# Most impressive championships by opponent **URL:** \ **Category:** The Game Room\ **Created:** [January 13, 2026, 7:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-impressive-championships-by-opponent/1026633 "2026-01-13T07:15:00Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 8\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Telemark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/telemark/32/372_2.png) [@Telemark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Telemark)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2026, 2:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-impressive-championships-by-opponent/1026633/21 "2026-01-14T02:05:14Z")
How about the 1985 NCAA Mens Basketball final where Villanova upset Georgetown (with Patrick Ewing)? The Wildcats weren’t really given a chance but their near perfect shooting won the day. Besides Ewing, the Hoyas had several other players who went to the NBA. ---
**Author:** ![It\_s\_Not\_Rocket\_Surgery](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/it_s_not_rocket_surgery/32/312_2.png) [@It\_s\_Not\_Rocket\_Surgery](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/It_s_Not_Rocket_Surgery)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2026, 8:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-impressive-championships-by-opponent/1026633/22 "2026-01-20T08:31:41Z")
> [@f.coli](#): > > He never raced again, Secretariat most definitely had races after the Triple Crown - [six of them](https://www.secretariat.com/past-performances/). In fact, he was beaten twice after the Belmont, once by the not-very-scarily-named Onion. ---
**Author:** ![Kimble](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kimble/32/19185_2.png) [@Kimble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kimble)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2026, 10:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-impressive-championships-by-opponent/1026633/23 "2026-01-20T22:51:44Z")
It was during the Jordan interregnum, but the [1994-95](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1994%E2%80%9395_NBA_season) Houston Rockets beat the top three seeds in their conference and the top seed in the other conference to win the championship. That can’t be bested in the current playoff arrangement; I don’t think it’s been matched, either. ---
**Author:** ![P-man](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/p-man/32/3606_2.png) [@P-man](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/P-man)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2026, 10:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-impressive-championships-by-opponent/1026633/24 "2026-01-20T22:55:43Z")
> [@Jaycat.again](#): > > Not sure if the Cheatstro’s were still cheating in that series, but either way it was an unexpected win. I read that they figured out how to counter the signal stealing by making the signals impossibly complicated. And my vote goes to the 2019 Nationals as well. ---
**Author:** ![Loach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/loach/32/350_2.png) [@Loach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Loach)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2026, 12:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-impressive-championships-by-opponent/1026633/25 "2026-01-21T00:17:02Z")
> [@Loach](#): > > > [@EllisDee](#): > > > > While I agree that the Eli-era Giants fit the criteria, my thinking was that the other two Giants wins were decidedly less impressive: the Broncos who hadn’t won a Superbowl yet and the Bills who still have never won one. > > Disagree. The 1991 victory was very impressive. Although the Bills didn’t manage to get a Super Bowl win they were the best AFC team of that era. The Bills had 5 Hall of Famers on that team. The Giants had 1. The Bills had Jim Kelly at QB. The Giants had a back up. Jeff Hostetter didn’t go on the be Tom Brady. He remained a mediocre QB but he did win a Super Bowl. I doubt it will happen but now I’m rooting for Denver to win with their backup. It would be more impressive since he hasn’t had any games to prepare. They are a good enough team that it’s not impossible. ---
**Author:** ![f.coli](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/eada6e/32.png) [@f.coli](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/f.coli)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2026, 1:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-impressive-championships-by-opponent/1026633/26 "2026-01-21T13:58:41Z")
Thank you, I did not know that. I just assumed that a horse worth $6 million as a stud stallion wouldn’t risk injury after winning the Triple Crown. ---
**Author:** ![Railer13](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/railer13/32/9742_2.png) [@Railer13](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Railer13)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2026, 2:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-impressive-championships-by-opponent/1026633/27 "2026-01-21T14:03:36Z")
> [@Loach](#): > > Jeff Hostetter Nitpick: **Hostetler** I noticed this only because there was a family in my small town who had the last name of Hostetler, and virtually EVERYBODY pronounced it ‘Hostetter’. ---
**Author:** ![kenobi\_65](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kenobi_65/32/13178_2.png) [@kenobi\_65](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kenobi_65)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2026, 5:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-impressive-championships-by-opponent/1026633/28 "2026-01-21T17:53:28Z")
> [@f.coli](#): > > Thank you, I did not know that. I just assumed that a horse worth $6 million as a stud stallion wouldn’t risk injury after winning the Triple Crown. These days, such horses generally _do_ get retired right away, to not risk the future stud potential. Back then (which feels funny to say, but Secretariat won the Triple Crown 53 years ago now), it was less common. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-impressive-championships-by-opponent/1026633.md?page=1)