25 Overrated Teams That Stuffed Themselves With Talent

We've got a list of 25 overrated teams that were perhaps too stuffed with talent to succeed as they should have in preparation for the stuffed feeling that you will inevitably be dealing with on Turkey Day.

Yes sir, there's some good ones on this list. From teams that ended up spending way too much money for too few wins, to Olympic teams that failed their country, to star-studded teams that just couldn't finish, all the way down to a certain contemporary basketball team that isn't quite living up to expectations. We've got it all covered.

So in the event that you're already stuffed to the gills with tryptophan (you know you want to look it up), and just aren't capable of accomplishing much, here are 25 teams that can relate.

25. 2006-2008 Dallas Cowboys

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DALLAS - DECEMBER 31: Wide receiver Terrell Owens #81 of the Dallas Cowboys celebrates after a 56 yard touchdown pass against the Detroit Lions at Texas Stadium on December 31, 2006 in Dallas, Texas. (Photo by Ronald Martinez/Getty Images)

After going 9-7 and missing the playoffs in 2005, Bill Parcells and the Cowboys re-tooled for the 2006 season.

Among the pieces they added were Terrell Owens, fresh off his release from the Philadelphia Eagles, and veteran kicker Mike Vanderjagt, fresh off his release from the Indianapolis Colts.

They went 9-7 again, and lost in the first round of the playoffs.

They went 13-3 the following season, but lost again in the playoffs.

They went out and acquired linebacker Zach Thomas and embattled cornerback Adam "Pacman" Jones. They would soon trade for WR Roy Williams, who along with Owens was supposed to give Tony Romo two great go-to options.

They missed the playoffs.

And Cowboys haters everywhere rejoiced.

24. 2008 Detroit Tigers

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DETRIOT - JULY 8: Miguel Cabrera #24 of the Detroit Tigers gets ready on field against the Cleveland Indians on July 8, 2008 at Comerica Park in Detroit, Michigan. (Photo by: Gregory Shamus/Getty Images)

Because of the never-ending flux and frequent transactions that the modern game is known for, get ready for lots of baseball teams on this list.

First among these is the 2008 Detroit Tigers. After the 2007 season, they went out an added Edgar Renteria, Miguel Cabera, and Dontrelle Willis, who was the runner-up in the Cy Young voting in 2005.

The Tigers were picked by many to win the AL Central, and there were plenty of people who saw them returning to the World Series after they lost it in 2006.

They finished dead last. And I think that's enough of a disappointment to merit putting them on this list instead of some other team that also made some moves that ultimately backfired.

23. 2000 Washington Redskins

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5 Nov 2000: Deion Sanders #21 of the Washington Redskins looks on the field during the game against the Arizona Cardinals at the Sun Devil Stadium in Tempe, Arizona. The Cardinals defeated the Redskins 16-15.Mandatory Credit: Jon Ferrey /Allsport

On the heels of a 10-6 season in 1999, the Redskins went out and added all-pro cornerback Deion Sanders, all-pro defensive end Bruce Smith, and veteran quarterback Jeff George. They also drafted Lavar Arrington and Chris Samuels.

Dan Snyder's team went into the season with the league's first $100 million payroll, and finished 8-8.

They missed the playoffs, and head coach Norv Turner was fired with three games left in the season.

22. 2004 Houston Astros

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HOUSTON - OCTOBER 15: Roger Clemens #22 of the Houston Astros delivers a pitch in Game three of National League Championship Series against the St. Louis Cardinals during the 2004 Major League Baseball Playoffs on October 16, 2004 at Minute Maid Park in

The Astros bolstered their rotation in a big way in the 2003-2004 offseason when they plucked Roger Clemens and Andy Pettitte off the Yankees' reject list.

They also traded away Billy Wagner, which would ultimately allow Brad Lidge to take over as the closer. He ended up saving 29 games and setting an NL record for most strikeouts by a reliever in a season (157).

Clemens took pretty well to the National League, going 18-4 with a 2.98 ERA and winning the National League Cy Young Award.

The team would later make a trade for Carlos Beltran in late June, who performed very well for the team down the stretch. He hit a record-tying eight postseason home runs.

But the Astros, loaded as they were, failed to make it to the World Series. They lost to the Cardinals in the NLCS in 2004, and went on to lose the World Series in 2005 to the White Sox.

