Ahhhhhh. Another season down to the wire, and far-reaching implications for the famous Franchise Rankings. The New York Giants’ Super Bowl win catapults them to the doorstep of the Top 20, while the Patriots’ loss keeps them from that lofty esteem.
Wait. Something else is different here.
Oh yeah. I put NHL teams in! I heard the cries of people who love hockey, and in a nod to the rich (and somewhat fractured) history of that sport, I’ve included those teams in Franchise Rankings from here on.
So how does that change things? Well, first, it takes us from 92 to 122 teams. That’s a big difference.
But how do they rank? Let’s go down the list and see. (ps - for discussion on the PCT, TITLE, and L scores and what they mean, visit the Franchise Rankings Methodology page at listsdamnlists.com )
1 New York Yankees
2 Los Angeles Lakers
3 Montreal Canadiens
4 Boston Celtics
5 Dallas Cowboys
6 Philadelphia Flyers
7 Edmonton Oilers
8 Miami Dolphins
9 Green Bay Packers
10 San Antonio Spurs
The Yankees and Lakers take their spots at the top, and they are not realistically threatened by anyone. The Lakers have the advantage on L Score, but the Yankees are at the top in PCT and TITLE. These two won’t be overtaken soon, if ever. If the Lakers can win the title this year, though, it would provide them with a higher title/year ratio that could possibly pull them over the top.
Third? Montreal. I knew when I did this that Montreal would rank highly, and this is where I projected them. They are a bridge from #2 to #4, and aren’t really threatened in their position.
Now come the groupings. The Celtics and Cowboys could interchange every year if they have success (or failure). The Flyers and Oilers (the youngest team in the top 10) could do the same. I think those two teams were my biggest surprise. I knew they’d be high, but not this high. If you ask Joe Schmoe on the street who the greatest hockey franchises were, he’d answer, “Uhhhh…”. But if you ask someone who has an average knowledge of hockey (if you can find them), they’d probably say Montreal and Detroit. Negatory on that one. You’ll see them in a bit, though.
The big grouping is from #8 to #12. The Dolphins, Packers, and Spurs make it now, but a deep run by San Antonio in this year’s playoffs may catapult them to the top of this heap. Again, the Spurs make the Top 10 and it shouldn’t be a surprise. They have won four titles in the past decade, and they still don’t rank that highly on that matrix. Where they win is in their PCT number and L score.
11 San Francisco Giants
12 Oakland Raiders
13 Los Angeles Dodgers
14 St Louis Cardinals
15 Chicago Bulls
16 San Francisco 49ers
17 New York Islanders
18 Cleveland Browns
19 Boston Bruins
20 Colorado Avalanche
Bay area teams fare well here, topped with the Giants and Raiders, who are good seasons away from being Top 10 teams. Though good seasons don’t look to be happening anytime soon. The Dodgers, Cardinals, Bulls, and 49ers are all grouped together so closely that a good winning streak will put them on top. Speaking of the Niners…
There was a second major overhaul to the rankings, along with the NHL addition. I decided to include all records for teams in professional leagues where those teams jumped to the “major” league with their team intact. I made this decision when I was looking at including WHA records for NHL franchises. I went with that approach for pre-1900 baseball, the ABA, and the AFL.
However, I had previously left AAFL records out of the Niners’ and Browns’ standings. I realized that was a gross oversight and corrected it. This took the Browns from a middle of the pack team to a Top 20 franchise.
21 Denver Broncos
22 New England Patriots
23 Chicago Bears
24 Detroit Red Wings
25 Boston Red Sox
26 New York Giants
27 Arizona Diamondbacks
28 Anaheim Ducks
29 Philadelphia 76ers
30 Calgary Flames
The last of the real “cream of the crop” franchises sits here, as everyone from the Broncos down to the Giants receives that ranking. Starting with the D’Backs, we could almost take blocks of 25 franchises down the list and interchange them.
I think it’s stunning that the Bears, Red Wings, Red Sox, and Giants sit this low. But you look at a long history of mediocrity/losing and that’s what it gets you.
The team that looks like it can keep moving up here are the defending Cup champion Ducks. Keep an eye on them.
31 Pittsburgh Steelers
32 Washington Redskins
33 Oakland Athletics
34 Chicago Cubs
35 Indianapolis Colts
36 Toronto Maple Leafs
37 Baltimore Ravens
38 Florida Marlins
39 Portland Trail Blazers
40 Cincinnati Reds
My brother saw this list the night before I posted this and said, “The Steelers at 31? Are you nuts?” This little section has many talking points, so let’s get to it.
The Steelers were horrible for a large portion of their history. They rank 53rd in PCT score, and it’s those four titles in the 70’s that save their ass here. Continued success will push them to the Top 20, but the rough start will hold them back from elite status for awhile.
The Redskins continue to mire in mediocrity, like they’ve done for most of their tenure in the NFL. They and the Steelers have nearly identical bios, and nearly identical commentaries.
The Oakland A’s. Ah, if we just took their Oakland years we’d have a Top 20 team for sure. But decades of futility mark them for death below the elite status favored by most of their ancient baseball brethren.
The Cubs? They’re the Cubs.
The teams that don’t fit in here, in my opinion, are the Ravens and Marlins. Both young teams that won titles unexpectedly. The Marlins actually rank 11th in TITLE score… and 101st in PCT! If these teams continue their downward slide, they will eat dust quickly. The fewer years a team has been around, the more volatile their position will be.
