Sports fans have long debated the merits of one champion over another. With the newer creation of sports simulation software, it is becoming more and more practical to settle these arguments by flipping a few bits to decide which team really should have won a game – or, more appropriately, which team would win a game played outside the confines of space and time.
In reality, the answer to the age old question – could the great players of yesterday compete against the superior athletes of today? – is a resounding NO! They are simply too old. But in virtual reality, where teams from different eras can compete in their primes, the answer becomes a mixed bag of yes, no and maybe, depending on the computer models used, the stats available and the whims of dynamic software engines.
Since we will never be able to see the 1959 Colts lineup against their 2009 counterparts, we are forced to play what if games to determine which of these two teams would win. Luckily, there happens to be numerous computer applications out on the web that allow the average fan to do just this – simulate a game between the 1959 Baltimore Colts and the 2009 Indianapolis Colts.
To that end, Creative Misfortune proudly presents the Tournament of Past Champions!
The
What If Sports SimMatchups software (try it for yourself
here) allows you to simulate historical games as many times as you would like with teams using different “offensive playbooks” while competing in both home, away or neutral game sites. To determine the game results of the Past Champions invited to participate in this “virtual dance”, each game will be based on the result of 20 head-to-head simulations.
For example, to decide who would prevail – the 1959 Baltimore Colts or the 2009 Indianapolis Colts, 20 game simulations will be run – 10 at the home stadium of the ’59 Colts and 10 at the home stadium of the 2009 Colts.
Each of those 10 simulations will be broken down into “playbook” matchups in order to better gauge the overall strength and weaknesses of each team taking part in the tournament. The What If Sports game engine provides four separate playbook options – Balanced, Run Heavy, Pass Heavy and West Coast style. Over the course of a single, 20-game sim matchup, teams will play eight Balanced sims, four Pass Heavy sims, four Run Heavy sims and four West Coast style sims.
The final score for each team in the virtual matchup will be the average of the team’s scores over the course of all 20 simulations. The higher average “wins” the virtual matchup and that team will advance in the tournament. In case teams are tied after 20 simulations, an additional 10 overtime sims, five at each team’s home stadium, will be played until one winner emerges.
Results for each virtual matchup will be posted as follows:
2009 Indianapolis Colts 21 *Baltimore won 14 of 20 simulations
128 championship and near-championship teams will be seeded into one of four brackets - Legendary, Mythical, Fabled and Dauntless - each filled with 32 teams competing to be named Creative Misfortune’s Ultimate Champion.
Teams will be seeded based on their Regular Season Winning Percentage, the number of Regular Season Games Played and whether or not they won their league's championship game. Slight adjustments will be made in the brackets so teams will not face a team they faced in real life within the first two rounds of the tournament (i.e. the 2010 Packers will not face the 2010 Steelers in the first two rounds, even if the above seeding formula would place them in position to do so).
