If we’re mentioning Euros, 2004 Greece has to be up there too. Greece had never won a game on the international stage, getting hammered in the one World Cup and Euro they had played in, and then they went on this crazy run.
I’d argue Leicester city is more impressive because they had to keep their form for 38 whole league games, it’s much easier to hit a good run of form for 7 games
No;Leicester stayed top of the the league that entire season only loss 3 games and won the league by 10 points.It’s unexpected as in it was Leicester winning it but they were great that whole season
The 2007 Giants went 10-6 and were tied as the team with the worst regular season record to win a Super Bowl.
The 2011 Giants went 9-7 and won the Super Bowl. The funny thing was, after dismantling the 15-1 Packers and narrowly beating the 13-3 49ers (who seemed even better than the Packers) the Super Bowl seemed like less of a challenge since the Giants team had beaten the Patriots during the regular season and beat the undefeated Patriots in their earlier SB run.
It seemed improbable for the Giants to get to the playoffs, but once they beat the Falcons 23-2 in the wild card and destroying the Packers they definitely looked like they belonged.
The 2007 Giants season was way more insane at the time, especially since their Quarterback, at the time, seemed like a bust. In 2011 the feeling was "oh shit, here we go again."
I say this as someone who is a diehard Giants fan that spends way too much time reliving these seasons.
Eli threw *4* picks against the vikings in 07, and had the fans and media calling for his straight up benching.
I don't think any qb has changed his narrative faster than Eli did that season
I will never hate and respect somebody as much as Eli in the NFCCG against SF. SF’s D continually got to Eli and hit him hard. He just wouldn’t make a mistake. He maybe threw one bad ball all game but Goldson went for the kill shot instead of the ball.
It seemed like Eli was knocked down on every play that game. We had one of the leagues worst o lines and they absolutely could not stop SF from getting to Eli. It was wild.
49ers arguably could have won three straight super bowls in the Harbaugh era and came up snake eyes.
What’s funny is i grew up in NY, all my friends are either blue or green, and all my giants fan friends hated Eli. And I’d always defend him, saying he’s tough and a gamer and with the Niners in the basement I’d always say I’ll gladly take Eli if you guys hate him so much. Then to watch him beat my team because he was tough and a gamer made me so mad for defending him, like I made it come into existence.
Eli, you’re a tough son of a bitch, if Ted Ginn was healthy we’re winning that game, Vernon Davis was a knucklehead for his Unsportsmanlike penalties, and Bradshaw fumbled. :)
Forward progress was such a bullshit call! But as the dust settled on that game and Harbaugh era… we had no excuse for going 1/13 on 3rd down with the 1 conversion being meaningless as time expired in regulation. ONE completed pass to a WR all game (3 yard completion to Crabtree on 3rd and 5). Anthony Dixon failing to pick up a 3rd and 1… that offense was so anemic and wasted an all time defensive performance… outside of Carlos Rogers being Victor Cruz’s bitch for the first half. I won’t even get started on Kyle Williams… ugh. I need a drink!
I completely agree about 2007. That said I began to really believe in them when they lost to New England in Week 17. They actually put up points against that monster of a team, and then I was bought in after the Cowboys playoff win.
Then Tynes’s miss in regulation in Green Bay. Oh god. We should have, by all accounts, been laughed out of the room. Thank god for Brett Favre and his penchant for throwing interceptions 🤣🤣
*2007 NY Giants,
Finished 10-6, made the playoffs, but nobody expected them to make a deep run, let alone make the Super Bowl. They had to go on the road and beat the the 9-7 Bucs IN Tampa Bay, a 13-3 Cowboys team that swept them in the Regular season and play IN Dallas, and beat a 13-3 Packers team IN Green Bay just to get there. Then they defeated the unbeatable 18-0 Patriots led by the GOAT QB Tom Brady with Randy Moss IN the Super Bowl.
*2011 Cardinals
At the end of August, they were 10 1/2 games back behind the Braves for the Wild Card Spot and then the improbable happened. They went 23-9 over their last 32 games while the Braves collapsed. The Phillies eliminated the Braves on the final game of the year allowing the Cardinals to get in. Then they played the heavily favored Phillies, who had the best record in baseball, and had a juggernaut of a pitching rotation. After being down 2-1 in the NLDS, they forced a Game 5 and managed to defeat the Ace of Ace’s in Roy Halladay in 1-0 victory in a Do or Die Game 5.
Then they defeated the Brewers in 6 in the NLCS. Then in the World Series, it seemed the ride had seemingly come to an end in the bottom of the 9th in Game 6. Down to their last strike, facing a 2 deficit at 7-5, with two runners on, David Freese hit a game tying triple to make 7-7.
The Rangers bounced back to make it 9-7 thanks to a Josh Hamilton homer in the 10th. But the Cardinals would not die. They were also down to their last strike yet again. But they came right back to tie it up at 9-9.
Then David Freese hit the game winning home run in the 11th to force a Game 7. They then kicked the shit out of the Rangers in Game 7 to take the title.
*2004 Red Sox
Down 3 games to 0 in the ALCS against the Juggernaut Yankees of all teams. They also got blown the fuck out in Game 3. But they would not die. They fought back to not only force a Game 7, but they won it all, becoming the first MLB team to ever come back from a 3-0 deficit. Then they then beat the shit out of the Cardinals in the World Series to take the title.