21. 2010-2011 Miami Heat

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MIAMI - SEPTEMBER 27: (L-R) Chris Bosh, LeBron James and Dwyane Wade of the Miami Heat answers questions during media day at the Bank United Center on September 27, 2010 in Miami, Florida. (Photo by Marc Serota/Getty Images)

Yes, it's only been 14 games. And yes, November is hardly the best month to make definitive judgments about any NBA team.

But come on. Did you seriously think the Heat weren't going to be on this list?

20. 2003-2004 Los Angeles Lakers

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AUBURN HILLS, MI - JUNE 13: (L-R) Shaquille O'Neal #34, Karl Malone #11 and Kobe Bryant #8 of the Los Angeles Lakers walk off the court in Game Four of the 2004 NBA Finals against the Detroit Pistons on June 13, 2004 at The Palace of Auburn Hills in Aubu

In the summer preceding the 2003-2004 NBA season, the Lakers assembled one of the most star-studded lineups in NBA history.

The primary piece was PF Karl Malone, one of the Utah Jazz's all-time greats. Combined with a Shaquille O'Neal who was still in his prime, the Mailman was supposed to give the Lakers an absolutely dominant frontcourt.

The other piece they added was Gary Payton, a former number-two overall pick, who'd had at least 450 assists in all but one year in his career to that point.

The Lakers made it all the way to the NBA Finals that year, but famously got destroyed by the Detroit Pistons and their harassing defense.

19. 1980s New York Yankees

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UNDATED: Dave Winfield of the New York Yankees runs to first base. (Photo by V.J. Lovero/Getty Images)

The Yankee teams of the 1980s were centered around Don Mattingly, and they won more games than any other team throughout the decade.

And during the 1980s, they brought in such players as Dave Winfield, Rickey Henderson, Steve Sax and Jesse Barfield.

Yet it remains the only decade in which the Yanks did not win the World Series.

Ah yes, those were the days.

18. 1997-1998 North Carolina Basketball

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23 Mar 1997: Guard Vince Carter of the University of North Carolina Tarheels celebrates after a basket during a playoff game against the Louisville Cardinals at the Carrier Dome in Syracuse, New York The Tarheels won the game 97 - 74. Mandatory Credit

Some of the names on this team are pretty amazing, and the fact that they failed to win a Title is even more amazing.

Ed Cota was the point guard, Shammond Williams was the two guard, Vince Carter was the small forward, Antawn Jamison was the power forward, and Brendon Haywood was the center.

In the 1998 NCAA Tournament, they made it as far as the Final Four, but were eliminated by Utah.

Carter and Jamison went pro that year, and the Tar Heels wouldn't make it back to the Final Four until 2000, when they made it as an eight seed, with far inferior talent.

Go figure.

17. 2005-2010 New York Mets

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SAN FRANCISCO - JULY 18: Johan Santana #57 of the New York Mets pitches against the San Francisco Giants at AT&T Park on July 18, 2010 in San Francisco, California. (Photo by Ezra Shaw/Getty Images)

Any one of the New York Mets teams from the last five years or so could be on this list, but I'm going to lump them together to form a single epic failure.

Here are some of the players the Mets have added to the mix since the 2005 season: Pedro Martinez, Carlos Beltran, Johan Santana, Luis Castillo, Shawn Green, Billy Wagner, Carlos Delgado, Moises Alou, Francisco Rodriguez, J.J. Putz, Oliver Perez, Orlando Hernandez...

You get the idea.

They have won just a single NL East crown since. That was in 2006, when the Mets lost to the eventual World Champion Cardinals in the NLCS.

16. 1969 Baltimore Orioles

The Orioles didn't go out and gorge themselves on talent before the start of the 1969 season per se, but they were easily the most stuffed team in the league in 1969.

Led by classic Earl Weaver sluggers like Boog Powell, Frank Robinson, Brooks Robinson, and Paul Blair, the O's won 109 games and finished 19 games ahead of the runner-up Detroit Tigers.

They faced the upstart New York Mets in the World Series, and were heavily favored.

But the "Miracle Mets" won in five games, pulling off what might be the greatest upset in World Series history.

15. 1988-1996 Los Angeles Kings

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INGLEWOOD, CA - 1989: Wayne Gretzky #99 of the Los Angeles Kings skates during a game in 1989 at the Great Western Forum in Inglewood, California. Wayne Gretzky played for the Kings from 1988 - 1996. (Photo by Mike Powell/Getty Images)

The Kings traded for the best hockey player in the world in August of 1988. Wayne Gretzky had won eight MVPs with Edmonton, as well as four Stanley Cups.

He won just one MVP with the Kings, and the team never won a Stanley Cup during his tenure.

