time by sport:

Hockey: 1985 Edmonton Oilers: Had the only player that no one can really argue logically against as the greatest ever, and Messier is second all-time in points. (Coffey is 12th and Kurri 18th)

Basketball: 1986-87 Lakers: Had Magic and Kareem while he was still a player, and beat the Celtics. Most people feel that Jordan was better, but nobody made the players around him look as good as Magic did. For evidence of this, look at what happened to Byron Scott and James Worthy after Magic retired. Also, as good as he was, I think even the most adamant Michael admirer would be hard pressed to envision a scenario in which MJ could suit up as a center and drop 42 points.

Football: 1989 49ers: Montana is a bit overrated, but Jerry Rice is severely underrated. Probably the greatest single player the league has seen since Jim Brown, and arguably Brown's only real rival for the mantle of "greatest football player ever" people today seem to forget just how terrifying Rice was to opponents. No one has ever come close. Forgetting the facts that he ran excellent routes, knew how to block, and never took a play off, I can say with confidence that I never saw Rice drop a single catchable pass until his injury in 98, that he was one of the greatest open field runners of all time, and that, once the Niners got close to the goal line, they would run a play that put him in motion to the outside that was a virtual guarantee touchdown. The only reason this team didn't score 600 points that season is that they played the punting game conservatively. If they had gone for it on every fourth down with less than, let's say eight yards to go, they would've made it 80 percent of the time. Add to this Taylor, Jones, Rathman, Craig, a brutal offensive line, and a defense that, although not the 85 Bears, was still incredible. Had John Elway been their QB instead of Montana, they would not have lost a game from 1989 to 1992.

Baseball: 1929 Philadelphia A's: A controversial selection, of course, but Foxx, Simmons, Cochrane, and Bishop were easily the offensive match of Ruth, Gehrig, Coombs, and Lazzeri. And the big difference between the teams is Robert Moses "Lefty" Grove, who, in a seven game series against the 27 Yanks, would most likely put the A's in a situation where they only had to win 1 out of the four remaining games to take the series. Grove, though he never gets the recognition, was on the Koufax/Walter Johnson/Pedro level where, if he took the mound, you knew you would win.

Soccer: 1992 FC Barcelona: Despite their disastrous loss to a fantastic AC Milan side in 1994, and Milan's late 80's dominance with their trio of Dutch all-stars, the Barcelona "Dream Team" was otherworldly in their style and dominance. Only someone who knows the game can appreciate how difficult it was to play the style of game that they played, and they not only won four consecutive La Liga titles, but also won multiple cups, including the European Cup in 92, and while other teams may have had slightly better runs of success in terms of titles, no team, including Pele's Brazilian international sides, ever played the game the way that they did.

All other sports: I could really care less about college sports apart from weighing in against Nebraska and Duke here, and it is, of course, ludicrous to assert that any college team is among the greatest teams of all time, considering that it is essentially, Junior Varsity when compared to the pros. Why not mention a number of minor league baseball teams while we're at it? The 1995 Nebraska Cornhuskers were, at best, the 31st best football team in the US. The 3 and 13 NY Jets would have mopped the floor with that team, and that's being charitable, as, I'm sure that most CFL teams would have kicked them out the door as well. I find the sanctimonious attitude of many college sports fans to be sickening, as it essentially states that "I want my athletes to be mere puppets of a vast money-making organizationg that doesn't care at all about them." At least pro teams feel that they have something to lose if their players get hurt. As far as cricket goes, I have no idea, and I'm guessing that 90% of the posters here are thinking likewise. You could be making everything up, and I would not care to even check it. Cricket, despite your protests, is not a major international sport, although neither is American Football, and Baseball, although certainly larger, is still only moderately more popular on the international stage. We could go on and on about water polo teams and the like, but it wouldn't be in any way relevant, as no one reading this list has any knowledge of these sports or what these records mean.

Wow, that was a long post!

95' Husker team by far the greatest of all time

The 1976 Indiana Hoosiers.

As usual Lang has done an atrocious job of putting together a list. Do you do any research at all or just write whatever comes to your head? Got the wrong coach for one and you left out the 95 Huskers. There's no debating that they were the most dominant team of all time. Your lists are the only downside of an otherwise terrific site.

The greatest basketball team of all time, in any league would be the 92 olympic dream team (greatest team ever assembled). My pick for the greatest college football team would be either 95 Nebraska or 05 Texas. NFL? Sure isn't that arrogant, cheating team in Massachusetts that ESPN keeps brown-nosing over. 85 Bears hands down. MLB is a real hard one. I would say that team would have came out of the pre-steriod era. Soccer and Hockey? Who cares!

The 1995 Nebraska Team is by far the best college football team for a single season. I hate the Huskers, but I give credit when credit is due.

Maybe because I'm a Penn State fan, but who could have stopped the 1994 team? I don't think anyone could have, including the "voted" #1 cornhushers.

None of you all are even close. The 2001 UM football team would have demolished the 95 team on shear speed. Observe who was on that team, and then you can compare:

Willis McGahee
Frank Gore
Clinton Portis
Najeh Davenport
Roscoe Parrish
Andre Johnson
Jeremey Shockey
Kellen Winslow
Jonathan Vilma
Ed Reed
Phil Buchanon
Vince Wilfork
Bryant McKinnie
DJ Williams
Jerome McDougle
Vernon Carey
Mike Rumph

and a few others. Common denomiantor? All of these players are playing on sundays. Can the 1995 nebraska team say the same? I think not. That team would have been able to beat an NFL team.

75 Cincinnati Reds
The Big Red Machine

to kevin who says that cricket isn't a major international sport, it is actually the second most popular sport in the world behind soccer and far more popular than baseball.

Vince Young would destroy that 1995 Nebraska team. 95 Nebraska couldn't throw. Where are the 92 cowboys on this list?

1972 Dolphins

Pick any from the Celtics and UCLA dynasties.

1985 Edmonton Oilers