Bears quarterback Caleb Williams stood tall in the backfield, awaiting the snap. His team trailed by four, needing a touchdown to escape with victory.

Williams led his offense down the field, he’d made jaws drop all game and all season. He needed one more of those magician-like moments. 

The 24-year-old flipped the weathered pigskin in his hands, searching for somebody in the endzone. He scrambled. He waved his receivers left and right. He retreated. He fired.

The entire city of Chicago held their breath as they watched watched it sail through the air, kicking up dirt as it fell a yard short of the hands of Jahdae Walker, a near miracle in San Francisco.

42-38.

Bear, down.

THE LEADUP

Before this game even kicked off, the Bears had already jumped over the first couple of hurdles ahead of them. 

With their jaw-dropping win over Green Bay last week and Detroit’s controversial loss to Pittsburgh, Chicago had clinched their spot in the 2025 playoff dance. Even further, Derrick “King” Henry ran all over the Packers on Saturday night, and the NFC North belonged to the Windy City’s beloved Bears for the first time in seven years. 

It was already a fantastic year, surpassing the expectations of even the most optimistic of fans. But the Bears weren’t done yet. They still had a chance at the No. 1 seed and a date out west with San Francisco, an equally strong opponent also vying for first place. 

FIRST HALF

The game started with a bang as Bears linebacker T.J. Edwards intercepted the first pass from 49ers quarterback Brock Purdy taking it all the way to the house on the game’s opening play. 

“You could really feel the sideline come alive,” Bears head coach Ben Johnson said after the game.

It was the perfect start for his team and would certainly be a sign of fantastic defense to come in this game. 

This sign turned out to be a lie as San Francisco scored two touchdowns in quick succession to take a 14-7 lead. So much for the perfect start. 

San Francisco 49ers quarterback Brock Purdy (13) throws a pass against the Chicago Bears during the second quarter of the game on Sunday, December 28, 2025, at Levi’s Stadium in San Francisco, California (Thearon W. Henderson / Getty Images).

Chicago wasn’t going to back down, though. Williams launched a perfect deep ball into the endzone to rookie receiver Luther Burden III for his second touchdown of the season.

All game, a non-stop nail-biting competition.

49ers running back Christian McCaffrey ran one in on the next drive. Williams threw another deep bomb to tight end Colston Loveland for a free-play score. Purdy scored another rushing touchdown. 

The game was a scoring bonanza. The 49ers faithful were buzzing. These offenses were smacking the defenses around like a tetherball as the 49ers had a 28-21 lead…at halftime. 

The over/under before the game was 51.5, in case you were wondering.

SECOND HALF

After halftime, the shootout continued. A two-yard run from Chicago running back D’Andre Swift tied the game at 28, keeping the pressure on San Francisco. 

But Purdy was cool, calm. Cool enough in fact to turn into MC Hammer one drive. Bears defenders couldn’t touch him, he made magic with his feet, and he found fullback Kyle Juszczyk in the endzone for an easy touchdown. 

Purdy danced his way back to the sideline, deservedly so, knowing he just made Chicago’s defense look foolish.

Once again, it was up to Chicago’s offense to carry the load, and they did so in kind. Swift scampered for another touchdown that tied the game at 35. The fireworks were never-ending. 

Chicago Bears running back D’Andre Swift (4) scores a touchdown against the San Francisco 49ers during the fourth quarter of the game on Sunday, December 28, 2025, at Levi’s Stadium in San Francisco, California (Kyle Terada / Imagn-Images). 

But there was a brief pause. 

The fireworks jammed.

The Bears’ defense finally got a stop, giving the ball back to their guys on offense. Though only mustering a field goal, they took their first lead since 15 seconds into the first quarter.

The 49ers took advantage of this shortcoming as Purdy fired a pass to wide-open receiver Jauan Jennings, who ran 38 yards for the go-ahead score with 2:15 to play. 