14. 1984-1985 Georgetown Hoyas Basketball

In the 1985 NCAA Tournament, the Georgetown Hoyas the the No. 1 team in the land, and heavily favored to win the whole thing for the second year in a row.

They were led by Patrick Ewing, who had pretty much already cemented himself as one of the great college basketball players of all time.

They went up against Villanova in the championship game, and were left helpless as the Wildcats shot 22 of 28 from the floor (a record 78.6 percent). They lost 66-64.

It is still one of the great upsets in college basketball history.

13. 1968 Yale Bulldogs Football

Yale came into "The Game" undefeated at 8-0, and were ranked No. 12 in the nation. They were also riding a 17-game win streak.

The team was led by Brian Dowling at quarterback and future NFL great Calvin Hill at running back.

Yale jumped out a comfortable 22-0 lead, and led 29-13 with just moments left in the fourth quarter. They took their foot off the gas, and Harvard scored 16 points in the final 42 seconds of the game to force a 29-29 tie.

The game was the subject of a documentary film called "Harvard Beats Yale 29-29."

Among the players on that Harvard team was one Tommy Lee Jones. So the Crimson weren't without their own stars.

12. 1988 Oakland Athletics

True, exactly how the Bash Brothers got their mystical home run hitting power wasn't known at the time. What was known was that Mark McGwire and Jose Canseco were absolute beasts with the lumber, and they made the 1988 A's the dominant force in baseball.

Helping matters, of course, were Dave Stewart and his 21 wins, Bob Welch and his 17 wins, and Dennis Eckersley and his 45 saves in the bullpen.

They won 104 games in the regular season, and were huge favorites over the Dodgers in the World Series after they had swept the Red Sox in the ALCS.

Thanks in large part to Kirk Gibson, they lost in five games.

11. 1960 New York Yankees

After missing out on the World Series in 1959, the Yankees retooled.

They acquired Roger Maris from the Kansas City Royals, and made Elston Howard their full-time catcher, placing Yogi Berra in the outfield.

They also had Whitey Ford, Bobby Schantz and Mickey Mantle, and were managed by the great Casey Stengel.

They won 97 games that year, and faced off against the Pirates in the World Series.

They lost in seven games, ultimately by the now famous walk-off home run by Bill Mazeroski.

10. 2004 U.S. Olympic Basketball Team

The 2004 version of the "Dream Team" included such NBA superstars as Tim Duncan, Carmelo Anthony, Amar'e Stoudemire, LeBron James, Allen Iverson, and Dwyane Wade.

Before 2004, American teams had only lost two games in Olympic tournaments.

This one lost three, and didn't win gold. It was the first time a team comprised of American professionals failed to win gold.

9. 1969-1970 Los Angeles Lakers

A shoutout the BR Miami Heat Featured Columnist Robert Felton, whose own article about disappointing NBA teams reminded me of this Lakers team.

The Lakers acquired the great Wilt Chamberlain in the summer of 1968, adding him to a lineup that already included Elgin Baylor and Jerry West.

Naturally, championship implications were the norm. But the Lakers did not win until 1972, Chamberlain's penultimate season in the NBA.

8. 2001 St. Louis Rams

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03 Feb 2002: Marshall Faulk of the St.Louis Rams walks off the field during the game against the New England Patriots at Superbowl XXXVI at the Superdome in New Orleans, Louisiana. The Patriots defeated the Rams 20-17. DIGITAL IMAGE. Mandatory Credit:

The 2001 Rams were one of the most explosive and balanced teams the NFL has ever seen.

This had a lot to do with how they fixed their defense in the offseason. They hired Lovie Smith away from the Buccaneers to be their defensive coordinator. With him came linebacker Don Davis and defensive linemen Chidi Ahanotu and Tyoka Jackson. They also added linebacker Mark Fields and defensive back Kim Herring.

Behind recent MVPs Kurt Warner and Marshall Faulk, as well as Isaac Bruce and Tory Holt, they proceeded to go 14-2 and score more than 500 points for the third consecutive season.

They were two-touchdown favorites over Tom Brady and the New England Patriots in Super Bowl XXXVI, and they lost 20-17.

It remains one of the biggest upsets in sports history.

7. 1950 Brazil World Cup Team

Brazil was the top ranked soccer club in the world in 1950, and the tournament was being held in their home country.

The Brazilian team won their first two matches in dominant fashion, beating Sweden 7-1 and Spain 6-1.

