Very Good teams that couldn't get past Better/great teams

[john4psu]

Hi. I was trying to think of very good teams (pro or college) that couldn't get past a better/great team in consecutive years.

Some teams that came to mind and the team they couldn't beat:

Houston Oilers '78 and '79 - the Pittsburgh Steelers AFC title games.
Buffalo Bills - consecutive SB losses to the Dallas Cowboys
Utah Jazz - two straight finals lost to the Chicago Bulls

The LA Lakers teams of the '60s lost quite a few finals to the Celtics. Although the Lakers did win some NBA titles in the '60s just not against the Celtics and did finally beat them in future years.

I wouldn't count the Cleveland Browns losing two AFC title games to the Denver Broncos only because the Broncos weren't a great team and would lose consecutive Super Bowls.

I'm sure there are others that just aren't coming to mind. Others? Thanks in advance.

 

[OzLion]

I'll add one from hockey

The New York Rangers during the Islanders' dynasty years. Typically the toughest playoff test those Isles got was against the Rangers in an early round. Three straight years that I can recall (81-82, 82-83, 83-84), last time Isles won the deciding game in overtime.

Also....

The KC Royals in the late 70's against the New York Yankees in the AL playoffs.


----------------

On a different note, an interesting round robin in college football in the 80's

Oklahoma beats PSU in 1985-6 for the national championship
PSU beats Miami in 1986-7 for the national championship
Miami beats Oklahoma in 1987-8 for the national championship

 

[Mister Magoo]

The Rangers beat the Islanders in 79

The Rangers were avg., not very good 80-83. Their point totals were; 86, 74, 92 and 80 during those years.


A better example would be 77-79 Bruins against Montral. 113, 100 and 106 points. Lost in the finals in 77 and 78. 7gm semi-final in 79.!B'a were very good. Montreal was great.

 

[john4psu]

Good example Magoo. I thought of the Cowboys losing to the Packers in consecutive NFL title games but then the Cowboys lost to the Colts in the Super Bowl not long thereafter. They couldn't win the big one but it wasn't just to one outstanding team. Next year's champion finally did win against the Dolphins.

 

[LionJim]

Pennsylvania, 28-1 in 1971. Villanova was better, finally figured them out*

Originally posted by john4psu:

Hi. I was trying to think of very good teams (pro or college) that couldn't get past a better/great team in consecutive years.

Some teams that came to mind and the team they couldn't beat:

Houston Oilers '78 and '79 - the Pittsburgh Steelers AFC title games.
Buffalo Bills - consecutive SB losses to the Dallas Cowboys
Utah Jazz - two straight finals lost to the Chicago Bulls

The LA Lakers teams of the '60s lost quite a few finals to the Celtics. Although the Lakers did win some NBA titles in the '60s just not against the Celtics and did finally beat them in future years.

I wouldn't count the Cleveland Browns losing two AFC title games to the Denver Broncos only because the Broncos weren't a great team and would lose consecutive Super Bowls.

I'm sure there are others that just aren't coming to mind. Others? Thanks in advance.

This post was edited on 4/17 7:25 AM by LionJim

 

[psuro]

Was Howard Porter on that Villanova team?


too lazy to look it up

 

[LionJim]

Yes, that's why they were better. ***

ftg

 

[Lion78]

Tarkanian's Long Beach teams in the NCAA basketball tourney going against Wooden's UCLA.

 

[kijana]

Re: FSU versus Miami 1991-92!****


nm

 

[PSU_Chicago]

watched that game. Huge upset at time **

mm

 

[fortheglory94]

Re: I'll add one from hockey

The Rangers of the late '60's to mid '70's are a better example than the early '80's. Playoffs every year, and in multiple cases they were eliminated by the eventual SC Champions. The GAG line, Giacomin/Villemure, Park. Their style would have won them a Cup or two a decade or so later, but unfortunately in that era their skill game was always bested by "physical" play.

 

[FHSPSU67]

Penn State vs Tennessee during the '70s. ***

***

 

[LionJim]

Not really. Villanova was damn good. Went to the final game.

They gave UCLA all they could handle. If you had asked me before the game if Villanova could beat Penn, I'd have said sure. By 43 points? Maybe that's what you mean by "upset." Anyway, that Penn team was one of my two favorite teams all-time, 1971 Penn and 1980 Georgetown, I took the loss really hard (I was 13).

 

[psuro]

Re: Not really. Villanova was damn good. Went to the final game.


Didn't Penn send another team to the Final Four - was it 1979, when Magic Johnson's MSU team won it all?


Penn used to play some really, really good basketball.

 

[CF LION]

Early 70's - Pirates vs Big Red Machine ........

They met three times in the NLCS and lost all: '70, '72, '75

 

[LionJim]

And yes, to that too. That team had Tony Price. *

ftg

Originally posted by psuro:

Didn't Penn send another team to the Final Four - was it 1979, when Magic Johnson's MSU team won it all?


Penn used to play some really, really good basketball.

 

[Steviedpsu]

How about the Pirates against the Braves those couple of years with Bonds and Bonilla. You could say the Braves, but they lost to teams that weren't as good as them in the World Series. I still don't know how those teams only won 1 time.

 

[cavic]

But, of course, they won the series in '71. I know they didn't beat

Cincy en route, but I still think that undermines this as an example

 

[Bob78]

Penn coached by Dick Harter at the time. Very good team,

but was not deep enough to upend the impending Magic-Bird showdown in that year's Final.

 

[CF LION]

True -- the Reds finished 4th in the NL West that year....

... one bad season amongst a string of really great ones. The Pirates beat the SF Giants for the pennant that year.

 

[SgtCarter]

Bruins v Montreal, 76'ers v Celtics, Red Sox v Yankees

Dodgers v Yankees esp in the 40's/50's

Blackhawks v Montreal early 70's

 

[PSU_Chicago]

Penn had already beaten Nova that year ...

Nova had a good team that year. Porter. Clarence Smith, Tom Ingelsby,

Penn was a very good team as well.

This post was edited on 4/17 11:43 AM by PSU_Chicago

 

[N&B4PSU]

penn handled nova easily in first meeting

second one... was one of those days where one team did everything right and the other did everything wrong.

and when that one team had the talent nova did, it's gonna be ugly. it was.

 

[WPB_lion]

Not a team but David Taylor in his JR year against Dake. I believe 3 of Taylor's 4 career losses were against Dake.

 

[Big 0]

Late 1980's Cleveland Cavaliers losses in the playoffs

The Cavs were one of the best teams in the NBA during that time but could never get over the hump, losing mostly to the Michael Jordan lead Chicago Bulls. One of the playoff games lead to the sports moment as known as "The Shot" or the series-winning basket hit by Michael Jordan in Game 5 of the 1989 Eastern Conference First Round against the Cleveland Cavaliers. It is considered to be one of Jordan's greatest clutch moments, and the game itself, a classic. The Cavaliers had swept the regular season games against the Bulls 6-0 during that season. Some of the Cavs players duing that era included Brad Daugherty, Craig Ehlo, Ron Harper, Phil Hubbard, Larry Nance, Mark Price, Tree Rollins, Scott Kerr and John "Hot Rod" Williams.

 

[john4psu]

The Pirates losing to the Braves in the early '90s is a good example. I also wonder how those Braves teams could only win one WS.

O, I didn't realize the Cavs swept the Bulls in that regular season.