ShareThisBarring a miracle, the New York Yankees' streak of 13 consecutive postseason appearances is coming to an end . So in their honor, here's a look at some of the most impressive postseason streaks in sports history.-- New York YankeesStarting in 1995, the Yankees went on a tear that ends this season. Postseason baseball without Derek Jeter, Mariano Rivera and Andy Pettitte will just seem weird. During their run, the Yankees won six pennants and four World Series titles.-- Syracuse Nationals/Philadelphia 76ersThe old Nationals made the NBA playoffs in 1949 and every year after until they moved to Philadelphia in 1963. Then the 76ers made the playoffs every year until 1972. Add it up between the two and they made the postseason 23 consecutive seasons. They won two championships, in 1954-55 and 1966-67.-- Portland Trail BlazersUnless you follow the NBA very closely, we're willing to bet you had no idea of the streak the Trail Blazers put together starting in 1982. But the Blazers, despite picking Sam Bowie over Michael Jordan in the 1984 draft, qualified for the playoffs every season from 1982-2003. That's a span of 21 straight seasons that included two trips to the NBA Finals.-- Boston BruinsThe old joke in the NHL is that everyone makes the playoffs. There's some truth to that, but you still have to give credit to the Bruins for making the playoffs an incredible 29 years in a row from 1967-96. -- Chicago BlackhawksWhat's better: making the playoffs here and there and winning a championship now and then, or making the playoffs all the time but never winning the big one? Hockey fans in Chicago know what it's like to experience the latter. The Blackhawks haven't won a Stanley Cup since 1961. But they did make the playoffs every season from 1969-97, a span of 28 years.-- Dallas CowboysMaking the NFL playoffs is much more difficult than other sports, so you won't find teams that have put together strings of 20 years in a row. The Cowboys made the playoffs in nine consecutive seasons from 1975-83. Had it not been for the Super Steelers of the 1970s, the Cowboys could've won three Super Bowls in that stretch. Instead, they had to settle for one. The Cowboys also had a string of eight straight postseason appearances from 1966-73. So from 1966-83, the Cowboys missed the postseason only once.-- North Carolina men's basketballUnder the great Dean Smith, the Tar Heels made the NCAA Tournament in 1975. The next time the Tar Heels missed was 2002, five years after Smith retired. In those NCAA-record 27 consecutive seasons, the Heels won two national titles (1982, 1993) finished runnerup twice (1977, 1981), all under Smith.-- Florida State baseballThe Seminoles have the second-longest NCAA Tournament streak: 31 consecutive appearances going back to 1978. But despite 19 trips to the College World Series, the 'Noles have never won the national title.-- Cleveland BrownsIn the current NFL, only six teams have never made the Super Bowl. One of them is the Browns. But the Browns did make pro football's postseason 10 consecutive seasons from 1946-55, although only the last six seasons were in the National Football League. Still, 10 straight years is impressive, including three NFL titles behind quarterback Otto Graham, tackle and kicker Lou Groza and fullback Marion Motley.-- University of Miami baseballThis just might be the most dominant program in college sports. The Hurricanes have qualified for the NCAA Tournament an incredible 36 consecutive seasons, a streak that remains active and dates to 1973. In that span, the 'Canes have won four national titles (1982, '85, '99 and 2001) in 23 College World Series appearances.-- Atlanta BravesEven the Yankees haven't been able to do what the Braves did starting in 1991. Atlanta made 14 consecutive postseasons from 1991 to 2005 -- the 1994 strike canceled that year's postseason -- and they never needed the wild card to do it. The Braves won 14 consecutive division titles thanks in large part to one of the greatest pitching staffs ever, led by Greg Maddux, Tom Glavine and John Smoltz. Just as amazing, however, is that the Braves managed only one title (1995) in five trips to the World Series.-- Tennessee women's basketballWith her phenomenal success, one could argue that Pat Summitt is the best coach in the history of sports. Think hard about these numbers. Her Lady Vols have made the postseason 32 consecutive seasons (that's NCAA and predecessor AIAW tournaments). Oh, and over that span, they have made the Final Four 22 times. And the icing: eight national titles.(Distributed by Scripps Howard News Service www.scrippsnews.com)
Postseason streaks for the ages
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