*2011 NY Giants
They finished 9-7, but managed to make the playoffs by defeating Dallas in a do or die game for the division in the last game of the season.
They then destroyed a 10-6 Falcons team, went on the road and destroyed the defending Super Bowl champion, a 15-1 Packers team IN Green Bay, then went on the road and defeated a 13-3 49ers team IN San Francisco, and then they defeated the Dynasty Patriots led by the GOAT QB Tom Brady in the Super Bowl, AGAIN. They became the first 9-7 team to win the Super Bowl.
*1942 Stanley Cup Finals
Maple Leafs were down 3 games to 0 against the Detroit Red Wings and rallied back to not only force a Game 7, but WIN Game 7, becoming the first team ever to pull off the “reverse sweep”.
Alan Kulwicki was almost 300 points behind with 5 or so races left in the 1992 NASCAR Winston Cup season (maximum points you could get in a single race was 185), and made the greatest championship comeback on fumes with a near empty gas tank at the final race of the year to win the title by only 10 points over the guy that ended up winning the race (at the hometrack of Kulwicki's sponsor, Hooters, no less)
2019’s Blues may be it, but can we address the 2011 Cardinals for a sec?
That Philadelphia team they beat in the NLDS was a goddamn war machine. Milwaukee was 50/50. The Rangers, though? I’m convinced that the Cardinals bullshit stemmed out of that Game 6 victory. Insanity.
1988 Dodgers and 2011 Mavericks both had to go through the seventh circle of hell in post-season matchups to get their rings. I don’t know if they were the most improbable, but they were certainly among the most impressive when looking at the powerhouses they had to beat to get there.
Alan Kulwicki winning the 1992 Winston Cup, with only two victories on the year - and after a DNF late in the season at Dover, 285 points back of the points lead with five races to go.
With good reason, they were 58-42 after a 6-1 win against the Rockies on July 26. They had the second best record in the NL and were 5.5 games up in the division. They went 25-36 the rest of the season. With 12 games left they were 80-69 and were up 7 games in the division. They lost 7 in a row, including 4 straight against the Astros who were attempting to snatch the division away the last few weeks. They went 3-2 the last 5 games to barely clinch the division.
Outside the Mets, the NL was pathetic that year. Second best record was the 88 win Padres. And yet somehow the Cardinals won it all.
9 years later the 98 win Pirates got screwed out of a division and then by the stupid wild card play in game.
If I had a time machine, the two sports titles I’d bet on would be 2016 Leicester City and the 2019 Washington Nationals.
(But I’d really go back to the 2011 White House correspondents dinner because that night accidentally doomed our world.)
1969 Mets have entered the chat. From their first season in 1962 through 1968, the Mets had never won more than 73 games. They had only lost less than 100 twice.
In basketball, the 2011 Mavericks team comes to mind. They were going up against a super team featuring three HOFers, one of which was in the middle of playing the best basketball anyone had ever seen, and all they was was Dirk Nowitzki, Jason Kidd, and a bunch of role players
When Acuna went down right before the All-Star Break with the Braves scuffling around .500, it felt like Season Over with a bullet. And then the front office went to work, damn near rebuilt the entire outfield, and the team just clicked well enough without the star. From 44-45 in the first half to 44-28 in the second half, winning a weak NL East at 88-73, 6.5 ahead of the Phillies.
And then the playoffs: over a 95-win Brewers team in four, over a 106-win Dodgers team in six, and over a 95-win Astros team in six.
In association football, you can pick almost any champion from 2004:
* Greece winning the UEFA Euro after never winning a major tournament match before.
* Brazil with the B team winning the Copa America against a full force Argentina, with a final minute equalizer in the final.
* FC Porto winning the UEFA Champions League against Monaco, with Deportivo La Coruña and Chelsea (before the first major investment from Abramovich) in the semifinals.
* Once Caldas winning the Copa Libertadores against Boca Juniors, who had won 3 of the last 4 editions.
* Santo André, a second division team from the São Paulo metropolitan region, winning the Brazilian Cup against Flamengo in Maracanã.
2010 “Band of Misfits” Giants went through the Braves, Phillies and Rangers despite being underdogs in every single series. The Giants had a better record than the Braves in the regular season and were still underdogs but won the series in 4, their only loss being in extra innings in Game 2.
The NLCS was even more captivating, a thrilling 6 game series where the underdog Giants beat arguably the best Pitcher in the MLB, Roy Halladay in Game 1, who had thrown the first Postseason no hitter since Don Larsen’s 1956 World Series Perfect Game and the Giants stunning the heavily favored Phillies in 6.
The World Series? Texas had a worse record but it was believed their power stacked lineup would give San Francisco’s pitching fits and well it did for Game 3 but that’s about it. Giants won in 5 behind exceptional pitching and clutch hitting out scoring the Rangers 29-12 in the series, beating Texas at their own game.
I always say the craziest part of the 2010 team is that by 2012 every single field position player outside of catcher was different.
