Yeah, everybody loves the underdog. Well, check that, sports fans certainly love the underdog. Just think about it. Were you happy when Rocky knocked out Apollo Creed? Or when the Al Michaels asked, “Do you believe in miracles?” How about when Jimmy Valvano & N.C. State cut down the nets in the 1984 NCAA Tournament? The underdogs coming out on top reminds us that any competition is real. That nothing in sports is a guarantee.
That is why it is pretty astonishing that of the first 32 matchups in our Greatest Sports Teams of All Time Tournament we have seen only six upsets so far. Of those six, three of them were #9 seeds knocking off #8 seeds. The biggest upset in fact was the #12 seeded 1986 Argentina World Cup team knocking off #5 seed 1998 France.
Of course there were some close calls. In the NBA bracket the #13 seeded 2013-14 San Antonio Spurts came within three percentage points of knocking of the #3 seeded 1970-71 Milwaukee Bucks. The closest contest actually came in the MLB bracket between the #7 1995 Atlanta Braves and the #10 1986 New York Mets. The voting went down to the wire and in the end the difference was just two votes!! The Braves move on to faceoff against the 1975 Cincinnati Reds and the big red machine.
The 2nd Round is open for voting so go ahead and VOTE NOW!!
Let’s take a closer look at each bracket and how each shape up heading into the second round:
NFL BRACKET
There are some outstanding matchups really. The best matchup, at least on paper is the 86 Giants taking on their Super Bowl predecessors the 85 Bears. Two amazing defenses with heavy run based offenses. I have a feeling this matchup will be very close indeed.
The closest matchup will likely be the 07 Patriots going up against the Steve Young led 94 49ers. These are two tremendous offensive clubs with extremely loyal fan bases.
Team That Will Advance: 1978 Pittsburgh Steelers
Team That Needs Your Help: 1992 Dallas Cowboys
MLB BRACKET
I mentioned when we started this tournament that I was very curious to see how our voters would respond to teams from the early 1970’s. We got our first answer here as the 1970 Baltimore Orioles received 75% of the vote against the 2010 San Francisco Giants. This sets up a very winnable matchup against the 1993 Toronto Blue Jays who only got 57% of the vote in their first round matchup.
The best matchup in the second round pits two of the best teams of the 80’s in the ’84 Tigers against the ’89 Oakland A’s. No greatest teams of all time tournament would be complete either without a Yankees/Red Sox matchup. The Red Sox of 2007 have their hands full though against the powerhouse Yankees of 1998.
Team That Will Advance 1975 Cincinnati Reds
Team That Needs Your Help: 1993 Toronto Blue Jays
NBA BRACKET
There were some real close contests in the first round of the NBA bracket. Three of the eight first round matchups were decided by less than five percent of the vote. LeBron James and his 2012-13 Miami Heat were ousted by the 1988-89 “Bad Boy” Detroit Pistons by just two percent of the vote.
We knew that at some point in the NBA bracket we would wind up with one franchise matched up against itself and sure enough we’ve got a blockbuster here in the second round. Both renditions of the Lakers advanced and will face off against one another. Could you imagine the Kobe/Shaq team of 2001-02 going against showtime and the Magic/Kareem Lakers of 1987-88? Let’s see which team L.A. fans really think is best!
Team That Will Advance 1995-96 Chicago Bulls
Team That Needs Your Help: 1970-71 Milwaukee Bucks
OTHER SPORTS BRACKET
The biggest upset of the first round came in the Other Sports bracket as the #12 seeded Argentina knocked off fellow World Cup Winner 1998 France. In the battle of U.S. Olympic teams it was the 1992 Men’s Basketball “Dream Team” with a 69%-31% victory of the 1980 USA Hockey “Miracle On Ice” squad.
There is little doubt that the Dream Team will defeat Argentina in the second round the only question is by how much? In many ways the second round in this bracket represents the championship game for NHL, College Football and College Basketball. The best matchup here has to be the 1990-91 UNLV Runnin’ Rebels going up against the team that knocked them off in the tournament the following year in the 1991-92 Duke Blue Devils. Both teams received 81% of the vote in the first round and this matchup sets up to be very competitive.
Team That Will Advance: 1992 USA Men’s Basketball
Team That Needs Your Help: 1990-91 UNLV