This situation wasn’t new to Chicago. They’re the Cardiac Bears, specializing in giving their fans heart attacks before pulling out an improbable win.

A few completions and scrambles from Williams got them deep into 49er territory, but they soon faced a 4th and 5 at their 26 with the game in the balance. 

Williams found a wide-open Loveland to pick up the first down, and two plays later, he found Loveland again, who lateraled the ball to Swift and ran for a crucial first down a couple of yards away from the goal line. 

And now here they were again. A chance to win it from the two yard line.

Williams dropped back and immediately felt pressure to his left. He made the defensive end miss and scrambled to his left to find a receiver. Looking, looking, looking. Another 49er defender ran at him, screaming. He had to get rid of it.

He tossed a prayer to the endzone… and it wasn’t answered. It fell just short of receiver Jahdae Walker’s grasp into the Levi’s Stadium grass. 

Game over. 

Bears and 49ers both lay down on the field, exhausted from their duel that just took place. The Bears gave it all they had and came up just short. 

“Gotta be on top of your mess, and we just weren’t,” Coach Johnson remarked after the game.

His players had plenty of chances to win and just didn’t take advantage. 

Williams and Purdy both balled out, with the former throwing for 330 yards and a pair of scores, while the latter had 303 yards for three touchdowns through the air and two more on the ground. A true battle of gunslingers.

Both fan bases likely had the same thoughts after their match. Those being, “Man, this offense is amazing!” and “Man, this defense is terrible!” Regardless of feeling, both teams were locked into the postseason. And if fate allows, they may play each other again in a few short weeks. 

THE FUTURE

Chicago has just one more game on the schedule for this regular season, a home game against its divisional foe, the Detroit Lions, a team already eliminated from playoff contention. 

At this point, many teams rest their starters. But if you don’t know Ben Johnson yet, you never will. He lost to his team earlier this year, 52-21. Ouch. So this is not just a seeding battle, but a revenge tour.

“We’re playing to win this week,” he said.

Of course the team is still dealing with nagging injuries to key players such as receiver Rome Odunze and defensive back Kyler Gordon, so the fanbase may not see every star on the field.

They say that you need luck in the playoffs. Especially when you want to make a deep run. The Bears have picked up some of that luck all season. But they’ve also shown great promise, this game being another example. If the offense keeps firing on all cylinders and the defense can get something together, this team might just have a chance at that miracle run.

The post Just Like the Wild West: 49ers Outlast Bears in 42-38 Shootout appeared first on KRUI Radio.

Dearest Davenport: If you were at this show wearing a long-sleeve shirt and had dark hair pulled in a bun, I have something of yours, contact me.

San Diego metal icons Deafheaven graced the people of Iowa with their divine presence on October 9th, at the Capitol Theater in Davenport. This performance was a part of their massive North America & Europe tour following the release of their 2025 album, Lonely People With Power. They were supported at this show by Chicagoan metal band Harm’s Way and Texan hardcore newcomers I Promised the World. I Promised the World performed like house show, the stage might as well have been a basement and we were all friends together in the small crowd, watching two dudes skipping and hurling themselves down the runway of a pit while the singers above screamed and collided together on stage. Harm’s Way brought a violent overpowering set, industrial tones and performing metal in a way that felt like the burning taste of iron in blood. Both bands put on killer shows opening for Deafheaven, completely full of energy to loosen the crowd and intensify the stage.

Incidental I

“Are you a lonely person with power?”

Spotlights flitted to pierce into the audience, covering the deep blues of the shifting stage as five men walked out. Mechanical groans leaked out across the silence of the theater, soft plucking guitars built over an informercialic voice echoing:

“We need to talk. You need more excitement. You need something live. Real people to connect with. Explore your darkest thoughts. Confess your private desires. Experience the incredible.”

