March 15, 2022
It's impossible to compare teams across eras.
The rules change. The quality of the athletes change due to technology, science, training techniques and so on.
The styles change. The 3-point line has only been around since 1979. The spread offense didn't exist a few decades ago.
But who cares. Let's do it anyway.
In the spirit of March Madness, we compiled a 40-team bracket. Managing sports editor Evan Macy, deputy sports editor Shamus Clancy and staff writer Nick Tricome ranked the 40 teams you see in the bracket below and we took the average of the three seedings to create the seedings we will use for this exercise.
coming this week on @thephillyvoice: pic.twitter.com/unti3yYnG7
— shamus (@shamus_clancy) March 15, 2022
How should you vote? Is it for your favorite of the two teams matched up? Which you think is better? Which you think would win a head to head match (if it were possible)? That's entirely up to you.
Today, we'll break down the matchups for our play-in round. These 16 teams will need to get through an extra round of voting before they reach our Round of 32. Below we'll give you some facts on each team, and some thoughts on what we think of them. And then it's up to you to help us crown the best team in Philadelphia sports history.
Without further ado:
Evan says: I went to Temple so I am totally biased. And I am fully disappointed my beloved 2008 team with Dionte Christmas isn't on the ballot. But I will stump for the Owls, who had two top 10 picks, was the top ranked team in the country and was the crown jewel of Chaney's illustrious career. As much as I love the '07 Phillies, the origin team of the eventual (kind of ) dynasty, the Owls deserve some love here.
VS.
Shamus says: This Phillies team was the biggest offensive juggernaut during the franchise's Golden Age (2007-2011). They lead the National League in runs scored, walks, on-base percentage and slugging percentage. They had five dudes hit at least 22 homers. Rollins was the first NL player in 50 years to have at least 20 doubles, triples, home runs and steals in a season during his MVP campaign. Even more amazing, Utley may have won the award himself if not for a late season injury. The Phillies had last made the playoffs in 1993. I was born in 1994. The was the first Phillies playoff squad of my lifetime and watching them slug the crap out of the ball is one of my fondest teenage memories.
Time to vote:
Which team was the best ever to play for Philadelphia?
— PhillyVoice (@thephillyvoice) March 15, 2022
Read our team's breakdown of the play-in round and see the whole Best Team Ever bracket here: https://t.co/A4FrQKxaes
Nick says: This was the peak of Flyers hockey in the 90s and the Legion of Doom's best, last and only shot. They stormed right through the Eastern Conference, racking up 103 points during the regular season, then rolling right through to the Stanley Cup Final finishing each series in five games.
Then they ran into a buzzsaw in Detroit... four-game sweep... it wasn't close.
VS.
Shamus says: Perhaps the biggest "what if" team in Philly sports history, the '91 Eagles did not make the postseason, but turned in what might be the greatest defensive performance in league history. Randall Cunningham suffered a season-ending injury in Week 1, rendering the Birds' offense essentially nonexistent. Still, the strength of that D carried them a winning mark. They surrendered the fewest rushing and passing yards of any defense in the NFL. Football Outsiders ranks them as the greatest defense since at least 1983 in their statistical system. Whether you're an old-school Philly person who remembers watching the Gang Green defense destroy opposing quarterbacks or you're a new-age fan looking at the data, this defense was ridiculous.
If only with Randall...
Time to vote:
Which team was the best ever to play for Philadelphia?
— PhillyVoice (@thephillyvoice) March 15, 2022
Read our team's breakdown of the play-in round and see the whole Best Team Ever bracket here: https://t.co/A4FrQKxaes
Evan says: This is a classic team in Philly lore and while they did not win Super Bowl XV, they are one of three teams to have ever played in the big game from this football-crazy city. They were awful in the big game against the Raiders, but in the week before they demolished the Cowboys in one of the most memorable wins in franchise history. Based on talent alone this team might not make a deep run, but its reputation should get it to the round of 32.
VS.
Nick says: The Union have always existed in this weird space since the club's inception 14 years ago. They were a professional soccer team. People understood that, but they were never one of THE teams around town. They're not even in town, in fact. They play over in Chester. The Union had such a massive uphill battle to gain relevance. It took forever, but in 2020 (even through a pandemic), they had something to show for it. They had a goalkeeper who was stopping everything, and the Supporters' Shield for the best regular season record. They may have bowed out of the playoffs early, but it was clear, this Union team was good.
Time to vote:
Which team was the best ever to play for Philadelphia?
— PhillyVoice (@thephillyvoice) March 15, 2022
Read our team's breakdown of the play-in round and see the whole Best Team Ever bracket here: https://t.co/A4FrQKxaes
Evan says: The Phillies pre 1970s were really a terrible franchise with almost no success whatsoever. This trip to the World Series saw two of the best players in the history of the team, Hall-of-Famers Ashburn and Roberts playing in their prime. They were overmatched by a Yankees squad that had Yogi Berra, Joe DiMaggio, and Whitey Ford. The Phils wouldn't have another title try for 30 years after this.
VS.
