Arizona's 10 Greatest Teams
Honorable Mention to the Wildcats of the University of Arizona. Their football team has won Conference Championships in the Border Intercollegiate Athletic Association in 1935, 1936 and 1941; in the Western Athletic Conference in 1964 and 1973; and in the Pacific-12 Conference (then the Pac-10) in 1993. They've also won the Pac-12 South Division in 2014. They've won 9 bowl games, including the 1993 Fiesta Bowl. Their most recent bowl win was the 2015 New Mexico Bowl.
Their baseball team has won the College World Series in 1976, 1980, 1986 and 2012. But they are best known for their basketball team, which has won 27 regular-season Conference Championships (including the last 2, and 4 of the last 5, in the Pac-12), won 7 Conference Tournaments (including the last 2, and 3 of the last 4, in the Pac-12), reached 4 Final Fours (1988, 1994, 1997 and 2001), and winning the 1997 National Championship.
Honorable Mention to the Sun Devils of Arizona State University. Their football team, then in the WAC, claimed the 1970 and 1975 National Championships, without many people agreeing. But they've won 17 Conference Championships, including 3 since they and Arizona turned the Pac-8 into the Pac-10 in 1978 (most recently, winning the league now known as the Pac-12 in 2007).
They've won 14 bowl games, including, on their home field, the Fiesta Bowl in 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, and 1983, the 1st time it was held on New Year's Day. They've also won the 1987 Rose Bowl. Their most recent bowl win was the 2014 Sun Bowl.
Their basketball team hasn't been nearly as successful as their football team, or as UA's basketball team. They've won 4 Conference Championships in the regular season, none since the 1975 WAC title, and never won a Conference Tournament, in either the BIAA, the WAC or the Pac-10/12. Their best NCAA Tournament runs were to the Elite Eight in 1961, 1963 and 1975, never to the Final Four.
Their best sport is baseball, their legends including 1969 Met Gary Gentry, Sal Bando, Rick Monday, Bob Horner, Alvin Davis, Oddibe McDowell, Ken Phelps, Barry Bonds, Ian Kinsler, Dustin Pedroia, Ike Davis (Ron's son, but no relation to Alvin), and 1 Hall-of-Famer, Reggie Jackson. They've made 22 College World Series, most recently in 2010. They've won it in 1965, 1967, 1969, 1977 and 1981, and made the Final 5 other times, most recently in 1998.
Honorable Mention to the 1996-2002 Phoenix Coyotes. Note that they didn't change their name to the Arizona Coyotes until 2014. They had made the Playoffs in their last season as the original Winnipeg Jets, and made it in 5 of their 1st 6 seasons in Arizona. But they never won a Playoff series.
Honorable Mention to the 1998 Arizona Cardinals. By beating the Dallas Cowboys at Texas Stadium, they not only played the franchise's 1st postseason game in 50 years, but won one for the 1st time since the 1947 NFL Championship Game -- and on the road, against their greatest rivals, no less. But they didn't follow it up the next season.
10. 2011 Arizona Diamondbacks. They won the National League Western Division by winning 94 games. But they lost the NL Division Series to the Milwaukee Brewers -- a franchise that had previously won only 1 postseason series in its entire history -- and they didn't follow it up the next season.
9. 2017 Arizona Diamondbacks. They won 93 games to reach the NL Wild Card game, and won it against their (more or less) biggest rivals, the Colorado Rockies, before losing the NLDS to the Los Angeles Dodgers. If the D'backs can make the Playoffs again this season, this entry will rise on this list.
8. 2007 Arizona Diamondbacks. The won 90 games to take the NL West, and beat the Chicago Cubs in the NLDS, before getting swept by the Rockies in the NL Championship Series.
7. 2014-16 Arizona Cardinals. They went 11-5 in 2014, the team's best record since going 11-3 in St. Louis in 1975. But it was only good enough for a Wild Card, and they lost to the Carolina Panthers in the Playoffs.
They followed that with an NFC West title, and, as in 2009, beat the Green Bay Packers in overtime, and reached the NFC Championship Game. But they lost to the Panthers again, and didn't make the Playoffs in 2016 or '17.
6. 2009-12 Phoenix Coyotes. They made 3 straight Playoffs, and in 2012 had the franchise's 1st postseason series victory since the 1987 Winnipeg Jets. They reached the NHL Western Conference Finals, their 1st time as one of pro hockey's last 4 remaining teams since the Jets won the last WHA title, the 1979 Avco Cup.
They beat the Chicago Blackhawks and the Nashville Predators, before falling in the Conference Finals to the Los Angeles Kings. The team hasn't made the Playoffs in the 6 seasons since.
5. 2004-10 Phoenix Suns. This was the Steve Nash Show. They made the Playoffs in 5 out of 6 seasons, and reached the NBA Western Conference Finals 3 times. But they couldn't get past that hurdle, losing to a different team each time: The San Antonio Spurs in 2005, the Dallas Mavericks in 2006, and the Los Angeles Lakers in 2010.
4. 1975-85 Phoenix Suns. After making the Playoffs only once in their 1st 7 seasons, they scraped into the 1976 postseason at 42-40, then beat both the rising Seattle SuperSonics and the defending NBA Champion Golden State Warriors. They split the 1st 4 games of the NBA Finals against the Boston Celtics, and hung with them for 3 overtimes before losing Game 5 in Boston, and then Game 6 in Phoenix.
They missed the Playoffs the next season, but made the next 8, reaching the Western Conference Finals again in 1979 and 1984.
3. 2008-10 Arizona Cardinals. They only went 9-7, but it was enough to get them the NFC West title. They won a back-and-forth Playoff game against the Atlanta Falcons, then went to Charlotte and stunned the Carolina Panthers. In Glendale, they beat the Philadelphia Eagles to win their 1st NFC Championship, to qualify for Super Bowl XLIII, the franchise's 1st NFL Championship Game under any name since the 1948 season.
But their trip to Tampa would not be successful, as the Pittsburgh Steelers defeated them. To this day, Cardinal fans protest that Santonio Holmes' game-winning touchdown catch with 35 seconds left should not have counted. (The play was reviewed. Stop whining: It was a legitimate in-bounds catch.)
They made it back-to-back NFC West titles in 2009, and won a wild game with the Green Bay Packers in overtime, before losing to the New Orleans Saints. Then they fell apart the next season.
2. 1988-1995 Phoenix Suns. They made back-to-back Conference Finals in 1989 and '90, made the Playoffs the next 2 seasons, then got Charles Barkley, who took them to the 1993 Western Conference title. Had they run into any Eastern Conference Champion other than Michael Jordan's Chicago Bulls, they might well have taken them, going to 6 games, including actually winning a triple overtime Game 4 this time around.
They won a Playoff series in each of the next 2 seasons, but couldn't get past the Houston Rockets. After that, it was the Utah Jazz's Conference to lose, and then the San Antonio Spurs' or the Los Angeles Lakers'. But this may have been the most talented team in the history of Phoenix sports.
1. 1999-2002 Arizona Diamondbacks. Over 4 seasons -- only the 2nd, 3rd, 4th and 5th in franchise history -- they won 3 National League Western Division titles, the 2001 NL Pennant, and Arizona's 1st World Championship. It is still the only one. That makes them Number 1.
But Matt Williams was outed as a steroid user. Luis Gonzalez almost certainly was one. And we can never be sure about Curt Schilling, can we? How much of what they achieved was honest? How can we be sure?