Metal rained a storming sound across the audience. From that moment on, the concert hall was flooded with energy between the band and audience. Black metal integrity rules that, ideally, music should never end. Songs overlapped into each other for nearly 20 minutes before a curt, “Davenport, how are we doing tonight?” from the singer, diving straight back into screeching vocals a moment later. Without further incident, the first half of the set passed through in a clamor of noise. Much like the band’s discography throughout the years, the music played that night underwent constant evolution, the shifting waves of sound ebbing and flowing until pulling away completely. The band walked off stage, disappearing into an uneasy tension like the drawback of a tsunami. Silence.

Incidental II

“When you say, “Baby, come to me,”
Who am I, one who cannot see”

From beyond the empty stage, a quiet song began into the silence. A rasping woman’s voice echoes a slow spoken melody, accompanied by a guitar strum. This newfound quiet intimacy brewed instinctively discomforting, following the past hour of constant sonic onslaught. Static and groans encroached into the song’s soft melody, entering alongside the band as the five drifted back on stage in complete control of the growing anticipation. The tsunami wave loomed dead ahead. A final breath.

“I think I might be hiding from myself,
It’s so good to be alone, alone with someone else”

Lightning leapt out the sky and thunder erupted from the stage surface, the concert hall completely destroyed and replaced by pure noise. Singer, guitarist, and bassist stood raised above the crowd, leaning as the wave crashed into their wall of the most oppressive sound I have ever heard.

The show continued with a reinvigorated brutality, the torrent hurled into half-moments of pause until breaking down straight back to blistering sound. Controlled by blinding, tyrannical drums, the two guitarists pulled around and in-between each other, a brawling dynamic something in between synchronization and a fistfight. George Clark’s inhuman voice screeched into surreality, whispers and cries spun across the merciless pattern. He was a conductor, pulling the sound into existence and manipulating the wave by a movement of his hand. With each vicious swipe of Clark’s hand, the music shuttered and turned over, a living creature trapped in writhing death throes within his grasp.

In the past years, I’ve grown admittedly bored with metal. There’s certainly no lack of revolutionary artists in the genre, it’s an art undergoing constant change and reinvention across the world. Maybe I’m not going to enough good shows, but I just have not experienced any of those revolutionary out-of-body moments that I expect from quality music, until October 9th. Until Deafheaven, throughout the hundreds of shows I’ve seen, nothing came close to awakening the same feelings I had when I saw my first metal show with Lorna Shore at Deadwood. That was my first experience with live metal, my body exposed to the live wire intensity and new indescribable feeling that metal can fill your spirit with. This show reminded me what metal can be, and why I love it. Noise mixed into a concoction I had never experienced before as the sound boiled into a wholly new oppression that clutched at my nostalgia.

Shredding apart a sound through every moment, just to construct a new noise to tear into within the next breath, Deafheaven was a violence as new as it was familiar, dually creation and desolation.

Davenport, IA was one of the final stops on Deafheaven‘s U.S. tour, which will soon resume with an array of sold-out shows across Europe into December. I eagerly await the next album (even if it takes another four years) and for a chance to experience this band’s energy all over again. More information about upcoming shows across the Davenport/DSM area can be found here from First Fleet Concerts.

The post Are you a lonely person with power? Deafheaven in Davenport at the Capitol Theater, Oct. 9 appeared first on KRUI Radio.

“Dynasty” is term loosely tossed around to describe successful teams after championship runs. In most modern sports, the talent pool has proven too deep to have a classic, 20^th-century, dynasty such as the 50s Yankees, 60s Celtics or 90s Cowboys. Those squads dominated and left little question as to which team was the best in their respective eras. While that same scenario may not exist in all major United States sports, we can garner at least a debate.

In this piece we will dive into the top dynasties since the first season post-2000 started of each major sport between the college and professional levels and decide which recent squad has had dominated its respective sport the most. There are rules that will be followed.