41 Atlanta Braves
42 Detroit Tigers
43 Seattle Supersonics
44 New Jersey Devils
45 Minnesota Vikings
46 Detroit Pistons
47 Houston Rockets
48 Pittsburgh Pirates
49 Dallas Stars
50 Milwaukee Bucks
Two of the ancient franchises in baseball make their mark here. Has any other franchise had a weirder background than the Tigers? Great opening to their history, followed by mediocrity and worse… except for random seasons like 1935 and 1984 where they jump out and kill everyone on their way to championships. The Pirates at #48 have largely the same profile.
Mediocrity bears no more comments here.
51 Toronto Blue Jays
52 Indiana Pacers
53 Kansas City Chiefs
54 Buffalo Sabres
55 Phoenix Suns
56 St Louis Rams
57 New York Knicks
58 Utah Jazz
59 Miami Heat
60 Buffalo Bills
The 2 league teams show up here. Without their ABA/AFL records, a few of these teams would be down about 15 points. The Sabres and Suns show up primarily because of their regular-season proficiency. If they would’ve won a couple more titles and not been perennial disappointments in the playoffs, they could be Top 20 teams. Same with Utah. Look for Miami to fall flat on their faces after this year and tumble into negative territory…
61 Chicago White Sox
62 Carolina Hurricanes
63 Cleveland Indians
64 St Louis Blues
65 New York Mets
66 New York Rangers
67 Ottawa Senators
68 Pittsburgh Penguins
69 Phoenix Coyotes
70 Kansas City Royals
… speaking of which. This is where the line is drawn between largely positive and largely negative franchise histories. The line goes between Carolina and Cleveland at 62 and 63. Carolina’s one title in their short history is holding them up, but without another one soon they’ll be down with their older brothers in New York and Pittsburgh. Actually, with Sid the Kid in town I don’t think Pitt will be here for long.
Just tons of mediocrity here. Nothing stands out.
71 Washington Wizards
72 New Jersey Nets
73 Minnesota Twins
74 Orlando Magic
75 Baltimore Orioles
76 Chicago Blackhawks
77 Tennessee Titans
78 Carolina Panthers
79 Golden State Warriors
80 Philadelphia Eagles
Just look at this uninspiring list. This is where teams that barely make the playoffs every year, or have a long history of suck, go to die. Next.
81 Florida Panthers
82 Los Angeles Angels
83 Dallas Mavericks
84 Tampa Bay Lightning
85 San Diego Chargers
86 Colorado Rockies
87 Houston Astros
88 Atlanta Hawks
89 Detroit Lions
90 Seattle Seahawks
Recent events have helped to make some of these franchises be viewed more favorably. Such as the Angels, Mavs, Chargers, Astros, and Seahawks. But the Franchise Rankings doesn’t forget the decades of utter ineptitude shown by these teams, and punishes them justly. Look for the Lightning to go completely out of this area, as their one title is the only thing keeping them from Under 100 status. I don’t see any of these franchises moving up anytime soon. Not even the Chargers… as long as the Pats and Colts are around, they aren’t getting to the Super Bowl anytime soon.
91 Sacramento Kings
92 Washington Capitals
93 Jacksonville Jaguars
94 Philadelphia Phillies
95 Minnesota Wild
96 Vancouver Canucks
97 Cleveland Cavaliers
98 Denver Nuggets
99 San Diego Padres
100 New Orleans Hornets
This one is interesting. The Jags could shoot up the rankings from here because of their strong PCT score. They just need to make a Super Bowl to do it. Their time may be near. Ditto for the Wild. There’s some hope here. Well, very little hope.
The 10,000 loss Phillies reside here permanently, a stirring note to franchises like the Canucks and Padres. “This Could Be You”. This area of the rankings is like low-rent housing. You may have the occasional young married couple with bright eyes and a decent future living there… but they’re mostly surrounded by dreams gone by. Will they move on up, or be dragged into the gutter?
101 Nashville Predators
102 Cincinnati Bengals
103 New York Jets
104 Milwaukee Brewers
105 Los Angeles Kings
106 Washington Nationals
107 Minnesota Timberwolves
108 Tampa Bay Buccaneers
109 Seattle Mariners
110 Texas Rangers
Ah, the gutter. What’s that? You say this isn’t the bottom of the rankings yet? True, but with a couple of glaring exceptions, the bottom 12 are newer teams that have struggled, but a couple good seasons could bring them out of their situation. When you look at the Bengals, Jets, Brewers, Kings, Nats, Bucs, Mariners, and Rangers… it’s best just to look away, actually. Don’t look directly at them. The T’Wolves still have a shred of hope, but Kevin McHale had better stop sucking off the Celtics and start managing his roster. The only thing keeping him from a glaring spotlight is Isiah Thomas’ even worse job with the Knicks.
111 San Jose Sharks
112 Toronto Raptors
113 Arizona Cardinals
114 Atlanta Falcons
115 Los Angeles Clippers
116 New Orleans Saints
117 Atlanta Thrashers
118 Memphis Grizzlies
119 Columbus Blue Jackets
120 Charlotte Bobcats
121 Tampa Bay Rays
122 Houston Texans
The Bottom 12. We’ll spare the newer teams like the Sharks, Raptors, Thrashers, Grizzlies, Blue Jackets, Bobcats, Rays, and Texans. They have time to pick themselves up and move forward. A couple of them seem to actually be doing that.
But for the Cards, Falcons, Clippers, and Saints… congratulations! You’ve done such a great job of losing, both in the regular season and in your few-and-far-between postseason appearances, that you are completely hopeless! It would take a late 40’s-mid 50’s Yankee-type run to pull you out of this hole. Your owners should be barred from owning franchises, and the citizens of your cities should get refunded for their time and money in supporting you.
That’s it, folks! I’m going to come out with all new formatting after the NBA and NHL seasons wrap up, and we’ll see which teams make a move up or down in the summertime.
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