Cincinnati's most dominant regular season teams last 50 years
I will admit to sending out the above tweet without much background research. It was more of an instant gut reaction as FC Cincinnati concluded the regular season Saturday night.
2018 FC Cincinnati
Record: 23-3-8, 77 points. Coach Alan Koch. Number one overall seed in USL playoffs. Just three losses in 34 matches....just one road loss. One. Set USL record for most consecutive games without a loss (23). Have gone 144 days without a loss. Became the first team in USL history to claim four 10+ goal scorers in a single season. Emmanuel Ledesma (16), Nazmi Albadawi (11), Danni König (11) and Corben Bone (11). Ledesma set the USL record for single-season assists (16).
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So, I started thinking about what I tweeted.
Which Cincinnati teams have produced the most dominant regular seasons dating back to 1968?
Forget what they did in the postseason, focus on the regular season.
Here are teams that make my list:
1975 Cincinnati Reds
Regular season record: 108-54 (.667). Manager: Sparky Anderson. Won NL West by 20 games of 2nd place Dodgers. Held first place in NL West for a total of 124 days on the calendar. Outscored opponents by 254 runs. Finished 64-17 at Riverfront Stadium. Went 61-29 in the first half of the season. Went 35-5 in games decided by five runs or more. Five All-Stars: Johnny Bench, Dave Concepcion, Joe Morgan, Tony Perez, Pete Rose. NL MVP: Morgan.
Roster HERE
Final outcome: Won World Series over Boston, 4-3
1976 Cincinnati Reds
Regular season record: 102-60. Manager: Sparky Anderson. Won NL West by 10 games over 2nd place Dodgers. Held first place in NL West for a total of 155 days. Outscored opponents by 224 runs. Seven All-Stars: Johnny Bench, Dave Concepcion, George Foster, Ken Griffey, Tony Perez, Joe Morgan, Pete Rose. NL MVP: Morgan. Seven pitchers won at least 10 games. Led NL in R, H, 2B, 3B, HR, SB, BB, BA, OBP, SLG, OPS, TB.
Roster HERE
Final outcome: Won World Series over New York, 4-0. Finished 7-0 in postseason (3-0 Philadelphia).
1970 Cincinnati Reds
Regular season record: 102-60. Manager: Sparky Anderson. Won NL West by 14.5 games over 2nd place Dodgers. Held first place in NL West for a total of 178 days. Riverfront Stadium record: 62-26. Won 70 of first 100 games of season. Two players with 40+ homers: Johnny Bench (45), Tony Perez (40). Led NL in HR, BA, SLG, OPS, TB. Jim Merritt won 20 games. Five All-Stars: Bench, Merritt, Perez, Pete Rose, Wayne Simpson.
Roster HERE
Final outcome: Lost World Series to Baltimore, 4-1.
1988 Cincinnati Bengals
Regular season: 12-4. Coach: Sam Wyche. Won AFC North. Offense scored 448 points, most in franchise history. Point differential: +119 (T-4th franchise history). Scored 40+ three times and 30+ six times. No. 1 in NFL in points, yards, first downs, rushing yards, rushing touchdowns, rushing yards per attempt. NFL MVP: Boomer Esiason.
Roster HERE
Final outcome: Lost in Super Bowl to Steelers.
2015 Cincinnati Bengals
Regular season: 12-4. Coach: Marvin Lewis. Won AFC North. Started the season 8-0. Scoring margin 8.8 points. 419 points scored 6th most franchise history. Point differential of +140 is largest in franchise history. Scored at least 31 points seven times. Defense ranked 2nd (17.4).
Roster HERE
Final outcome: Lost Wild Card game to Steelers, 17-14.
1999-2000 Cincinnati Bearcats basketball
Regular season record: 28-2. RPI: 1. Coach Bob Huggins. Won Conference USA regular season title (16-0). Ranked No. 1 for 12 weeks. Margin of victory 16.1 points per game. Allowed 61.5 points per game (No. 16 NCAA). CUSA Player of Year/National Player of Year: Kenyon Martin, 18.9 points, 9.7 rebounds, 3.5 blocks. CUSA Coach of Year: Huggins.
Roster HERE
Final outcome: Lost in second round of NCAA tournament, 69-61 to Tulsa.
2009 Cincinnati Bearcats football
Regular season: 12-0. Coach Brian Kelly. Won Big East regular season title. Ranked No. 3 BCS. Averaged 38.6 points per game (4th NCAA). Margin of victory: 15.3. Outscored opponents 502-300. Tony Pike 29 touchdown passes, Mardy Gilyard 87 catches, 1,191 yards, 11 touchdowns, Isaiah Pead 806 yards rushing, 9 TD. Big East Coach of Year: Brian Kelly.
Roster HERE
Final outcome: Lost in Orange Bow, 51-24 to Florida.
2007-2008 Cincinnati Cyclones
Regular season: 55-12-5. Coach: Chuck Weber. The team finished the regular season with 115 points, earning the Brabham Cup as ECHL regular season champs. Set ECHL record for a single-season winning streak of 15 consecutive games. Weber was named ECHL coach of the year. David Desharnais won Most Valuable Player, Rookie of the Year, was the ECHL's leading scorer with 29 goals and 77 assists for 106 points. Desharnais set the ECHL record with an assist in 18 consecutive games. Chad Starling won the award for the highest plus/minus rating.
Roster HERE
Final outcome: Won Kelly Cup championship, beat Las Vegas Wranglers, 4-2. Won cities first championship since 1990 Reds and seventh hockey championship.
1976 Moeller Crusaders football
Regular season: 10-0. Coach: Gerry Faust. Outscored 490-40. Part of Buddy LaRosa High School Hall of Fame class. Three LaRosa’s Hall of Famers were part of that team -- Faust, QB Tim Koegel and LB Bob Crable. The offense also featured all-state end Dave Condeni and running backs Bob Massong and Steve Givens.
Final outcome: The first of Moeller's five national championship teams between 1976 and 1982 and the first for Faust. “This is the best team we’ve ever had,” Faust said after the state title game.
2003 St. Ursula high school volleyball team
Record: 29-0. Coach: Julie Perry (LaRosa’s Hall of Fame). Ranked No. 1 in the nation the entire year. This team featured LaRosa’s Hall of Famer in Bryn Kehoe, who was one of four seniors who played collegiately. Kehoe (Stanford), Beth Shelton (Virginia), Beth Gillming (Maryland) and Erin Schroeder (Dayton).
Final outcome: State champions.
2018 Deer Park basketball
Record: 27-0. Coach: Steve Gentry. Averaged 83.7 points per game. Led by senior guard Damani McEntire (19.5), senior forward Jalen Rose (13.8), sophomore guard Mark Wise (16.8), junior forward Ibrahima Athie (8.9) and sophomore point guard Steven Gentry Jr. (8.5).
Final outcome: State champions, 67 to 57 victory over Columbus Africentric High School to capture OHSAA District III State Championship.
First ever unbeaten state champion from Hamilton County.