1. There will be a qualified team picked out of each individual sport before jumping to a final debate on who is the king of kings.
2. One team must be chosen out of each major sport – college football, men’s/women’s basketball, baseball, wrestling, volleyball, MLB, NBA, NFL and NHL.
3. Seasons that are currently in progress (2014-15 college hoops, NBA, NHL) are not included. For example, Kentucky’s current undefeated record in college hoops cannot be applied to their opportunity to be considered college basketball’s top dynasty on the men’s side.
4. Dynasty is a term used far too often. Are the Seahawks a dynasty because of how great their defense is in the past two years? No, because Seattle struggled through a lot of down seasons beforehand. In this piece, a dynasty will be defined as “Dominating a respective sport, while simultaneously competing for championships to the tune of being the greatest team in the discussed era.”
5. A team must consistently be in championship contention, but in order to be a dynasty in this span – a team must have won at least a single title.
6. I cannot compare teams between sports, as that will happen in the follow up article, where I will rank the selections from each league.

Let the games begin.

NBA

The NBA has always had a lack of parity.  We may no longer be limited to just the Lakers and Celtics, but the situation is still heavily lopsided.

Starting in the 2000-01 season, just three out of 14 Western Conference champions haven’t been named either the Los Angeles Lakers or the San Antonio Spurs. The Dallas Mavericks made two Finals appearances, and the Oklahoma City Thunder briefly showed up before being ousted in five by the LeBron James-led Miami Heat.

The Eastern Conference has been more diverse, but less successful. Seven teams (Philadelphia, Brooklyn, Detroit, Miami, Cleveland, Boston, and Orlando) have won the conference, but just three (Detroit, Miami, Boston) have managed to end the postseason with a victory.

The Heat have an impressive five title appearances and three championships to make a case for a potential top-NBA dynasty in the last 14 seasons. However, they fall well short of the Western Conference rivals from California and Texas.

The Spurs have a cumulative regular season record of 804-328 (.710), a postseason tally of 129-80 (.617), and four championships in five appearances since 2000. Their worst record in that span is 50-32 in 2009, and yet they still made it to the Western Conference Semifinals. Gregg Popovich has led this team to being easily the most consistent of all NBA squads in this era.

Los Angeles, albeit currently in its lowest moment in franchise history, also has an argument to be the representative for professional hoops. While their 690-442 (.610) overall regular season mark is well below San Antonio’s, their post season record of 108-66 trumps the Spurs. In six Finals appearances, the Lakers have taken home four titles – equal to the Spurs. If the 1999-2000 season and the first third of the Shaq-Kobe three-peat were included, my final decision may not have been…

Top Dynasty of the 21^st century: San Antonio Spurs. The Spurs, led by a long-time coach and familiar players, have (somehow quietly) been one of the most consistent teams in all of American athletics. Their YMCA-style of play may not captivate casual audiences with oohs and awes, but their record says all that is needed. The Lakers have missed the playoffs as many times (two) as the Spurs have missed the second round. The ability to avoid down years is what makes the difference. San Antonio and Los Angeles have the same highs, but the Spurs have yet to hit a low this century.

Honorable mention: Los Angeles Lakers, Miami Heat

NFL

Baltimore, New England, Pittsburgh and the New York Giants have all won multiple titles since Super Bowl XXXV, thus obviously deserving of recognition in this analysis. Tampa Bay, Indianapolis, New Orleans, Green Bay and Seattle will also be included as to compare all Super Bowl victors.

Looking based simply off of this, the answer is penciled in. Let’s engrave it in stone with this next chart. I gave every team a point total for each category – the top team receiving nine points and the bottom receiving one – (regular season win percentage, total postseason wins, postseason win percentage, division titles and Super Bowls). The point total depended on where a team finished in each respective section.

Top Dynasty of the 21^st century: New England Patriots. New England swept the board in each measurable category. It’s hard to tell if they’re farther ahead of the pack than Tampa Bay is behind. Tom Brady and Bill Belichick have created a dynasty and are two absurd catches from having six Super Bowls in this span, including the Brady-Randy Moss 2007 combination that was the best team in NFL history to not win it all.

