The 10 Most Underrated Teams In Sports History

The 1927 New York Yankees, the 1972 Los Angeles Lakers, the 1985 Chicago Bears, and the 1971 Nebraska Cornhuskers were some of the most dominant teams in the history of sports.

However, there are some great teams that are often overlooked.

Here are the 10 most underrated teams in sports history. Some of these teams are overlooked because they didn't win it all. Others won it all, but didn't do it with the flash like other teams.

Let's start the countdown at No. 10.

10. 1998 Atlanta Falcons

At the end of the 1998 NFL season, the Atlanta Falcons were 14-2 and had one of the best offenses in the league.

Quarterback Chris Chandler threw for over 3,100 yards and 25 touchdowns. Running Back Jamal Anderson set the record for most carries with 410 and rushed for 1,846 yards and 14 touchowns. Wide Receivers Terance Mathis and Tony Martin both had over 1,000 receiving yards.

However, the team was overshadowed by the 15-1 Minnesota Vikings, who scored the most points in the history of football.

But the Falcons beat the Vikings 30-27 in the NFC Championship Game to advance to the Super Bowl.

Although they lost to the Denver Broncos 34-19 in the Super Bowl, the Atlanta Falcons don't get credit as one of the greatest teams of all time.

9. 1953 Brooklyn Dodgers

The 1953 Brooklyn Dodgers finished 105-49 and were led by MVP Roy Campanella, who hit 41 home runs and drove in 142 runs.

Gil Hodges hit 31 home runs and drove in 122 runs, while Duke Snider added 42 home runs and 126 RBI. Jackie Robinson was a utility player and batted .329 on the season.

However, the Dodgers would again lose the New York Yankees in the World Series.

The Dodgers had a 20-game winner in Carl Erskine, but since they didn't win the World Series, they have been forgotten when you talk about the greatest teams of all time.

8. 1980's Milwaukee Bucks

If you don't win, they don't remember you.

Just ask the Bucks, who were truly a great team but had the misfortune of bad timing. They were always trying to beat the Bird Celtics and Erving/Malone 76ers every year in the playoffs.

From 1981 to 1987, the Bucks won at least 50 games each season, including 60 in '81 and 59 in '85. They had All-Stars like Bob Lanier, Sidney Moncrief, and Marques Johnson, but their playoff record was a run of "not quites."

They reached at least the conference semifinals all of those years, but they lost to the Sixers or Celtics each time, including three times in the conference finals.

7. 1929-1931 Philadelphia Athletics

This team was so good it won three straight pennants, beating out the Ruth-Gehrig Yankees to do so.

The A's won back-to-back World Series in '29 and '30 and featured arguably the greatest pitcher ever in Lefty Grove (31-4 in 1931), one of the game's all-time dominant hitters in Jimmie Foxx, plus Hall of Famers Mickey Cochrane and Al Simmons.

In this three-year stretch, they went 104-46 (.693), 102-52 (.662) and 107-45 (.704).

No Yankee teams have ever had a three-year stretch like that.

6. 1959 Syracuse Orangemen

Undefeated, untied, and national champions.

The Orange capped off an 11-0 season with its first bowl win, a 23-14 victory over second-ranked Texas in the Cotton Bowl.

SU pitched five shutouts in 1959, including two game shutouts during the season. They held Kansas to 30 plays, and Boston University to a mere 25 yards.

The defense allowed only 193 rushing yards in 10 games—a mind-boggling statistic. They only gave up 96.2 yards per game, which works out to a 2.0 yards-per-play average. It was described by many as the fastest defense ever put together.

On offense, the Orange averaged 451 yards per game and outscored opponents 390-59. The team had five All-Americans, with guard Roger W. Davis being a unanimous pick in 1959 and Ernie Davis being a consensus pick in 1960 and unanimous in 1961.

Davis was the greatest running back never to play in the NFL because of his death due to leukemia. The Cleveland Browns still retired his No. 45.