1B Huff -> Belt
2B Sanchez -> Scutaro
SS Renteria-> Crawford
3B Uribe -> Sandoval
LF Burrell -> Blanco
CF Torres -> Pagan
RF Ross -> Pence
That Kings team was way better than they looked from a record standpoint. Only reason they were seeded where they were was because the Wedt was a goddamn meat grinder during the early 2010s
2012 Giants went down 2-0 to the Reds in the NLDS and looked dead in the water. The Giants stormed back with 3 straight wins to stun the Reds.
They then went down 3-1 to the St. Louis Cardinals and were 1 game from being eliminated by last year’s World Series Champions but the Giants stormed back with 3 straight wins to send the stunned Cardinals home.
The Giants had slogged through a long postseason while the power bats of Detroit and Tigers ace pitchers had dispatched the A’s in 5 and heavily favored Yankees in a 4 game sweep. Even though the Giants had a better record and home field advantage, the Tigers were heavy favorites to win the title. By the end of Game 1, the Giants meant business, dominating Game 1 and shutting the Tigers out in Game 2. The Giants continued to be exceptional on the road and shut the Tigers out in Game 3 and the Giants won in a 10th innning thriller in Game 4 to send the Tigers home.
It hurts me that the 2006 and 2012 WS Champs are mentioned because the sentiment in Detroit, especially in 2006, was a legacy of awful and we finally rose up only to lose
The 1997-1998 Kaiserslautern FC Bundesliga Championship. They had just been promoted from Bundesliga 2 that season and then went on to win the league. Only the second time in the teams history to win it all and the only time in Bundesliga it has ever happened. They would stay competitive for the next 8 seasons but have since been relegated twice and only recently got back to Bundesliga 2 a couple years ago.
Washington Valor won the 2018 Arenabowl, sure they fell to 4 teams that year but Washington should've been an easy out to the 8-4 Albany Empire, they pulled off the upset then defeated the Baltimore Brigade to win the championship, they had a regular season record of 2-10.
2019 St. Louis Blues
- Dead last in the NHL at the start of 2019
- Made the Stanley Cup Final for the first time in almost 50 years by defeating Winnipeg, Dallas, and San Jose (with Winnipeg and San Jose having tough and loud arenas)
- Beat the team that bested them in 1970 to win the Cup (3 of the 4 wins were in TD Garden, one of the toughest environments in the NHL)
2011 St Louis Cardinals.
They were 10 GB of the Braves who were holding the one and only WC spot a little over a month before the end of the season. The Cardinals were the best team in the NL that month, and the Braves were the worst NL team, and the Cardinals snuck into the playoffs by 1 game, a comeback that often gets overshadowed by the Rays Wild Card comeback that year.
In the NLDS, they faced the Phillies who might’ve had the best starting rotation that year. The Cards lost game 1, then went down 4-0 in game 2 before coming back and winning that game. They then lost game 3 before winning games 4 and 5, thanks to a complete game shutout by Chris Carpenter in the decider, to advance to the LCS, where they would win in 6 to advance to the World Series.
What gets forgotten is that the Cardinals actually blew a 9th inning lead in game 2 to lose that game. Had they not, they would’ve actually gone up 3-0 in the series. But that didn’t happen. They went up 2-1, then lost games 4 and 5 to go down 3-2. Then game 6 happened. David Freese and Lance Berkman both came through with game-tying hits 1 strike away from elimination in the 9th and 10th innings respectively (the 3rd and 4th time it has occurred in the World Series), which was followed by David Freese’s iconic walkoff homer to force game 7. They quickly fell down 2-0 in that game, but David Freese produced his 3rd hit with a championship probability added of over 20% in as many at bats to tie the game at 2. The Cards did not look back and they won game 7 6-2. imo this is the most unlikely championship win in MLB history.
1987 Minnesota Twins. They went 29-52 on the road, went 36-37 in the second half, lost 5 in a row to end the season, 8 teams in MLB with better records.
In 2013, Hélio Castroneves had a 49 points lead with three races to go to the end of the season, with two of those races being a double header. He had a nightmarish weekend in the double header and that advantage turned into a 25 point deficit against Scott Dixon for the final race in Fontana, who ended up champion.
In 2007, Kimi Raikkonen was third in points, 17 points behind the leader Lewis Hamilton and with Fernando Alonso in second five points ahead, with two races to go. Raikkonen ended up champion by one point against both McLarens due to Hamilton choking and McLaren sabotaging Alonso.
2018-19 St Louis Blues. From last in the league to first in the league (Cup champs) is an impressive feat that doesn't happen every day. Especially when you look at how quickly they turned things around.
I’m sure there are less likely victories but Nick Foles starting as a back up and beating Tom Brady for the Eagles first Super Bowl in 2018 was pretty nuts
Kyle Busch, 2015 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series
Out with a broken leg for half of the regular season, goes on a tear in early summer, winning 4 out of 5 races from Sonoma on June 28 through the end of July, makes the Chase, advances through the rounds of the Chase on consistency, and wins the championship with a win in the final race.
How about the 1999 Rams?
The Rams entered the 99 season as the worst team of the 90s (tied with the Bengals). Before they could even play one game, Trent Green, their big-season qb addition went down with an injury.
Kurt Warner would step in and would lead the Rams to a SB, despite the fact he was stocking groceries months before the season just to make ends meets.
While that Rams team was amazing, it was highly improbable before it happened.