NHL

The NHL has experienced more parity than its professional counterparts this century. Ten teams have won a Stanley Cup in the last 13 occurrences (plus the 2005 lockout season). The Boston Bruins, Pittsburgh Penguins, Anaheim Ducks, Carolina Hurricanes, Tampa Bay Lightning, New Jersey Devils and Colorado Avalanche have all taken home one championship, while the Los Angeles Kings, Chicago Blackhawks and Detroit Red Wings all have a pair of titles. To avoid confusion in the following chart, the NHL did away with ties during this span and therefore the records will be Win-Loss-Overtime Losses-Ties.

  We have seven categories (Stanley Cups, playoff appearances, playoff series victories, postseason wins, postseason win percentage and regular season win percentage and points). The best team in each category will receive 10 points and the worst will pick up just one. In order to put a stronger emphasis on advancing in the postseason, playoff series victories will count as a point for each accumulated. This should counteract disciplining teams for advancing on to tougher rounds just to be swept.

Top Dynasty of the 21^st century: Detroit Red Wings. Outside of postseason win percentage, Detroit swept the board since 2000. Its 17 postseason series victories is even more impressive when factoring in the lockout season and the fact that no other franchise has more than a dozen. Despite parity among Stanley Cup victors, Detroit has easily been the most consistently dominant in all of professional hockey. Not much of an argument can be made for any other squad from this chart, and therefore none are honorable mention worthy.

Men’s college basketball:

After a relatively easy start, we reach what might be the most complicated of all sports we list. College basketball is about as random as they come (see odds of making a perfect bracket). Of course, Kentucky seems like an obvious choice after winning a national title in 2013-14 and going undefeated so far in 2014-15 (void). Don’t let fresh tastes discount distant memories.

Recent impressions can’t influence this decision, but the Wildcats have enough beyond that to make a pretty decisive statement. A 369-124 overall record is tough to argue with. What’s even harder? Twelve NCAA Tournament appearances, eight Sweet Sixteens, three Final Fours and a 1-1 record in the championship. Take away the two seasons Billy Gillispie coached Kentucky to a 40-27 overall record with zero NCAA Tournament victories and an NIT berth, and the Wildcats may blow the competition out of the water.

One team has been so remarkably consistent in its conference that it’s impossible to leave off this list: The Kansas Jayhawks.

After transitioning from a Hall of Fame coach, Kansas found a fate much simpler than Kentucky. Bill Self took over Roy Williams’ squad and didn’t miss a beat.

Williams’ last three seasons resulted in a 42-6 conference record that was overshadowed by a Sweet Sixteen, Final Four and a championship appearance. Since? Self has given the Jayhawks a 325-69 mark with a 151-31 stretch in the Big 12.

Self’s initial tournament resume left much to be desired with two first round exits sandwiched between a pair of Elite Eight showings. That turned around quickly with Kansas’ lone national title during this span in 2008.

Kansas boasts similar marks to Kentucky, with one extra championship loss thrown in, and its down years were first round exits over being completely left out.

So how about ex-Jayhawk coach Williams’ new squad – North Carolina? The Tar Heels have two national titles and another Final Four on their record and they may not even be the best dynasty in their own state.

Recent 1,000 game winner Mike Kryzewski’s Duke Blue Devils are.

Duke has a pair of national titles, has appeared in the tournament in each covered year, and has lost in their opening matchup just three times. Their conference dominance may not be as high as a team such as Kansas, but the competition is relatively stellar each season.

The Blue Devils hold an absurd 412-87 (.826) record in this span. So it has to be them, right?111

Let’s head over to Big Ten country where Tom Izzo is standing by for a quick lecture on postseason play. Michigan State, although missing its 1999-2000 national championship by just one season, has made nine Sweet Sixteens, five Elite Eights, four Final Fours, and has won one title. They haven’t missed the tournament a single time, and have been eliminated before the Round of 32 just four times.