5. 1969-1971 Baltimore Orioles

The Orioles didn't have a flashy nickname like the Big Red Machine or the combative personality of the Swingin' A's.

And, of course, they won only one World Series.

They were shocked in '69 by the Miracle Mets, and they lost in seven games to the Pirates in '71.

But these O's had one of the best three-year stretches ever, winning 109, 108 and 101 games. Compare that to the A's team which won three straight World Series from 1972-74, but won just 93, 94 and 90 in the regular season.

The O's featured three 20-game winners in Jim Palmer, Mike Cuellar, and Dave McNally, an offense led by all-time underrated superstar Frank Robinson and '70 MVP Boog Powell, and a terrific defense with Brooks Robinson, Paul Blair, and Mark Belanger.

OK, so they lost two World Series. Get over it.

The baseball postseason is a crapshoot, so don't hold it against one of the greatest teams of all time because they were unlucky in October.

4. 1984 San Francisco 49ers

I was recently reading an article on the 10 greatest football teams of all time, and the 1984 San Francisco 49ers were not on the list.

I was shocked.

Why weren't they on the list?

They lost one game (by three points), led the NFL in fewest points allowed, were second in points scored, featured 10 Pro Bowlers (including the entire defensive backfield of Ronnie Lott, Dwight Hicks, Carlton Williamson, and Eric Wright), and had a balanced offense (fourth in passing yards, third in rushing yards).

And they cruised in the playoffs. San Francisco beat the Giants 21-10, beat the Bears 23-0, and posted an impressive 38-16 Super Bowl win over the 14-2 Dolphins, who possessed one of the greatest offenses of all time.

The Bears get all the kudos, but keep two things in mind: Chicago played a weak New England team in its Super Bowl win, while the Niners played a very good Dolphins team, and you don't think Joe Montana would find a way to score a few points against the vaunted "46" defense?

3. 1906 Chicago Cubs

The 1906 Cubs are one of the five greatest teams in the history of baseball, along with the 1927 Yankees, 1939 Yankees, and the 1975 Reds. The other will be revealed in the slideshow.

However, the Cubs didn't win the World Series in 1906, but if they did, they would be considred the greatest team of all time.

In the regular season, the Cubs finished 116-36. Five of their six starting pitchers had am ERA under 2.00 (Carl Lundgren had an ERA of 2.21 and still went 17-6). Mordecai Brown, their best picther, went 26-6 with a 1.04 ERA.

However, the Chicago Cubs lost the World Series in six games to the Chicago White Sox.

2. 1902 Pittsburgh Pirates

The 1902 Pittsburgh Pirates are never considered one of the greatest teams of all time, since the World Series wasn't played until 1903.

They finished 103-36 and won the NL pennant by 27.5 games, a record that still stands.

The Pirates offense was led by Honus Wagner, who batted .330 and stole over 40 bases. The pitching staff was superb. Their best pitcher was Jack Chesbro, who went 28-6 with a 2.17 ERA. Their worst pitcher was Sam Leever, who went 15-7 with a 2.39 ERA.

They had great hitting and great pitching, but since there wasn't a World Series, the 1902 Pittsburgh Pirates will always be forgotten.

1. 1919 Cincinnati Reds

The 1919 Cincinnati Reds are the most overlooked team in the history of sports.

However, they are remembered as the team that won a World Series against a team that threw the World Series. It's sad that when people think about the 1919 World Series, all they say is the Chicago White Sox.

Many experts believe that if the White Sox hadn't thrown the series, they would have dominated the Reds.

However, the Reds were the better team. They had a better record and a better pitching staff. The 1919 Reds finished the regular season 96-44 and won the pennant by nine games over the New York Giants. The Chicago Cubs were third, but were 33 games behind the Reds.

Despite all of the success, the Reds are never mentioned as one of the great teams of all time because of the Black Sox Scandal.