Now that the details of the game simulations, scoring systems and tournament seeding are out of the way, allow me to introduce the 128 teams that will be taking part in Creative Misfortune’s Tournament of Past Champions!
First, the 35 league champions of yesteryear…
1965
NFL
Green Bay Packers (NFL, 10-3-1)
1965
AFL
Buffalo Bills (AFL, 10-3-1)
1964
NFL
Cleveland Browns (NFL, 10-3-1)
1964
AFL
Buffalo Bills (AFL, 12-2)
1963
NFL
Chicago Bears (NFL, 11-1-2)
1963
AFL
San Diego Chargers (AFL, 11-3)
1962
NFL
Green Bay Packers (NFL, 13-1)
1962
AFL
Dallas Texans (AFL, 11-3)
1961
NFL
Green Bay Packers (NFL, 11-3)
1961
AFL
Houston Oilers (AFL, 10-3-1)
1960
NFL
Philadelphia Eagles (NFL, 10-2)
1960
AFL
Houston Oilers (AFL, 10-4)
1959
NFL
Baltimore Colts (NFL, 9-3)
1958
NFL
Baltimore Colts (NFL, 9-3)
1957
NFL
Detroit Lions (NFL, 8-4)
1956
NFL
New York Giants (NFL, 8-3-1)
1955
NFL
Cleveland Browns (NFL, 9-2-1)
1954
NFL
Cleveland Browns (NFL, 9-3)
1953
NFL
Detroit Lions (NFL, 10-2)
1952
NFL
Detroit Lions (NFL, 9-3)
1951 NFL Los Angeles Rams (NFL, 8-4)
1950
NFL
Cleveland Browns (NFL, 10-2)
1949
NFL
Philadelphia Eagles (NFL, 11-1)
1949
AAFC
Cleveland Browns (AAFC, 9-1-2)
1948
NFL
Philadelphia Eagles (NFL, 9-2-1)
1948
AAFC
Cleveland Browns (AAFC, 14-0)
1947
NFL
Chicago Cardinals (NFL, 9-3)
1947
AAFC
Cleveland Browns (AAFC, 12-1-1)
1946
NFL
Chicago Bears (NFL, 8-2-1)
1946
AAFC
Cleveland Browns (AAFC, 12-2)
1945
NFL
Cleveland Rams (NFL, 9-1)
1944
NFL
Green Bay Packers (NFL, 8-2)
1943
NFL
Chicago Bears (NFL, 8-1-1)
1942
NFL
Washington Redskins (NFL, 10-1)
1941
NFL
Chicago Bears (NFL, 10-1)
Second, the 45 Super Bowl champions…
2010
Super Bowl XLV:
Green Bay Packers (NFC, 10-6)
2009
Super Bowl XLIV:
New Orleans Saints (NFC, 13-3)
2008
Super Bowl XLIII:
Pittsburgh Steelers (AFC, 12-4)
2007
Super Bowl XLII:
New York Giants (NFC, 10-6)
2006
Super Bowl XLI:
Indianapolis Colts (AFC, 12-4)
2005
Super Bowl XL:
Pittsburgh Steelers (AFC, 11-5)
2004
Super Bowl XXXIX:
New England Patriots (AFC, 14-2)
2003
Super Bowl XXXVIII:
New England Patriots (AFC, 14-2)
2002
Super Bowl XXXVII:
Tampa Bay Buccaneers (NFC, 12-4)
2001
Super Bowl XXXVI:
New England Patriots (AFC, 11-5)
2000
Super Bowl XXXV:
Baltimore Ravens (AFC, 12-4)
1999
Super Bowl XXXIV:
St. Louis Rams (NFC, 13-3)
1998 Super Bowl XXXIII: Denver Broncos (AFC, 14-2)
1997 Super Bowl XXXII: Denver Broncos (AFC, 12-4)
1996
Super Bowl XXXI:
Green Bay Packers (NFC, 13-3)
1995
Super Bowl XXX:
Dallas Cowboys (NFC, 12-4)
1994
Super Bowl XXIX:
San Francisco 49ers (NFC, 13-3)
1993
Super Bowl XXVIII:
Dallas Cowboys (NFC, 12-4)
1992
Super Bowl XXVII:
Dallas Cowboys (NFC, 13-3)
1991
Super Bowl XXVI:
Washington Redskins (NFC, 14-2)
1990
Super Bowl XXV:
New York Giants (NFC, 13-3)
1989
Super Bowl XXIV:
San Francisco 49ers (NFC, 14-2)
1988
Super Bowl XXIII:
San Francisco 49ers (NFC, 10-6)
1987
Super Bowl XXII:
Washington Redskins (NFC, 11-4)
1986
Super Bowl XXI:
New York Giants (NFC, 14-2)
1985
Super Bowl XX:
Chicago Bears (NFC, 15-1)
1984
Super Bowl XIX:
San Francisco 49ers (NFC, 15-1)
1983
Super Bowl XVIII:
Los Angeles Raiders (AFC, 12-4)
1982
Super Bowl XVII:
Washington Redskins (NFC, 8-1)
1981
Super Bowl XVI:
San Francisco 49ers (NFC, 13-3)
1980
Super Bowl XV:
Oakland Raiders (AFC, 11-5)
1979
Super Bowl XIV:
Pittsburgh Steelers (AFC, 12-4)
1978
Super Bowl XIII:
Pittsburgh Steelers (AFC, 14-2)
1977
Super Bowl XII:
Dallas Cowboys (NFC, 12-2)
1976
Super Bowl XI:
Oakland Raiders (AFC, 13-1)
1975
Super Bowl X:
Pittsburgh Steelers (AFC, 12-2)
1974
Super Bowl IX:
Pittsburgh Steelers (AFC, 10-3-1)
1973
Super Bowl VIII:
Miami Dolphins (AFC, 12-2)
1972
Super Bowl VII:
Miami Dolphins (AFC, 14-0)
1971
Super Bowl VI:
Dallas Cowboys (NFC, 11-3)
1970
Super Bowl V:
Baltimore Colts (AFC, 11-2-1)
1969
Super Bowl IV:
Kansas City Chiefs (AFL, 11-3)
1968
Super Bowl III:
New York Jets (AFL, 11-3)
1967
Super Bowl II:
Green Bay Packers (NFL, 9-4-1)
1966
Super Bowl I:
Green Bay Packers (NFL, 12-2)
Third, the 45 Super Bowl runner-ups now looking for redemption…
2010
Super Bowl XLV Loser:
Pittsburgh Steelers (AFC, 12-4)
2009
Super Bowl XLIV Loser:
Indianapolis Colts (AFC, 14-2)
2008 Super Bowl XLIII Loser: Arizona Cardinals (NFC, 9-7)
2007
Super Bowl XLII Loser:
New England Patriots (AFC, 16-0)
2006
Super Bowl XLI Loser:
Chicago Bears (NFC, 13-3)
2005
Super Bowl XL Loser:
Seattle Seahawks (NFC, 13-3)
2004
Super Bowl XXXIX Loser:
Philadelphia Eagles (NFC, 13-3)
2003
Super Bowl XXXVIII Loser:
Carolina Panthers (NFC, 11-5)
2002
Super Bowl XXXVII Loser:
Oakland Raiders (AFC, 11-5)
2001
Super Bowl XXXVI Loser:
St. Louis Rams (NFC, 14-2)
2000
Super Bowl XXXV Loser:
New York Giants (NFC, 12-4)
1999
Super Bowl XXXIV Loser:
Tennessee Titans (AFC, 13-3)
1998
Super Bowl XXXIII Loser:
Atlanta Falcons (NFC, 14-2)
1997
Super Bowl XXXII Loser:
Green Bay Packers (NFC, 13-3)
1996
Super Bowl XXXI Loser:
New England Patriots (AFC, 11-5)
1995
Super Bowl XXX Loser:
Pittsburgh Steelers (AFC, 11-5)
1994
Super Bowl XXIX Loser:
San Diego Chargers (AFC, 11-5)
1993
Super Bowl XXVIII Loser:
Buffalo Bills (AFC, 12-4)
1992
Super Bowl XXVII Loser:
Buffalo Bills (AFC, 11-5)
1991
Super Bowl XXVI Loser:
Buffalo Bills (AFC, 13-3)
1990
Super Bowl XXV Loser:
Buffalo Bills (AFC, 13-3)
1989
Super Bowl XXIV Loser:
Denver Broncos (AFC, 11-5)
1988
Super Bowl XXIII Loser:
Cincinnati Bengals (AFC, 12-4)
1987
Super Bowl XXII Loser:
Denver Broncos (AFC, 10-4-1)
1986
Super Bowl XXI Loser:
Denver Broncos (AFC, 11-5)
1985
Super Bowl XX Loser:
New England Patriots (AFC, 11-5)
1984
Super Bowl XIX Loser:
Miami Dolphins (AFC, 14-2)
1983
Super Bowl XVIII Loser:
Washington Redskins (NFC, 14-2)
1982
Super Bowl XVII Loser:
Miami Dolphins (AFC, 7-2)
1981
Super Bowl XVI Loser:
Cincinnati Bengals (AFC, 12-4)
1980
Super Bowl XV Loser:
Philadelphia Eagles (NFC, 12-4)
1979
Super Bowl XIV Loser:
Los Angeles Rams (NFC, 9-7)
1978
Super Bowl XIII Loser:
Dallas Cowboys (NFC, 12-4)
1977
Super Bowl XII Loser:
Denver Broncos (AFC, 12-2)
1976
Super Bowl XI Loser:
Minnesota Vikings (NFC, 11-2-1)
1975
Super Bowl X Loser:
Dallas Cowboys (NFC, 10-4)
1974
Super Bowl IX Loser:
Minnesota Vikings (NFC, 10-4)
1973
Super Bowl VIII Loser:
Minnesota Vikings (NFC, 12-2)
1972
Super Bowl VII Loser:
Washington Redskins (NFC, 11-3)
1971
Super Bowl VI Loser:
Miami Dolphins (AFC, 10-3-1)
1970
Super Bowl V Loser:
Dallas Cowboys (NFC, 10-4)
1969
Super Bowl IV Loser:
Minnesota Vikings (NFL, 12-2)
1968
Super Bowl III Loser:
Baltimore Colts (NFL, 13-1)
1967
Super Bowl II Loser:
Oakland Raiders (AFL, 13-1)
1966
Super Bowl I Loser:
Kansas City Chiefs (AFL, 11-2-1)
And, finally, three Wild Card teams pulled from the ranks of those modern-era teams so great during the regular season the football world was shocked when they did not make it to the Super Bowl…
1998
Minnesota Vikings (15-1)
2005
Indianapolis Colts (14-2)
1987
San Francisco 49ers (13-2)
Tomorrow, the 32 Legendary bracket teams will be revealed...