What about UConn’s three title runs? Florida’s star-studded squads? Kentucky’s heated-rival Louisville? We need a way to rank these teams accordingly as to put all bias aside and assign an overall score. Postseason play in college basketball has always taken precedence over any other measurement of success. Here is the scoring chart to decide the top NCAA Tournament team since 2001’s tournament when solely considering those whom have a title to their name in this span:

Round of 64 loss: 0 points
Round of 32 loss: 1 point
Sweet 16 loss: 2 points
Elite Eight loss: 4 points
Final Four Loss: 8 points
Championship loss: 12 points
Championship: 16 points

NCAA Tournament champions results since 2000-01 March Madness: Kansas 68, UConn 67, Duke 59, North Carolina 56, Florida 55, Kentucky 55, Michigan State 51, Louisville 44, Syracuse 37, Maryland 30.

Shockingly, outside of its three titles runs, UConn only scored 19 points on this scale. The Huskies fell just a point shy of claiming this all important statistic in pushing forward to choosing men’s college hoops’ most dominant dynasty of the 21^st century. Despite just one title, consistency overcame roller coaster levels of postseason success and your winner is…

Top Dynasty of the 21^st century: Kansas Jayhawks. Not only has Kansas (almost surprisingly) performed as the top overall team in March Madness, but it also has the most eye-popping accomplishment. I’m going to type this out to make it even more drastic: Kansas has won at least a share of (ahem) back to back to back to back to back to back to back to back to back to back regular season Big 12 championships. That’s 10. Read that out loud and you’re likely to need to catch your breath. This isn’t Kansas playing in the Summit League or intramural athletics – this is a major conference with a tough road to the top every season. Ten?! In a row? And just for the record, it’s also 12 of 13, but who’s counting? The Huskies have a legitimate argument when it comes to this discussion due to three incredible runs to the championship, but Kansas has been a more consistently feared team. Welcome to a new postseason tournament, Jayhawks. Let’s see who else is joining you.

Honorable mention: Duke, UConn

Women’s College Basketball

I went from one of the more difficult sports to choose to what might be the easiest. UConn women’s hoops is out of this world. Seven championships since the turn of the century. Average margin of victory in those title-winning contests? 15.4 points. That’s 15 points better than the second best team in the country. Talk about a talent gap. I can’t put into words how unbelievably incredible the Huskies’ overall record has been, so I’ll leave two simple numbers on its own.

486-38.

That’s a .927 winning percentage.

I could play myself in checkers and not win 93 percent of the time.

Connecticut has missed out on the Sweet Sixteen in this span only…well, they haven’t. And just once were they limited to that. On top of the Sweet Sixteen and seven titles, the Huskies have made two Elite Eight appearances along with four Final Fours. Therefore, your clear cut winner without any hesitation is…

Top Dynasty of the 21^st century: Connecticut Huskies.

College Wrestling

If the 70s, 80s and 90s were included, this wouldn’t even be a competition. The Iowa Hawkeyes took home 20 titles from 1975-2000. Despite those all being out of the picture, Iowa is still in contention for the 21^st century title post-Dan Gable. The Hawkeyes have three titles to their name, which comes shy of Penn State and Oklahoma State, who put together four each. With the overall team title competition so close, our answer comes from individual championships. The Nittany Lions have nine, Hawkeyes 13 and Cowboys 18.

Oklahoma State’s 2005 season was the best of the era, fielding five individual champions in 10 weight classes, and scoring 153 points – best since the 1997 Hawkeyes scored 170. Therefore the winner is…

Top Dynasty of the 21^st century: Oklahoma State Cowboys. The Cowboys are tied for the lead in titles, have the best overall team of the era and can claim having the most individual titles. They may be fortunate to wrestle outside the Big Ten, but national titles don’t lie.

Honorable Mention: Iowa Hawkeyes, Penn State Nittany Lions

MLB

Four teams have won multiple titles since 2000 – the Red Sox (three), Giants (three), Yankees (two) and Cardinals (two) – to give a clear starting point when trying to declare the top 21^st century dynasty of professional baseball.