The final match was held in the Estádio do Maracanã in Rio de Janeiro, and there were close to 175,000 people in attendance, all of them thinking that victory for the home team was a foregone conclusion.

Brazil was matched up against Uruguay, who had experienced their share of trouble en route to the final match.

The Brazilian attack earned a 1-0 lead, but Uruguay scored two unanswered goals to claim the Cup.

Some of the players on that Brazil team retired, and others were never considered for the national team again.

6. 2005 USC Trojans Football

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PASADENA, CA - JANUARY 04: Quarterback Matt Leinart #11 of the USC Trojans is sacked by Frank Okam #97 of the Texas Longhorns during the second quarter of the BCS National Championship Rose Bowl Game at the Rose Bowl on January 4, 2006 in Pasadena, Calif

The 2005 Trojans were one of the most talented teams that college football had ever seen.

On offense, Matt Leinart was under center, Reggie Bush and LenDale White were in the backfield, and Steve Smith and Dwayne Jarrett were out wide. On defense was current Packers standout Clay Matthews, as well as several other stars that made up one of the country's best units.

They faced the Texas Longhorns in the Rose Bowl for the BCS National Championship. The Longhorns had Vince Young, but nobody expected them to beat the Trojans.

It ended up being one of the great games in college football history, with Texas ultimately winning 41-38. They got the better of a fourth quarter that saw a total of 32 points scored.

The Trojans were dismantled by the NFL draft that year, and now we all know that they weren't all at the university according to the rules.

5. 1968 Baltimore Colts

Johnny Unitas missed much of the season with an arm injury suffered in the preseason, but the Colts managed to finish second in the league in offense behind Earl Morrall and deep threats Jimmy Orr and Willie Richardson. The defense finished as the top-ranked unit in the league.

By the end of the season, many saw the Colts as maybe the greatest team in the history of the NFL.

They lost to the AFL Champion New York Jets in Super Bowl III, before which Joe Namath had guaranteed a victory.

4. 2007 New England Patriots

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FOXBORO, MA - DECEMBER 23: Randy Moss #81 and Tom Brady #12 of the New England Patriots talk on the sideline during a timeout against the Miami Dolphins during their game at Gillette Stadium on December 23, 2007 in Foxboro, Massachusetts. (Photo by Jim

The 2007 New England Patriots are, I think, the most tragic entry on this list. Sure, we love to hate them now, but I think many of us were secretly rooting for them to go 19-0 in that fateful season.

But they are on this list because they were absolutely stacked.

In the offseason, they went out and added Randy Moss, Wes Welker, Sammy Morris, Donte Stallworth, Kelley Washington, and Adalius Thomas.

As we all know, they went 16-0 in the regular season, and easily beat the Jaguars and Chargers to reach the Super Bowl.

And that's where they finally lost, as they were beaten by a scrappy New York Giants club.

3. 1980 USSR Olympice Hockey Team

The Soviet hockey team had won gold at every winter Olympics since 1964, and had been particularly brutal on American teams ever since they had been upset by the U.S. in 1960.

They came into the winter games as the clear favorite, and were once again chock full of the biggest, baddest mother(bleep)ers in the world.

They got beat by a bunch of scrawny American college kids in the medal round.

Hence the reason they are not only on this list, but also number one on my list of biggest underachievers of all time.

2. 1992-1993 Michigan Basketball

Chris Webber, Jalen Rose, Juwan Howard, Jimmy King and Ray Jackson were supposed to make for the best class of freshman ever recruited to play on a single college basketball team.

And that may still be true.

But the Fab Five lost in the title game two years in a row in 1992-1993.

And there was that infamous Webber timeout in 1993.

And of course, there was the scandal that involved money laundering and illegal gambling that the university got punished for after the Fab Five had gone their separate ways.

1. 2004 New York Yankees

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NEW YORK - OCTOBER 20: Alex Rodriguez #13 and Derek Jeter #2 of the New York Yankees watch during a pitching change in the seventh inning against the Boston Red Sox during game seven of the American League Championship Series on October 20, 2004 at Yanke

In addition to the Astros, both the Yankees and Red Sox were quite busy in that 2003-2004 offseason.

The Yankees ultimately ended up adding the most pieces, and seemed absolutely stacked. Among these pieces were Alex Rodriguez, Gary Sheffield, Javier Vasquez, Kenny Lofton, and Kevin Brown.

They won 101 games, and the AL East crown handily over the Red Sox.

They went up 3-0 in the ALCS against the Sox, and were poised for their second straight World Series appearance.

I think you remember what happened next. And that's exactly why they're number one on this list.