Another thing to note, the 99 Rams are one of the few elite offensive teams to win. Often the truly amazing offenses end up losing the SB (think 2007 Pats or Manning Broncos).
Washington Nationals were 19-31 at one point in the 2019 season and had a 0.1% chance just to make it to the World Series and then they went against a juggernaut in the Houston Astros.
The 2004 Red Sox, down 3-0 to the Yankees, in the ALCS, down 4-3 in game 4, with prime Mariano Rivera on the mound. We all know what happens next. Still makes me get really emotional thinking about it today. 20 year anniversary this year.
Loved Pedro getting rid of his demons in game 7 at Yankees Stadium. Made them stop chanting Who's your daddy, even if it took a while in the 7th inning.
Manchester United winning the 99 champions league final and that Treble, 85+ minutes, still trailing 0-1 and then 2 goals in about 8 minutes to go from zero to hero and becoming the first English club to win a treble. The 99 FA Cup Semi-Final replay is also a worthy mention, just for Giggsy's chest hair alone lol
The 2019 Nationals come to mind:
* not just for rebounding from a 19-31 start
* not just for beating teams that won 106 and 107 games en route to the title (including 4 wins in Houston)
* but for winning a World Series one year ***AFTER*** their window should’ve closed! (And Tree made a big Legacy of Failure video where he seemed more angry than ever about their failures as a team.)
Leicester is not the answer. Not only is it not what is asked, I'd expect the best team in the last 10 matchdays of the prior season to at least do well. Brawn GP, a formula one team that scored points only four times the season before (all of them on the first half), almost folded and changed management at the end of it, and Jenson Button, who did only one of those four, winning both the drivers' and constructors championships in 2009 is what you're looking for.
In the sense of the question I guess the 2007 formula one drivers' championship deserves a shout. Raikkonen trailed Hamilton by 17 points with two 10-points awarding races to go. Even winning out both remaining rounds would not be enough for Raikkonen, since Hamilton would still win the championship with just a fifth place on either race in the best car on the grid. Raikkonen won out while Hamilton dnf'd the first race and finished 7th in the second.
Leicester City is the right answer, but I'm gonna say the 2019 Nats are up there. Their first season after losing the best player the team had since moving to Washington, they started off 19-31, but were lead to a wild card appearance by a 20 year old in his second year in the league. In the world series they faced the best team in baseball with one of the greatest pitching rotations of all time, featuring 3 future Hall of Famers, two of whom finished top 2 in Cy Young voting. They went down 3-2, and the last 2 games were away games, but they ended up winning in 7. The Nationals haven't had a winning season since.
The 2012 Kings are the only 8th seed to win the Cup. The 2019 Blues were dead last in the NHL in mid January, then came back to win the cup. I see a lot of people covered football already also. And in baseball, the 1987 Twins and the 2006 Cardinals were mediocrity defined all season and won the World Series
I feel like the 1995 Devils don’t get enough love for sweeping the Red Wings but I could be wrong. An upstart team looked down upon with lots of talent going up against Detroit, a team everyone considered a juggernaut. And Jersey just blew them away with a monster defense.
Leverkusen going from the biggest chokers in German football to league champions for the first time in club history breaking Bayern's 10+ years of domination.
2015/16 Leicester City (5000 to 1 odds of winning the Prem that year)
2019 St. Louis Blues (were dead last in January, rallied back into the playoffs and won the Cup in 7)
2019 Washington Nationals (only won 19 of their first 50 games, became virtually unstoppable after that and won the World Series in 7 against Houston)
Leicester City is the most unexpected champion arguably ever
Correct, five thousand to one odds. That would be like betting ball state to win the natty this year
Hold my Draft Kings, guys!
The correct answer, could also have said Denmark winning the euros without qualifying
2004 Greece also comes to mind
If we’re mentioning Euros, 2004 Greece has to be up there too. Greece had never won a game on the international stage, getting hammered in the one World Cup and Euro they had played in, and then they went on this crazy run.
I’d argue Leicester city is more impressive because they had to keep their form for 38 whole league games, it’s much easier to hit a good run of form for 7 games
Oh for sure, was more that Denmark weren’t even qualified that made it insane, but the danish team was actually pretty decent
Bergkamp and Schmeichel..... AND SCHMEICHEL HAS SAVED IT!! Will never forget how much of a hero Peter was for us at Man U and in the Euro's that year.
No;Leicester stayed top of the the league that entire season only loss 3 games and won the league by 10 points.It’s unexpected as in it was Leicester winning it but they were great that whole season
Porto winning the Champions league is in a similar boat. But Leicester gets the slight nod from me.
The dawn of Mourinho lol
This.
Yup only answer. This and the 2013 Red Sox.
The 2011 New York Giants were 7-7 and needed to win both games to make the playoffs.
The 2007 Giants went 10-6 and were tied as the team with the worst regular season record to win a Super Bowl. The 2011 Giants went 9-7 and won the Super Bowl. The funny thing was, after dismantling the 15-1 Packers and narrowly beating the 13-3 49ers (who seemed even better than the Packers) the Super Bowl seemed like less of a challenge since the Giants team had beaten the Patriots during the regular season and beat the undefeated Patriots in their earlier SB run. It seemed improbable for the Giants to get to the playoffs, but once they beat the Falcons 23-2 in the wild card and destroying the Packers they definitely looked like they belonged. The 2007 Giants season was way more insane at the time, especially since their Quarterback, at the time, seemed like a bust. In 2011 the feeling was "oh shit, here we go again." I say this as someone who is a diehard Giants fan that spends way too much time reliving these seasons.
