Teams That Set Ridiculous Standards for Success
Over the course of sports history, there have been many successful teams. There have been fewer, however, that set largely unapproachable standards for success.
The Los Angeles Lakers won 33 straight games in 1971-72, a mark not even the otherworldly Golden State Warriors of 2015-16 could match (yet).
The 1972 Miami Dolphins remain the only undefeated Super Bowl champions in NFL history.
Teams such as the New York Yankees and Montreal Canadiens have earned such unbelievable success over the course of their respective franchise histories, it's hard to imagine any teams ever duplicating it.
Whether it has been over the course of one season, one era or an entire history—whether it has been by virtue of a streak, record or overall dominance—these teams have set ridiculous standards for success. The standards are so ridiculous, in fact, no modern team should be expected to live up to them.
Here they are: 15 unreal teams, the accomplishments of which are ranked from "probably won't ever happen again" to "the Internet would literally shut down if this ever happened again."
Oklahoma Football, 1953-1957
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The Oklahoma Sooners football team won 47 consecutive games from 1953 to 1957, an NCAA record.
Coach Bud Wilkinson, who led the Sooners to a .826 win percentage from 1947 to 1963, once said, "If you have the will to prepare, things will usually work out quite well, and the will to win will take care of itself," per Bob Carter of ESPN.com.
Wilkinson also led the Sooners to three national championships during his tenure.
It seems as though a modern team—Alabama, say—could have a shot at this record. Still, despite Alabama's dominance under coach Nick Saban, the longest streak in the Saban era has been 19 games, per the Alabama Football Record Book.
Buffalo Bills, Early 1990s
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No matter what anyone says about the Buffalo Bills of the early 1990s, playing in four consecutive Super Bowls is an incredible feat that no other NFL team has ever accomplished.
The Bills lost those four Super Bowls, from 1991 to 1994, by an average score of 35-18. Still, their ability to bounce back helped define them. Former general manager Bill Polian said those players, including several future Hall of Famers, had "incredible resilience," per Mike Lopresti of USA Today.
Lopresti also reported Hall of Fame quarterback Jim Kelly said, "People always ask, would you rather win one time or go four times and lose. It's a hard question. But to be honest with you, I would rather go four times and lose."
Ferrari, 1999-2004
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No Formula One team has enjoyed more success than Ferrari. According to ESPN.com, the team is the longest tenured in F1 history and the most decorated.
Ferrari has won the Constructors' Championship 16 times, including six consecutive titles from 1999 to 2004, and the team has 15 driver titles in its history.
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Chicago Bulls, 1995-96
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The Chicago Bulls of the 1990s were a dynasty, but one season stands out in particular.
Michael Jordan's teams achieved two championship three-peats, a feat rare enough in and of itself. Beyond that, during 1995-96, the Bulls set the record for most victories in an NBA season, 72, which still stands today.
Those Bulls won the title that season, and in fact, they won 60-plus games and the NBA title on five occasions in the 1990s.
John Hareas of NBA.com wrote, "The 1995-96 Bulls are the best team ever...and it's not close." Hareas pointed out those Bulls lost just two games at home that year and beat their opponents by an average of 15 points per game.
Manchester United, Premier League
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Since the Premier League's inception in 1992, Manchester United has won its title an incredible 13 times—over half the total—all under manager Sir Alex Ferguson.
The team also set several Premier League records during its stretch of dominance, including most consecutive titles (three), largest title-winning margin (18 points) and fewest home losses in a season (zero).
Former Manchester United back Rio Ferdinand said, per Miguel Delaney of ESPNFC, "Ferguson got rid of players who didn't buy into the Man United way, for one, or weren't capable of being intense every day."
Los Angeles Lakers, 1971-72
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The 2015-16 NBA season opened with one team taking aim at an NBA record over 40 years old. And though the Golden State Warriors look like an unstoppable force, they still couldn't surpass that record.
That record is, of course, the Los Angeles Lakers' streak of 33 straight wins during the 1971-72 season. Wilt Chamberlain and Jerry West led the charge as the Lakers won every game they played from Nov. 5, 1971, to Jan. 7, 1972.
When the streak ended, coach Bill Sharman said, "We knew it had to end sometime. I would trade all the records for a championship," per NBA.com. As it turned out, he didn't have to. Those Lakers defeated the New York Knicks in the 1972 NBA Finals.
New Zealand All Blacks, 2013
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In 2013, the New Zealand All Blacks won all 14 test matches on their schedule, making them the first rugby team in the professional era to go undefeated in a season.
Of all their wins, the most impressive was an incredible comeback victory over Ireland. The All Blacks stormed back from a 19-0 hole to secure their 14th and final victory.
Coach Steve Hansen said, "It doesn't matter what it says up on the scoreboard. If you have the composure and the mental fortitude, you can redress any deficit," according to Robert Kitson of the Guardian.