It’s clearly visible that this is a dead heat. You know the drill. In order to decide, I assigned a point total to each stat category. The top finisher in each category – World Series victories, division titles, regular season winning percentage, playoff appearances, total playoff wins and postseason playoff winning percentage – receives four points, followed by three for second place and so on. I also gave teams an extra point for each playoff series they won. The final tally came out as followed:

Top Dynasty of the 21^st century: St. Louis Cardinals. Any fan of one the final four teams can state a statistic on how their team deserved to be the one represented. New York dominated the AL East. Boston and San Francisco won a third World Series and were more efficient in the postseason when they did make it. None of that jumped out the way this did:

The Cardinals took the cake with 16 postseason series victories.

That’s out of this world consistent. The Yankees came close, carried by consistently owning the division crown, whereas the two teams that take advantage of playoff appearances the most, Boston and San Francisco, found themselves looking up.

Honorable Mention: Boston Red Sox, New York Yankees, San Francisco Giants

College Volleyball

Some of these don’t take much time. Penn State has six championships, including two 38-0 seasons. USC, Stanford, Nebraska, Texas and UCLA have had strong programs, but none have approached the dominance by the Nittany Lions. Let’s just get to the point. Without a hint of doubt, your winner is…

Top Dynasty of the 21^st century: Penn State Nittany Lions.

College Baseball

Unlike most of the other sports in the discussion, the full 2000 season is included since it began post-millennium. Texas, South Carolina and Oregon State all have a pair of titles, with nobody else claiming more than one. Naturally, only those three are in consideration. However, the Beavers have only made four CWS appearances compared to six for South Carolina and eight for Texas. Typically that would lead one to believe that the answer is obviously the Longhorns.

Take a look at overall winning percentage: Texas is 661-294 (.664) in this millennium, lagging considerably behind the Gamecocks at 713-289 (.712). So what do we value? Winning more regular season games against what is typically stronger competition, or taking overall postseason play? The latter carries more weight. Here is how each team fared in NCAA Tournament play with its overall statistics tallied at the bottom.

Top Dynasty of the 21^st century: Texas Longhorns. In what ended up being the closest contest of any sport so far, Texas prevailed because of one statistic: CWS appearances. South Carolina may hold a relatively significant advantage in regular season record and have a slim lead in postseason record, but they couldn’t get the job done in enough Super Regionals. One could argue that Texas’ lows were below South Carolina’s, but they consistently made the trip to Omaha and that familiarity with getting to the final eight put them over the edge.

College Football

Alabama, Ohio State, LSU, and Florida all have multiple FBS championships to their names, while Appalachian State and North Dakota State have dominated the FCS level well enough to be included in the discussion. USC vacated one of its two national championships and will not be considered. As we’ve come to find out, tables can be really useful when measuring statistics of multiple teams. Unfortunately, college football has more variables than most so let’s compare like it is 2000 (and we’re using WordPad).

Alabama: The Crimson Tide are the only team in this span with three FBS national title victories. Their overall record takes a hit because of 21 vacated wins, but stands at 116-57, including a 6-5 bowl mark – which is also hindered by one vacated victory and two seasons in which ‘Bama was ineligible for the postseason. They have garnered three SEC titles and five SEC West crowns – most of which have come under Nick Saban. The pre-Saban era was somewhat dark for Alabama, which had a (now shocking) 3-8 season in 2000. The loss of 21 victories could really come back to bite the team that is likely the first one on everybody’s college football power shortlist.

Florida: Florida boasts two national titles (thanks, Tebow) complemented by a 137-56 overall record. If Alabama had kept its wins, Florida would be one game ahead in the loss column and tied with the Tide for overall victories. In bowl play, Florida has a lackadaisical 7-6 mark. They have picked up three SEC Titles and have headed the SEC East four times.