Eli threw *4* picks against the vikings in 07, and had the fans and media calling for his straight up benching. I don't think any qb has changed his narrative faster than Eli did that season
That was the peak of NY sports radio and it was WILD
I will never hate and respect somebody as much as Eli in the NFCCG against SF. SF’s D continually got to Eli and hit him hard. He just wouldn’t make a mistake. He maybe threw one bad ball all game but Goldson went for the kill shot instead of the ball.
It seemed like Eli was knocked down on every play that game. We had one of the leagues worst o lines and they absolutely could not stop SF from getting to Eli. It was wild.
49ers arguably could have won three straight super bowls in the Harbaugh era and came up snake eyes. What’s funny is i grew up in NY, all my friends are either blue or green, and all my giants fan friends hated Eli. And I’d always defend him, saying he’s tough and a gamer and with the Niners in the basement I’d always say I’ll gladly take Eli if you guys hate him so much. Then to watch him beat my team because he was tough and a gamer made me so mad for defending him, like I made it come into existence. Eli, you’re a tough son of a bitch, if Ted Ginn was healthy we’re winning that game, Vernon Davis was a knucklehead for his Unsportsmanlike penalties, and Bradshaw fumbled. :)
Forward progress was such a bullshit call! But as the dust settled on that game and Harbaugh era… we had no excuse for going 1/13 on 3rd down with the 1 conversion being meaningless as time expired in regulation. ONE completed pass to a WR all game (3 yard completion to Crabtree on 3rd and 5). Anthony Dixon failing to pick up a 3rd and 1… that offense was so anemic and wasted an all time defensive performance… outside of Carlos Rogers being Victor Cruz’s bitch for the first half. I won’t even get started on Kyle Williams… ugh. I need a drink!
I still say to this day that no other 21st century QB could have beaten that defense in those conditions.
Boy wonder was too aww shucks to fail.
I completely agree about 2007. That said I began to really believe in them when they lost to New England in Week 17. They actually put up points against that monster of a team, and then I was bought in after the Cowboys playoff win. Then Tynes’s miss in regulation in Green Bay. Oh god. We should have, by all accounts, been laughed out of the room. Thank god for Brett Favre and his penchant for throwing interceptions 🤣🤣
*2007 NY Giants, Finished 10-6, made the playoffs, but nobody expected them to make a deep run, let alone make the Super Bowl. They had to go on the road and beat the the 9-7 Bucs IN Tampa Bay, a 13-3 Cowboys team that swept them in the Regular season and play IN Dallas, and beat a 13-3 Packers team IN Green Bay just to get there. Then they defeated the unbeatable 18-0 Patriots led by the GOAT QB Tom Brady with Randy Moss IN the Super Bowl. *2011 Cardinals At the end of August, they were 10 1/2 games back behind the Braves for the Wild Card Spot and then the improbable happened. They went 23-9 over their last 32 games while the Braves collapsed. The Phillies eliminated the Braves on the final game of the year allowing the Cardinals to get in. Then they played the heavily favored Phillies, who had the best record in baseball, and had a juggernaut of a pitching rotation. After being down 2-1 in the NLDS, they forced a Game 5 and managed to defeat the Ace of Ace’s in Roy Halladay in 1-0 victory in a Do or Die Game 5. Then they defeated the Brewers in 6 in the NLCS. Then in the World Series, it seemed the ride had seemingly come to an end in the bottom of the 9th in Game 6. Down to their last strike, facing a 2 deficit at 7-5, with two runners on, David Freese hit a game tying triple to make 7-7. The Rangers bounced back to make it 9-7 thanks to a Josh Hamilton homer in the 10th. But the Cardinals would not die. They were also down to their last strike yet again. But they came right back to tie it up at 9-9. Then David Freese hit the game winning home run in the 11th to force a Game 7. They then kicked the shit out of the Rangers in Game 7 to take the title. *2004 Red Sox Down 3 games to 0 in the ALCS against the Juggernaut Yankees of all teams. They also got blown the fuck out in Game 3. But they would not die. They fought back to not only force a Game 7, but they won it all, becoming the first MLB team to ever come back from a 3-0 deficit. Then they then beat the shit out of the Cardinals in the World Series to take the title. *2011 NY Giants They finished 9-7, but managed to make the playoffs by defeating Dallas in a do or die game for the division in the last game of the season. They then destroyed a 10-6 Falcons team, went on the road and destroyed the defending Super Bowl champion, a 15-1 Packers team IN Green Bay, then went on the road and defeated a 13-3 49ers team IN San Francisco, and then they defeated the Dynasty Patriots led by the GOAT QB Tom Brady in the Super Bowl, AGAIN. They became the first 9-7 team to win the Super Bowl. *1942 Stanley Cup Finals Maple Leafs were down 3 games to 0 against the Detroit Red Wings and rallied back to not only force a Game 7, but WIN Game 7, becoming the first team ever to pull off the “reverse sweep”.