Real Madrid, 1956-1960
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Real Madrid established itself as a dominant force in international football in the late 1950s. From 1956 to 1960, the team won the European Cup (now known as the UEFA Champions League) five consecutive times.
Its 1960 victory was perhaps the most memorable. In the final, Argentinian Alfredo di Stefano and Hungarian Ferenc Puskas, two of the best players ever, notched three and four goals, respectively, as Real Madrid throttled Eintracht Frankfurt 7-3.
In 2011, Jonathan Stevenson of BBC Sport reported an expert panel deemed the 1960 Real Madrid team "the greatest club side of all time."
One expert, former English footballer Jimmy Armfield, said, "It was a kind of football was hadn't seen before. They had the whole package, and the star that shone brightest was Alfredo di Stefano."
New York Yankees
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While the New York Yankees haven't posted winning seasons across their entire franchise history, they have experienced more success overall than most sports teams can even dream of.
Consider this: The World Series has been played in the modern era since 1903, and the Yankees have won 27 times. That's almost one in four.
When considering the Yankees' history, several specific periods of dominance come to mind. There was the 1927 Murderers' Row team, widely considered one of the best ever. The Yankees also won four straight titles from 1936 to 1939 and five straight from 1949 to 1953, and they made 13 consecutive postseason appearances from 1995 to 2007.
Montreal Canadiens
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The Montreal Canadiens are like the New York Yankees of hockey. They have made the playoffs way more than they haven't, and they have posted playoff appearance streaks of over 20 games twice (21 from 1949 to 1969 and 24 from 1971 to 1994).
The Habs have won 24 championships—by far the most in NHL history. Those titles included five straight Stanley Cups from 1956 to 1960 and four straight from 1976 to 1979.
Amid an entire history of greatness, the 1976-77 team was particularly special. Those Habs lost just eight games and scored 132 points, making them one of history's greatest teams.
1972 Miami Dolphins
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In 1972, Don Shula's Miami Dolphins became the only NFL team in history to finish the season undefeated and win the Super Bowl. They went 17-0. According to Pro-Football-Reference.com, that team also ranked No. 1 in the league in points scored (385) and fewest points allowed (171).
Several teams have come close to replicating the achievement since, recently the 2007 New England Patriots and 2015 Carolina Panthers, but no team has been able to accomplish what the Dolphins did.
John Wooden's UCLA Bruins
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The UCLA men's basketball team built one of sports' great dynasties in the 1960s and '70s.
Legendary coach John Wooden won an astonishing 10 titles in 12 years, including seven in a row from 1967 to 1973. Between January 1971 and January 1974, the team strung together 88 consecutive wins, an unfathomable mark in today's game.
Even today's greatest programs—Duke, Kentucky—haven't come close to those feats. In April, Duke's Mike Krzyzewski won his fifth title, which is an impressive feat but still only half of Wooden's total.
Chicago Cubs, 1906
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Did you know, before the Chicago Cubs had a century-long World Series drought, they had one of the best seasons in MLB history? In 1906, the Cubs posted 116 wins, a mark that has only been matched by the 2001 Seattle Mariners.
Even more impressive, those 116 wins came over the course of a 152-game season. That made the Cubs' win percentage .763 on the year, of course topping the Mariners' figure of .672.
Neither team won the World Series in its respective season of historic dominance, but 116 wins is still a whole lot, and .763 might never be touched. (A team would have to win 124 games these days.)
Connecticut Women's Basketball, 2008-2010
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If John Wooden and the Bruins were impressive in achieving 88 consecutive victories, then the Connecticut women were even better. The Huskies won 90 straight games from 2008 to 2010 and became the only team in NCAA women's basketball history to have back-to-back undefeated championship seasons, per ESPN.com.
Longtime coach Geno Auriemma has led the Huskies to 10 national titles and five perfect seasons.
That type of sustained dominance is almost impossible to achieve, although Pat Summitt and the Tennessee Lady Volunteers should be mentioned in this conversation. Summitt led her team to eight championships from 1987 to 2008, and she won more games than any other NCAA basketball coach in history, male or female.
Boston Celtics, 1959-1966
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From 1959 to 1966, the Boston Celtics won eight consecutive NBA championships. According to Dan Feldman of NBC Sports, that streak is a record across all four major American sports.
Hall of Fame center Bill Russell was on the team for every one of the championships, and in fact, he won 11 during his career. In 2014, Russell wrote for NBA.com, "It might seem strange, but I did not know our Celtic teams won eight championships in a row until about 20 years ago when I read about it in a game program. Our focus was always on that particular season, always one year at a time."
What? His teams were so perennially dominant, he didn't even realize they had won eight consecutive titles.
It is unfathomable to imagine a streak of eight straight NBA titles ever happening again.
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