This decade has been full of champions and cinderella stories. Who can remember Butler and VCU in the final four in 2010 and 2011. Who can remember the Warriors 73-9 season in 2015-2016. We are about to dive into the world of NBA, NFL, NHL, MLB, NCAAF, NCAAB, NCAAW, NCAA baseball/softball champions from this decade. Let's crank the time machine and go all the way back to ten years ago and then come back to the present day.
NFL: New Orleans Saints (Super Bowl XLIV 2009), Green Bay Packers (SB XLV 2010), New York Giants (SB XLVI 2011), Baltimore Ravens (SB XLVII 2012), Seattle Seahawks (SB XLVIII 2013), New England Patriots (Super Bowls XLIX, LI, LIII, 2014, 2016, 2018), Denver Broncos (SB 50 2015), Philadelphia Eagles (SB LII 2017)
The NFL is known for the saying "Any Given Sunday" it was also a hit movie. This decade there was an even split of five NFC and five AFC champions. Anyone over the age of 15 knows that one team in here is a constant....the New England Patriots. This franchise has won three of the last five championships of this decade. Although they came on late this decade in winning Super Bowls this is not a question for the NFL team of the decade.
NFL Team of the decade: New England Patriots
NBA: Los Angeles Lakers (2010), Dallas Mavericks (2011), Miami Heat (2012 and 2013), San Antonio Spurs (2014), Golden State Warriors (2015, 2017, and 2018), Cleveland Cavaliers (2016), Toronto Raptors (2019)
The NBA has an impressive streak that has been alive since 1999 and it was snapped this past season. The NBA had Kobe Bryant, Tim Duncan, Dwayne Wade, or LeBron James in each finals series since 1999. That was snapped when Golden State played Toronto this past season. Two dynasties began this decade...LeBron James went to the finals every year from 2011-2018, eight straight finals appearances. The Golden State Warriors won three championships in five years. The Cleveland championship led by LeBron is the highlight of the decade.
NBA Team of the decade: 2015-16 Cleveland Cavaliers
MLB: San Francisco Giants (2010, 2012, 2014), St Louis Cardinals (2011), Boston Red Sox (2013 and 2018), Kansas City Royals (2015), Chicago Cubs (2016), Houston Astros (2017), Washington Nationals (2019)
There was a movie in the 1980s that predicted one champion in this list. That movie was Back To The Future. They predicted a year too early. The team was the Chicago Cubs. They snapped a 108 year World Series drought in 2016 when they won the World Series. Despite the Red Sox, Giants, Astros championships from this decade, this one is easy.
MLB Team of the decade: 2016 Chicago Cubs
NHL: Chicago Blackhawks (2010, 2013, 2015), Boston Bruins (2011), Los Angeles Kings (2012 and 2014), Pittsburgh Penguins (2016 and 2017), Washington Capitals (2018), St Louis Blues (2019)
Dynasties and superstars all over this decade. Patrick Kane, Sidney Crosby, and Alex Ovechkin all grabbed rings this decade. This one is tougher, but it is pretty clear.
NHL Team of the decade: Chicago Blackhawks
NCAAF: Alabama (2009, 2011, 2012, 2015, 2017), Auburn (2010), Florida State (2013), Ohio State (2014), Clemson (2016 and 2018)
SEC! SEC! has defined this decade. The SEC had won every championship since 2006 until 2013. They had been in every championship game from 2006-2014. The team of the decade for college football is not hard because they reside in the state of Alabama.
NCAAF Team of the decade: Alabama Crimson Tide
NCAAM Basketball: Duke (2010 and 2015), UCONN (2011 and 2014), Kentucky (2012), Louisville (2013), Villanova (2016 and 2018), North Carolina (2017), Virginia (2019)
The ACC ran the basketball world for the men this decade. Basketball is a little different because for some teams getting to the final four is like winning the championship. There are three things certain in life...taxes, death, and Duke basketball being at the top.
NCAAM team of the decade: Duke Blue Devils
NCAAW Basketball: UCONN (2010, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016), Texas A&M (2011), Baylor (2012 and 2019), South Carolina (2017), Notre Dame (2018)
UCONN holds the record for most consecutive wins men or women. The streak was snapped at the final four in 2017. This is too easy.
NCAAW team of the decade: UCONN Huskies
Women's College World Series (WCWS): UCLA (2010 and 2019), Arizona State (2011), Alabama (2012), Oklahoma (2013, 2016, 2017), Florida (2014 and 2015), Florida State (2018)
The college softball world is also ran by the SEC and the PAC-12 runs the west coast. The team of the decade for college softball does not reside in either conference.
NCAA Softball (WCWS) team of the decade: Oklahoma Sooners
College World Series (CWS): South Carolina (2010 and 2011), Arizona (2012), UCLA (2013), Vanderbilt (2014 and 2019), Virginia (2015), Coastal Carolina (2016), Florida (2017), Oregon State (2018)
The SEC also runs this sport as well. If they are not winning it, they are at least in the final series. This may be the toughest of any to pick, but college baseball has so much parity that I am declaring "teams" for this sports:
NCAA Baseball (CWS) teams of the decade: Florida Gators and Vanderbilt Commodores.
Who is the team of the decade across all of these sports? Let's rank them and find out.
10th place: UCONN Huskies women's basketball
9th place: Oklahoma Sooners softball
8th place: Chicago Blackhawks (NHL)
7th place: Florida Gators baseball
6th place: Vanderbilt Commodores baseball
5th place: Duke men's basketball
4th place: 2015-16 Cleveland Cavaliers
The top three in alphabetical order: Alabama football, 2016 Chicago Cubs, New England Patriots.
3rd place: 2016 Chicago Cubs
One championship that snapped a 108 year drought. Enough to be third, but not the top
2nd place: New England Patriots
This was crazy to think about, but based on win percentage they were second to the number one team across the decade.
Ultimate Champion of the 2010s: Alabama Crimson Tide
They have a higher win percentage than New England for the decade. Let's look at the decade defined by a tidal wive in crimson.
Five conference championships
Five national championships
Five straight CFP appearances
Seven National Championship Game appearances
This decade has been full of champions, heartbreaking moments, shocking moments, and moments that make us feel warm-hearted. We close out this decade and move into a new one in just a few days. Walt Disney once said "Times and conditions change so rapidly that we must keep our aim constantly focused on the future." and Coach Jim Valvano once said "Don't give up, don't ever give up."
We hope you have a had great year and decade. We hope you have a Happy New Year!
Have a magical day and we will SEE YA! real soon.
