The 25 teams that ruled 2018

Another year, another title in Tuscaloosa. The Crimson Tide reached their third consecutive National Championship Game and avenged a late loss the previous year against Clemson. After trailing for much of the game, the Tide sprung back to life when freshman quarter Tua Tagovailoa entered the game in place of Jalen Hurts, throwing for 166 yards and three touchdowns. A 41-yard TD to DeVonta Smith sealed the 26-23 overtime victory against the Georgia Bulldogs and coach Nick Saban’s fifth title with the school.

It was a roller coaster year for the Celtics, who entered the year with a renewed purpose having acquired Kyrie Irving and Gordon Hayward over the offseason and drafting former Duke star Jayson Tatum as well. Despite losing Hayward in the opening moments of the season to a gruesome leg injury, the Celtics still finished with the second-best record in the Eastern Conference.  And despite Irving missing the entirety of the playoffs with a knee injury, the Celtics still pushed LeBron James and the Cleveland Cavaliers to seven games in the Eastern Conference Finals, with Tatum and Jaylen Brown stepping up with a presence beyond their years.

The Red Sox roared through the regular season, led by eventual AL MVP Mookie Betts, winning a third consecutive American League East title via an MLB-best record of 108-54. Boston didn’t take its foot off the pedal, becoming the first team to ever defeat two 100-win teams in the same postseason, via the New York Yankees and Houston Astros. They made short work of the Los Angeles Dodgers in the World Series, winning it 4-1. When all was said and done, their 119 wins were the fourth-most for a season in MLB history.

The Blue Devils find themselves here for what they accomplished off the court as well as on it thus far. Of his many amazing recruiting classes, the class of 2018 is the most acclaimed in Mike Krzyzewski’s 39 years at the helm in Durham. In RJ Barrett, Zion Williamson and Cam Reddish, Coach K brought the top three high school players in the country to his roster, the first time in history one team has boasted such a collection. And in the early going, the hype has lived up to expectations for one of America’s most exciting teams.

The French National Football Team took the World Cup by storm over the summer, claiming its second FIFA men’s title. With Antoine Griezmann and Kylian Mbappe leading the way with four goals apiece throughout the tournament and an outstanding performance from goalie Hugo Lloris, the French team emerged from Group C after defeating Australia and Peru and finishing in a draw with Denmark. They then embarked on defeating Lionel Messi and Argentina before consecutive shutouts against Uruguay and Belgium to advance to the Finals where the French squad defeated Croatia behind a goal and assist from Griezmann.

The Warriors entered the 2017-18 NBA season as champions…and left it in the same condition, picking up their third title in the last four seasons. Steph Curry, Kevin Durant, Klay Thompson and Draymond Green each made the NBA All-Star Team, as the Warriors went 58-24 and took down the top-ranked Houston Rockets en route to a return engagement against the Cleveland Cavaliers. The Warriors swept the Cavs in the Finals, with Curry setting a Finals record with nine three-pointers in Game 2 and Kevin Durant winning Finals MVP for a second consecutive year, after averaging 28 points, 10 rebounds and seven assists per game.

The Astros entered the new year as the reigning World Series champions and mounted a more-than-respectable title defense season. Armed with an upgrade in their starting rotation via Gerrit Cole and a full season of Justin Verlander, the Astros boasted a pair of Cy Young contenders in a rotation that set an MLB record for most strikeouts in a season. Ultimately, the club won 103 games — two more than during their championship season of the previous year— and returned to the American League Championship Series.

With Chris Paul joining eventual scoring leader and MVP James Harden to form one of the NBA’s deadliest backcourts in recent memory, the Houston Rockets took off accordingly. With a team-based perimeter attack that averaged 15 three-pointers a game, the Rockets won an NBA-best 65 games. After losing only two games throughout the first two rounds of the Western Conference Playoffs, the Rockets pushed the Western Conference Finals to seven games before missing a record 27 three-pointers and giving up an 11-point halftime lead to be eliminated from the playoffs.