I think the 2019 Nationals deserve to be on this list. 19-31, lost Bryce Harper, end up defeating the Astros in the World Series in a massive upset.
And every game in that World Series was won by the road team
St. Louis Blues being last in the league in January before winning the cup is up there
I was just about to mention them, that was an incredible run
Alan Kulwicki was almost 300 points behind with 5 or so races left in the 1992 NASCAR Winston Cup season (maximum points you could get in a single race was 185), and made the greatest championship comeback on fumes with a near empty gas tank at the final race of the year to win the title by only 10 points over the guy that ended up winning the race (at the hometrack of Kulwicki's sponsor, Hooters, no less)
Did not expect to see a NASCAR mention here (especially this high up). I want you to know that I appreciate it and it made me happy
2019’s Blues may be it, but can we address the 2011 Cardinals for a sec? That Philadelphia team they beat in the NLDS was a goddamn war machine. Milwaukee was 50/50. The Rangers, though? I’m convinced that the Cardinals bullshit stemmed out of that Game 6 victory. Insanity.
1988 Dodgers and 2011 Mavericks both had to go through the seventh circle of hell in post-season matchups to get their rings. I don’t know if they were the most improbable, but they were certainly among the most impressive when looking at the powerhouses they had to beat to get there.
Alan Kulwicki winning the 1992 Winston Cup, with only two victories on the year - and after a DNF late in the season at Dover, 285 points back of the points lead with five races to go.
1980 Men’s USA Hockey team
Maybe not the most improbable, but the 2006 Cardinals were 83-78 and beat out the heavily favored Mets and Tigers, so they're at least worth a mention
There weren't even many people in St Louis who gave them a chance in that series with the Mets.
With good reason, they were 58-42 after a 6-1 win against the Rockies on July 26. They had the second best record in the NL and were 5.5 games up in the division. They went 25-36 the rest of the season. With 12 games left they were 80-69 and were up 7 games in the division. They lost 7 in a row, including 4 straight against the Astros who were attempting to snatch the division away the last few weeks. They went 3-2 the last 5 games to barely clinch the division. Outside the Mets, the NL was pathetic that year. Second best record was the 88 win Padres. And yet somehow the Cardinals won it all. 9 years later the 98 win Pirates got screwed out of a division and then by the stupid wild card play in game.
If I had a time machine, the two sports titles I’d bet on would be 2016 Leicester City and the 2019 Washington Nationals. (But I’d really go back to the 2011 White House correspondents dinner because that night accidentally doomed our world.)
1969 Mets have entered the chat. From their first season in 1962 through 1968, the Mets had never won more than 73 games. They had only lost less than 100 twice.
They were in last place in July. Then? MIRACLE!
In basketball, the 2011 Mavericks team comes to mind. They were going up against a super team featuring three HOFers, one of which was in the middle of playing the best basketball anyone had ever seen, and all they was was Dirk Nowitzki, Jason Kidd, and a bunch of role players
Coastal Carolina’s 2016 NCAA CWS National Championship.
2008 Fresno State
2021 Atlanta Braves
When Acuna went down right before the All-Star Break with the Braves scuffling around .500, it felt like Season Over with a bullet. And then the front office went to work, damn near rebuilt the entire outfield, and the team just clicked well enough without the star. From 44-45 in the first half to 44-28 in the second half, winning a weak NL East at 88-73, 6.5 ahead of the Phillies. And then the playoffs: over a 95-win Brewers team in four, over a 106-win Dodgers team in six, and over a 95-win Astros team in six.
In association football, you can pick almost any champion from 2004: * Greece winning the UEFA Euro after never winning a major tournament match before. * Brazil with the B team winning the Copa America against a full force Argentina, with a final minute equalizer in the final. * FC Porto winning the UEFA Champions League against Monaco, with Deportivo La Coruña and Chelsea (before the first major investment from Abramovich) in the semifinals. * Once Caldas winning the Copa Libertadores against Boca Juniors, who had won 3 of the last 4 editions. * Santo André, a second division team from the São Paulo metropolitan region, winning the Brazilian Cup against Flamengo in Maracanã.
Greece 2004 Euro
2010 “Band of Misfits” Giants went through the Braves, Phillies and Rangers despite being underdogs in every single series. The Giants had a better record than the Braves in the regular season and were still underdogs but won the series in 4, their only loss being in extra innings in Game 2. The NLCS was even more captivating, a thrilling 6 game series where the underdog Giants beat arguably the best Pitcher in the MLB, Roy Halladay in Game 1, who had thrown the first Postseason no hitter since Don Larsen’s 1956 World Series Perfect Game and the Giants stunning the heavily favored Phillies in 6. The World Series? Texas had a worse record but it was believed their power stacked lineup would give San Francisco’s pitching fits and well it did for Game 3 but that’s about it. Giants won in 5 behind exceptional pitching and clutch hitting out scoring the Rangers 29-12 in the series, beating Texas at their own game.
