Only one team gets to win the championship every year. The majority of seasons end without titles … unless you’re UConn women’s basketball. Yet as we witnessed with the 2022 Orioles, that doesn’t mean the non-championship seasons aren’t memorable.
For this exercise, I only considered seasons from the last 40 years (or essentially my lifetime) because it would be too difficult to consider every season in local sports history. As far as local college teams go, I only considered the ones that didn’t win a conference or national championship. And I purposely left off some teams that had great seasons but when we think of them, we maybe consider the seasons as disappointing (like the 1997 and 2014 Orioles or the 2006 Ravens).
With that said, here are The 15 “Most Memorable Non-Championship Seasons.”
1. 1985-86 Maryland Men’s Basketball
I wanted to put a Len Bias season on the list because the Bias years were just so magical. Since the 1984 team is disqualified because it won the ACC tournament, the ’86 team makes the most sense because we associate it with Bias’ brilliance in Maryland’s stunning win at No. 1 North Carolina, the first loss the Tar Heels ever suffered at the Dean Smith Center.
2. 1989 Orioles
It’s really happening!” The “Why Not?” Birds are one of the most beloved teams in franchise history despite falling short of the Blue Jays on the final weekend of the season. Frank Robinson was AL Manager of the Year, Gregg Olson was AL Rookie of the Year and young Glenn Clark dreamed of eating Froot Loops with Mickey Tettleton.
3. 1993-94 Maryland Men’s Basketball
A year earlier, the Terrapins were a staggering 2-14 in ACC play. But the arrival of two game-changing freshmen changed everything for Gary Williams’ program. Future No. 1 overall NBA Draft pick Joe Smith and Dunbar legend Keith Booth helped the Terps to a stunning overtime win against Georgetown to open the season, and then they took out Marcus Camby and UMass in the NCAA Tournament to clinch the program’s first Sweet 16 appearance in nearly a decade.
4. 1996 Orioles
It was overshadowed by Cal Ripken Jr. breaking Lou Gehrig’s record for consecutive games played, but the 1995 season was quite disappointing after a successful strike-shortened 1994 campaign. So the Orioles decided to load up. They hired Pat Gillick as general manager, Davey Johnson as manager and added Roberto Alomar, B.J. Surhoff and Randy Myers. It resulted in their first winning season and playoff series win in 13 years. I would prefer we didn’t discuss what happened in the ALCS, however.
5. 2000-01 Maryland Men’s Basketball
When the Terps lost at home to Florida State on Valentine’s Day, it looked more likely that Gary Williams would end up on the hot seat than lead Maryland to its first Final Four appearance in school history. But the Terps would go 10-2 the rest of the way and make school history, paving the way for a national title the following year.
6. 2002 Maryland Football
With the 2001 team eliminated from consideration due to the ACC championship, I was reminded of how bleak things looked at the start of ’02. The Terps looked like they might be one-year wonders when they started the season 1-2, getting shut out by Notre Dame and blown out at home by Florida State. Instead, they won 10 of their next 11, culminating with a blowout win against Tennessee in the Peach Bowl.
7. 2003 Ravens
You know how much fun it was to watch Jamal Lewis in 2003? Most of us probably don’t remember which quarterbacks even played for the Ravens that season. (It was Kyle Boller and Anthony Wright, for the record.) Lewis made history with a 295-yard rushing effort in Week 2 against the Browns, then went into the final game of the season with a legitimate chance to break Eric Dickerson’s single-season rushing record. He finished with 2,066 yards, now third in league history.
8. 2004 Navy Football
While it was the 2003 team that snapped a streak of five straight losing seasons, the tide fully turned for Paul Johnson’s Midshipmen in ’04. They took out three major conference teams in Duke, Vanderbilt and Rutgers and beat New Mexico in the Emerald Bowl for their first bowl win in eight years.
9. 2008 Ravens
This will forever be my favorite season in Ravens history. After a disastrous 2007, the Ravens turned to a SPECIAL TEAMS COACH (John Harbaugh) to replace Brian Billick and brought in a rookie quarterback from Delaware, of all places, in the first round. Joe Flacco wasn’t actually supposed to play, but Kyle Boller got hurt and Troy Smith ended up with tonsillitis. The Ravens made a stunning run to the AFC championship game, picking up one of the greatest wins in franchise history on the way when they defeated the Cowboys in the final game ever played at Texas Stadium.
10. 2012 Orioles
After 14 straight losing seasons, this one was even more unexpected than ’89. The Orioles finished with a run differential of just plus-7 and yet fell just a game short (or maybe a more distinguishable foul pole clang) short of the ALCS.
11. 2013 Towson Football
Rob Ambrose was building something during his first four seasons at his alma mater, including back-to-back winning years in 2011 and 2012. But there was no way to see this coming. Led by future Raven Terrance West (Northwestern), the Tigers began the season with a win at FBS UConn, took out future Super Bowl quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo and Eastern Illinois in the FCS playoffs and eventually reached the national championship game.
12. 2015 Navy Football
I’m not sure we all fully understand how ridiculous it is that in 2015, a quarterback at Navy finished FIFTH in Heisman Trophy voting, receiving 20 first-place votes! Keenan Reynolds actually finished ahead of the likes of Leonard Fournette, Dalvin Cook and Ezekiel Elliott in the voting, as he ran for 1,400 yards and threw for 1,200 more. The Mids came just one win short of the AAC championship game and a potential New Year’s Six bowl game.
13. 2019 Ravens
While the 2018 team could have made the list as well, it was ’19 that gave us a 12-game winning streak, Lamar Jackson’s unanimous MVP campaign and the legend of, “Hell yeah, Coach, let’s go for it.” The Ravens took the league by storm in 2019, and while the season ultimately came to a dramatic halt, the ride was even more joyous than it was unexpected.
14. 2021 Loyola Men’s Lacrosse
Admittedly, I’m biased as the Greyhounds’ play-by-play voice. But a dramatic late-season four-game win streak snuck them into the NCAA Tournament, and then their even more dramatic win at Denver (complete with Sam Shaffer delivering a spectacular last-second save for his 16th of the day) captured the attention of not only the lacrosse world but even casual fans.
15. 2022 Orioles
Never before had a team gone from 110 losses to a .500 (more specifically, OVER .500) season a year later. While it’s disappointing that the Birds came up short of the playoffs, it was a magical run. Local baseball fans hope it will prove to be the season that sets up the Orioles’ next great stretch of championship baseball.
Photo Credit: Colin Murphy/PressBox
Issue 277: October/November 2022
Originally published Oct. 19, 2022