It had been a while since the Lakers found themselves in the spotlight, but with LeBron James heading out west, the shine has returned to the Staples Center. James’ long-anticipated move to the West Coast finally becoming a reality mean immediate upside for both the present and the future of the Lakers. Time will tell if the presence of James will lead to another glory era for the Lake Show, but LA has undeniably rejoined the inner circle of NBA franchises as the year draws to a close.

Armed with the franchise’s most explosive offense since the "Greatest Show on Turf" of the Super Bowl salad days in St. Louis, the Rams have roared back to the top of the NFL over the past year. Precocious head coach Sean McVay has rolled out an offense spearheaded by Todd Gurley, who has averaged a touchdown per game over last two years. Meanwhile, Aaron Donald has become an all-time-great-level pass rusher for a team that has clear designs on returning to the Super Bowl well before its palatial new home is done in Inglewood.

Man. City dominated the Premier League at a historic pace during the 2017-18 season, becoming the first club in league history to reach 100 points in a season. Their 19-point margin of league victory was the largest in history as well, as they distanced themselves from the pack early in the year. Overall, they were 32-6 on the year and set a league record for most goals scored as well, with 106. It was a stunningly dominant showing for any league, let alone in one of the world’s best in the sport.

2018 marked the third Super Bowl appearance in the past four years for New England and an eighth in the combined run of Tom Brady and Bill Belichick. Brady capped the season with a third MVP at age 40. In February, the Pats came up just short of a sixth title in franchise history, falling to the Philadelphia Eagles in the final moments of Super Bowl LII. Still, the Patriots returned this fall to become the third team in NFL history to reach three consecutive Super Bowls and extend their record for divisional titles to 10 consecutive years.

The hype train was substantial for the Yankees entering the new year after adding 2017 NL MVP Giancarlo Stanton to their already potent lineup. And the Bronx Bombers lived up to their billing once the year was underway, setting a new MLB record for most home runs in a season with 267 — 32 more than any other club. Nine different Yankees hit at least 20 home runs in the process, another MLB record. Under the guidance of rookie manager Aaron Boone, the club won 100 games, becoming the third American League team to win as many games, which was — guess what — yep, another MLB record.

It was quite a year for Fighting Irish coach Muffet McGraw, who began the season by being inducted into National Basketball Hall of Fame before capping it with a national championship. Notre Dame went 35-3 on the year and became an impressive underdog story as the NCAA Tournament advanced. Despite a roster that was besieged by injury, the Irish defeated previously undefeated Connecticut in an overtime game in the Final Four before Arike Ogunbowale hit a championship-clinching three-pointer with less than a second left in the National Championship Game.

Norway put on an imposing show of overall dominance at the 2018 Winter Olympic Games, claiming a record 39 team medals during the event. Its total was eight better than second-place Germany and 10 more than third-place Canada. Cross-country skier Marit Bjørgen led the way with five medals (including two golds), while 15 other Nordish competitors won multiple medals. As a whole, Norway accounted for 14 gold, 14 silver and 11 bronze medals during its record haul.

After years of being the only one of the NFC East teams without a Super Bowl title, the Eagles finally broke through in a dramatic fashion. They enjoyed a six-game improvement from the year before — due much in part to the breakout of second-year quarterback Carson Wentz — with an NFL-best 13-3 record. After Wentz was lost for the year to a torn ACL in Week 14, Nick Foles stepped up to lead the team to the Super Bowl against the New England Patriots. Once there, Foles threw for three scores and 371 yards and sealed a 41-33 victory for the first Super Bowl title in team history.

The dominant run of Real Madrid throughout the Champions League continued, as they reached a championship three-peat in 2018. Behind 44 goals from Cristiano Ronaldo, Real Madrid were the victors of Supercopa de Espana, UEFA Super Cup, FIFA Club World Cup and ultimately, the Champions League in full. In the final, they defeated Liverpool F.C. 3-1 and became the first club to claim three consecutive Champions League titles since Bayern Munich in 1976. Ronaldo also became the first player to earn five total Champions League titles in the process.