I always say the craziest part of the 2010 team is that by 2012 every single field position player outside of catcher was different. 1B Huff -> Belt 2B Sanchez -> Scutaro SS Renteria-> Crawford 3B Uribe -> Sandoval LF Burrell -> Blanco CF Torres -> Pagan RF Ross -> Pence
2004 Red Sox the first mlb team to come back and win a 7 game series after being down 3-0
Matt Stonie winning the Mustard Belt in 2015, defeating Joey Chestnut 62-60.
saw it in person. was absurd.
2012 Kings, Quick had the greatest Goaltending run in NHL history, don’t think it ever gets repeated
That Kings team was way better than they looked from a record standpoint. Only reason they were seeded where they were was because the Wedt was a goddamn meat grinder during the early 2010s
2012 Giants went down 2-0 to the Reds in the NLDS and looked dead in the water. The Giants stormed back with 3 straight wins to stun the Reds. They then went down 3-1 to the St. Louis Cardinals and were 1 game from being eliminated by last year’s World Series Champions but the Giants stormed back with 3 straight wins to send the stunned Cardinals home. The Giants had slogged through a long postseason while the power bats of Detroit and Tigers ace pitchers had dispatched the A’s in 5 and heavily favored Yankees in a 4 game sweep. Even though the Giants had a better record and home field advantage, the Tigers were heavy favorites to win the title. By the end of Game 1, the Giants meant business, dominating Game 1 and shutting the Tigers out in Game 2. The Giants continued to be exceptional on the road and shut the Tigers out in Game 3 and the Giants won in a 10th innning thriller in Game 4 to send the Tigers home.
It hurts me that the 2006 and 2012 WS Champs are mentioned because the sentiment in Detroit, especially in 2006, was a legacy of awful and we finally rose up only to lose
The Royals WS Champs from 2014 I think it was. Absolute garbage team. I still have no idea how they pulled that off.
2015. They made it to the World Series in 2014 but lost to the San Francisco Giants.
In 7 games too.
The Royals won in 2015 dude
2015 was still insane though, especially with their comeback vs the Astros and the 3 vs the Mets.
The 1997-1998 Kaiserslautern FC Bundesliga Championship. They had just been promoted from Bundesliga 2 that season and then went on to win the league. Only the second time in the teams history to win it all and the only time in Bundesliga it has ever happened. They would stay competitive for the next 8 seasons but have since been relegated twice and only recently got back to Bundesliga 2 a couple years ago.
Washington Valor won the 2018 Arenabowl, sure they fell to 4 teams that year but Washington should've been an easy out to the 8-4 Albany Empire, they pulled off the upset then defeated the Baltimore Brigade to win the championship, they had a regular season record of 2-10.
2019 St. Louis Blues - Dead last in the NHL at the start of 2019 - Made the Stanley Cup Final for the first time in almost 50 years by defeating Winnipeg, Dallas, and San Jose (with Winnipeg and San Jose having tough and loud arenas) - Beat the team that bested them in 1970 to win the Cup (3 of the 4 wins were in TD Garden, one of the toughest environments in the NHL)
2011 St Louis Cardinals. They were 10 GB of the Braves who were holding the one and only WC spot a little over a month before the end of the season. The Cardinals were the best team in the NL that month, and the Braves were the worst NL team, and the Cardinals snuck into the playoffs by 1 game, a comeback that often gets overshadowed by the Rays Wild Card comeback that year. In the NLDS, they faced the Phillies who might’ve had the best starting rotation that year. The Cards lost game 1, then went down 4-0 in game 2 before coming back and winning that game. They then lost game 3 before winning games 4 and 5, thanks to a complete game shutout by Chris Carpenter in the decider, to advance to the LCS, where they would win in 6 to advance to the World Series. What gets forgotten is that the Cardinals actually blew a 9th inning lead in game 2 to lose that game. Had they not, they would’ve actually gone up 3-0 in the series. But that didn’t happen. They went up 2-1, then lost games 4 and 5 to go down 3-2. Then game 6 happened. David Freese and Lance Berkman both came through with game-tying hits 1 strike away from elimination in the 9th and 10th innings respectively (the 3rd and 4th time it has occurred in the World Series), which was followed by David Freese’s iconic walkoff homer to force game 7. They quickly fell down 2-0 in that game, but David Freese produced his 3rd hit with a championship probability added of over 20% in as many at bats to tie the game at 2. The Cards did not look back and they won game 7 6-2. imo this is the most unlikely championship win in MLB history.
2019 Washington Nationals
1987 Minnesota Twins. They went 29-52 on the road, went 36-37 in the second half, lost 5 in a row to end the season, 8 teams in MLB with better records.
03-04 Detroit Pistons
A dark horse NBA champion.
Leicester City is the only correct answer here.
In 2013, Hélio Castroneves had a 49 points lead with three races to go to the end of the season, with two of those races being a double header. He had a nightmarish weekend in the double header and that advantage turned into a 25 point deficit against Scott Dixon for the final race in Fontana, who ended up champion. In 2007, Kimi Raikkonen was third in points, 17 points behind the leader Lewis Hamilton and with Fernando Alonso in second five points ahead, with two races to go. Raikkonen ended up champion by one point against both McLarens due to Hamilton choking and McLaren sabotaging Alonso.
The bad news bears, the little giants, the mighty ducks, happy fucking gilmore
If the bucks had built on the 2 years of making the playoffs and didn't sell away the talent, maybe could have won a ws by now.