LSU: Consistency in a more than tough conference is what could separate LSU from the group. Like every team on this list besides Alabama, the Tigers have a pair of national championships. Their overall record of 151-45 is only topped by Ohio State. They’ve won nine bowl games compared to six losses and have not missed out on the postseason. They’ve picked up four conference titles and five SEC West titles along the way to top both Florida and Alabama in those areas.

Ohio State: Surprised to see a Big Ten team here? You shouldn’t be. Despite a negative stigma built around the conference in recent years, Ohio State has been among the most dominant teams lately. The Buckeyes’ 157-36 overall record is hard to argue with. An 8-7 bowl record with a few postseason embarrassments could be improved on. What really couldn’t be is a sensational seven conference titles – which reasonably would be eight if not for a postseason ban on a 12-0 squad in 2012. The Buckeyes may not have the numbers to claim best of this century now, but with Urban Meyer pulling the strings, it might not be too long until they do.

North Dakota State: If we were only talking about the last four years, the Bison would breeze through the competition. Their 63-3 record with four national titles is, well, absurd. Before that? North Dakota State swiftly comes back to Earth with a more reasonable, but still strong, 74-40 mark. Did you already do the math? That’s an overall record of 137-43

…and I should probably mention they have a 20-2 postseason record.

20 wins. Two losses.

The Bison made the move from Division II to FCS in this time period and were ineligible for postseason play in multiple 10-1 seasons, otherwise they very well could have added to that title total. Which, quite frankly, is a little scary. One thing that isn’t as scary is this game. And this one in the same season. Sometimes you find things while researching that you wish you never did. Those qualify.

Appalachian State: While the Bison were fiddling around with moving up from Division II, another squad was busy winning national championships and knocking off the winningest-program in FBS history. That was the Mountaineers of Appalachian State. Their record of 131-52 is a modest amount below North Dakota State’s. It isn’t the regular season that separates these two FCS programs. The Mountaineers postseason mark, despite a three-peat from 2005-2007, is 19-8, considerably worse than the Bison’s…let me say it again…20-2.

Top Dynasty of the 21^st century: North Dakota State Bison. I get it. Strength of schedule for the Bison isn’t anywhere near what Ohio State, let alone Alabama, Florida and LSU, face on a week-to-week basis. Their national titles are much less publicized and viewed. They don’t have NFL prospects filling up the first round. They weren’t even in the FCS for part of this era. There are a lot of reasons not to pick them.

Go ahead, write an article on why LSU’s consistency in the SEC makes them the best dynasty of this century, or why Alabama’s three titles set it apart, or how Ohio State’s conference dominance make them the frontrunner. They all have strong cases to disprove my choice.

To me, these issues have to be made relative, not directly compared. Of course North Dakota State doesn’t have to play the LSU defense, the Tim Tebow offense or Nick Saban’s game plan on an annual basis, but they ought to be held to the standards of their competition, not of a league above them. North Dakota State has simply dominated about as much as a modern college football team can in this span. 137-43 in the regular season? Incredible – just as incredible as the others on this list, especially considering transition seasons. That doesn’t set them apart.

A .909 winning percentage in the postseason will. When the Bison play the best competition, they don’t just compete – they absolutely own everyone. Alabama doesn’t. Florida doesn’t. LSU and Ohio State don’t. They’re all tremendous teams, but have not set themselves apart at any part this century the way the Bison have.

Conclusion

The aforementioned follow-up article will now include the St. Louis Cardinals, San Antonio Spurs, New England Patriots, Detroit Red Wings, Kansas Jayhawks men’s hoops, UConn Huskies women’s basketball, Oklahoma State wrestling, Penn State volleyball, Texas baseball and North Dakota State football. Those ten dominant teams will be ranked to determine an ultimate “dynasty of the 21^st century.”

Be sure to check out Night Stuff on KRUI at the stroke of midnight Wednesday mornings as we discuss topics such as this, other sporting news and a few outrageous topics mixed in with a phone always ready to hear your takes. Did you like the article or happen to disagree with some of the choices? Tweet @TheMainStevent or @KRUISports to share your opinion.

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