After an up and down early going in the year, the Storm galvanized to finish atop the WNBA’s Western Conference by six games, with a 26-8 record. Breanna Stewart averaged 21.8 points per game, with Sue Bird and Jewell Loyd joining her as All-Stars. In the playoffs, they survived a hard-fought series with the Phoenix Mercury, where each team defended its home court in each game, before sweeping the Washington Mystics in the WNBA Finals. Bird contributed 10 assists in clinching the game, while Stewart posted 30 points en route to Finals MVP honors.

Maybe no team has had a more unpredictable year than the Raptors. After finishing with the Eastern Conference’s best record in 2018, they were unceremoniously dispatched by the Cleveland Cavaliers in the second round of the NBA playoffs. Following this, they jettisoned both Coach of the Year winner Dwane Casey and franchise star DeMar DeRozan in a stunning overhaul as a part of a move to acquire disenfranchised San Antonio Spurs star Kawhi Leonard. Throughout it all, the Raptors have emerged in even better shape this fall, owning the NBA’s best record two months into the 2018-19 season.

The second season of the BIG3 league continued to build on its unique brand of 3-on-3 basketball intensity and NBA nostalgia. With league MVP Corey Maggette, Quentin Richardson, "Big Baby" Glen Davis, Cuttino Mobley and Chris Anderson leading the way, Power posted a 7-1 record throughout the regular season before defeating Baron Davis’ Three’s Company team 51-43 in the Finals. Entering its third season, BIG3 continues to grow, having signed a streaming deal with Facebook to broadcast its games.

It has been Dec. 17 of 2016 since the Golden Knights last lost a football game, a span of 24 consecutive games. It is the nation’s longest current undefeated streak, a run that pushed the Knights to crown themselves as legitimate national champions after being excluded from the College Football Playoffs despite their undefeated record at year’s end. The success carried over into this fall, as UCF has again gone undefeated entering bowl season — but once more find themselves on the outside looking in at the official CFB playoffs.

In their first season of existence, the Golden Knights not only proved hockey was a fit for Las Vegas, but they also became the first expansion team in North American pro sports history to begin play after the first decade of their league and finish with a record above .500. And they did much more than that, as their 109-point effort became far and away the most successful overall debut season in pro sports history. Although they ultimately fell in five games to the Washington Capitals in the Cup Finals, they more than proved they belong, going 12-3 en route to winning the Clarence Bowl as Western Conference champions.

After going 36-4 and winning their third Big East title in the last four years, the Villanova Wildcats embarked on one of the most dominant title runs history, winning each NCAA Tournament game by double digits. The Wildcats dominated the Michigan Wolverines in the National Championship Game, winning by a final score of 79-62. Although the Villanova roster featured National Player of the Year Jalen Brunson and a pair of first-round picks in Mikal Bridges and Omari Spellman, it was reserve forward Donte DiVincenzo who erupted for 31 points to seal the second national title in three years for the Wildcats.

The USWNT reaffirmed its place atop the world in women’s soccer, going 18-0-2 on the year. The prep season for the team's World Cup defense run in 2019 included victories in the SheBelieves Cup, Tournament of Nations and the CONCACAF Championships. The season included 12 shutouts, nine of which came consecutively. And over the course of those shutouts, the United States outscored its competition 38-0. Of those victories, eight came against top-15 teams in the world.

After years of chasing the Stanley Cup only to be thwarted by the Pittsburgh Penguins, the Caps finally not only overcame their top playoff nemesis, but they also finally raised the Cup. The road wasn’t always a smooth one, as the Capitals twice had to come back from series deficits, but by the time they broke through to the Finals, there was no denying Alex Ovechkin and Co. They disposed of the Vegas Golden Knights in five games and brought the first Stanley Cup in history to the franchise and first title to the Washington D.C. area since 1991.