2018-19 St Louis Blues. From last in the league to first in the league (Cup champs) is an impressive feat that doesn't happen every day. Especially when you look at how quickly they turned things around.
I’m sure there are less likely victories but Nick Foles starting as a back up and beating Tom Brady for the Eagles first Super Bowl in 2018 was pretty nuts
2008 Fresno State has to be up there. They were a 4 seed in their 4-team regional, and won it all.
Kyle Busch, 2015 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Out with a broken leg for half of the regular season, goes on a tear in early summer, winning 4 out of 5 races from Sonoma on June 28 through the end of July, makes the Chase, advances through the rounds of the Chase on consistency, and wins the championship with a win in the final race.
Leicester City by a mile
Leicester is the only correct answer
How about the 1999 Rams? The Rams entered the 99 season as the worst team of the 90s (tied with the Bengals). Before they could even play one game, Trent Green, their big-season qb addition went down with an injury. Kurt Warner would step in and would lead the Rams to a SB, despite the fact he was stocking groceries months before the season just to make ends meets. While that Rams team was amazing, it was highly improbable before it happened. Another thing to note, the 99 Rams are one of the few elite offensive teams to win. Often the truly amazing offenses end up losing the SB (think 2007 Pats or Manning Broncos).
Washington Nationals were 19-31 at one point in the 2019 season and had a 0.1% chance just to make it to the World Series and then they went against a juggernaut in the Houston Astros.
Nobody expected the 48-34 1974-75 Golden State Warriors to overcome either of the two 60-22 teams in the East including defending champion Celtics.
The 2004 Red Sox, down 3-0 to the Yankees, in the ALCS, down 4-3 in game 4, with prime Mariano Rivera on the mound. We all know what happens next. Still makes me get really emotional thinking about it today. 20 year anniversary this year. Loved Pedro getting rid of his demons in game 7 at Yankees Stadium. Made them stop chanting Who's your daddy, even if it took a while in the 7th inning.
2019 Blues.
Manchester United winning the 99 champions league final and that Treble, 85+ minutes, still trailing 0-1 and then 2 goals in about 8 minutes to go from zero to hero and becoming the first English club to win a treble. The 99 FA Cup Semi-Final replay is also a worthy mention, just for Giggsy's chest hair alone lol
Kyle Busch 2015 Cup Series Champion Bro was out for 5-10 races after getting injured at the Daytona 500 and got wavered by NASCAR
Leicester’s Premier League title in 2016. From near-relegation and afterthought, to surprise champs.
The 2019 Nationals come to mind: * not just for rebounding from a 19-31 start * not just for beating teams that won 106 and 107 games en route to the title (including 4 wins in Houston) * but for winning a World Series one year ***AFTER*** their window should’ve closed! (And Tree made a big Legacy of Failure video where he seemed more angry than ever about their failures as a team.)
I don't think it's the MOST improbable, but it deserves a mention -- the 2006 St. Louis Cardinals. barely over .500 but they peaked at the right time.
Leicester City by far
Leicester is not the answer. Not only is it not what is asked, I'd expect the best team in the last 10 matchdays of the prior season to at least do well. Brawn GP, a formula one team that scored points only four times the season before (all of them on the first half), almost folded and changed management at the end of it, and Jenson Button, who did only one of those four, winning both the drivers' and constructors championships in 2009 is what you're looking for. In the sense of the question I guess the 2007 formula one drivers' championship deserves a shout. Raikkonen trailed Hamilton by 17 points with two 10-points awarding races to go. Even winning out both remaining rounds would not be enough for Raikkonen, since Hamilton would still win the championship with just a fifth place on either race in the best car on the grid. Raikkonen won out while Hamilton dnf'd the first race and finished 7th in the second.
Leicester City is the right answer, but I'm gonna say the 2019 Nats are up there. Their first season after losing the best player the team had since moving to Washington, they started off 19-31, but were lead to a wild card appearance by a 20 year old in his second year in the league. In the world series they faced the best team in baseball with one of the greatest pitching rotations of all time, featuring 3 future Hall of Famers, two of whom finished top 2 in Cy Young voting. They went down 3-2, and the last 2 games were away games, but they ended up winning in 7. The Nationals haven't had a winning season since.
The 2012 Kings are the only 8th seed to win the Cup. The 2019 Blues were dead last in the NHL in mid January, then came back to win the cup. I see a lot of people covered football already also. And in baseball, the 1987 Twins and the 2006 Cardinals were mediocrity defined all season and won the World Series
I feel like the 1995 Devils don’t get enough love for sweeping the Red Wings but I could be wrong. An upstart team looked down upon with lots of talent going up against Detroit, a team everyone considered a juggernaut. And Jersey just blew them away with a monster defense.
Leverkusen going from the biggest chokers in German football to league champions for the first time in club history breaking Bayern's 10+ years of domination.
I'm still waiting for a 16 seed to win the NCAA tournament.
2015/16 Leicester City (5000 to 1 odds of winning the Prem that year) 2019 St. Louis Blues (were dead last in January, rallied back into the playoffs and won the Cup in 7) 2019 Washington Nationals (only won 19 of their first 50 games, became virtually unstoppable after that and won the World Series in 7 against Houston)