Shamus says: Controversy! This Explorers team was the No. 2 team in the nation, but banned from postseason play because of “fostering illegal campus jobs and treating to dispossess scholarship players of their scholarships.” That’s actually legal now according to the NCAA. For the umpteenth time in the city’s history, Philly was robbed.
Time to vote:
Which team was the best ever to play for Philadelphia?
— PhillyVoice (@thephillyvoice) March 15, 2022
Read our team's breakdown of the play-in round and see the whole Best Team Ever bracket here: https://t.co/A4FrQKxaes
Nick says: As far as a Villanova team had gone since winning the whole thing in 1985. A No. 3 seed out the East, they played a furious second half against American to put upset aspirations to bed, cruised past No. 6 ULCA, destroyed No. 2 Duke in the Sweet 16, then battled No. 1 Pitt to the very last second, with Scottie Reynolds making the game-winning layup through contact. North Carolina sent the Wildcats home in the Final Four, but there was no reason to hang their heads after that kind of run.
VS.
Evan says: One more Temple squad in here and it's cool that they will face Big 5 rival Nova on our bracket. This team was good and made a surprise run in the tournament. They were the No. 11 seed and knocked off No. 6 Texas, No. 3 Florida, and No. 7 Penn State before Michigan State's Jason Richardson and Zach Randolph beat them in the Elite 8. They probably won't knock off a national champ in the Wildcats here but they deserve to be among the 40 teams we are considering.
Time to vote:
Which team was the best ever to play for Philadelphia?
— PhillyVoice (@thephillyvoice) March 15, 2022
Read our team's breakdown of the play-in round and see the whole Best Team Ever bracket here: https://t.co/A4FrQKxaes
Nick says: Maybe the last truly great Flyers team, and one that just would not die. Their playoff hopes came down to a shootout on the last day of the season, one save even. Brian Boucher made it. Surely the two-seeded Devils would be as far as they go, right? They're just lucky to be there. The Flyers won in five games. Down 3-0 to Boston, this is where they bow out, right? Just don't get swept. And then they won to stay alive... and then they did it again and again, and for good measure, climbed back from a 3-0 hole in Game 7 to complete the 3-0 series comeback (the third time that's ever happened in NHL history by that point). By the time this team got to the conference finals, you just knew Montreal, wasn't a problem. This team was playing for the Stanley Cup. They gave Chicago a fight too, but the magic ran out just too soon. Still, what a run.
VS.
Shamus says: If we're giving every Big 5 school a shot in the tourney, I had to roll with my Quakers from 1979. They had a 13-1 conference record in the Ivies. A No. 9 seed in the tourney, they knocked off blue-blood No. 1 North Carolina with a huge performance from guard Tony Price, who averaged a cool 20-9-3 all season. They advanced to the Final Four, where Michigan State and a dude named "Earvin Johnson" were waiting. The Spartans crushed them and won by 34, but these Quakers were the finest Penn squad to ever grace the illustrious Palestra.
Time to vote:
Which team was the best ever to play for Philadelphia?
— PhillyVoice (@thephillyvoice) March 15, 2022
Read our team's breakdown of the play-in round and see the whole Best Team Ever bracket here: https://t.co/A4FrQKxaes
Evan says: This Sixers squad was the top team in what was likely a weak Atlantic Division. Dr. J was in his first NBA season after playing as an MVP in the ABA. They would eventually lose in six games to Bill Walton's Blazers but this roster did have a ton of interesting names on it. A 20-year-old Daryl Dawkins came off the bench for 12 minutes per game, Kobe Bryant's father Joe was also a reserve and World B. Free started in 37 games. This team was the precursor to the dominant one in the early 1980s.
VS.
Shamus says: The end of an era: this was the last Birds team to win a playoff game under Andy Reid. The Eagles really outperformed their 9-6-1 record, as they were sixth in points scored and fourth in points given up. Rookie Desean Jackson was as dynamic as any Eagle ever. In typical pre-2017 fashion, the Eagles were even leading in the fourth quarter of that year’s NFC Championship Game before blowing it in Arizona.
Time to vote:
Which team was the best ever to play for Philadelphia?
— PhillyVoice (@thephillyvoice) March 15, 2022
Read our team's breakdown of the play-in round and see the whole Best Team Ever bracket here: https://t.co/A4FrQKxaes
Evan says: I am going to rob my colleague Shamus from writing this blurb because old timey baseball is amazing. The stats, first of all, Coombs winning 31 games (of 45 starts) is wild. So are some of the names of the players who suited up for the A's. Home Run Baker, Topsy Hartsel, Stuffy McInnis, Amos Strunk and Heinie Heitmuller were all apparently real people. They should advance based on those names alone.
VS.
Shamus says: The Gola Boys! Philly hoops legend Tom Gola dropped a 19 and 19 stat line in the title game to bring a championship to Olney Avenue. The ’54 Explorers are they only non-Villanova Big 5 team to win the men’s NCAA Tournament.
Time to vote:
Which team was the best ever to play for Philadelphia?
— PhillyVoice (@thephillyvoice) March 15, 2022
Read our team's breakdown of the play-in round and see the whole Best Team Ever bracket here: https://t.co/A4FrQKxaes
Follow Evan on Twitter: @evan_macy
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