The National Women’s Soccer League begins its eight-team playoffs this weekend, and the Kansas City Current enters with the NWSL’s best record (21-3-2) by far.
That got us at BetMissouri.com to thinking: What are the best pro spots seasons ever in the Show-Me State? The soon-to-be home of Missouri sports betting has certainly had its share of great teams over the years.
We rate the top sports seasons in Missouri history here:
Team, League | Record | Postseason |
2022 Kansas City Chiefs, NFL | 14-3 (.824) | Beat Eagles in Super Bowl, 38-35 |
1999 St. Louis Rams, NFL | 13-3 (.813) | Beat Titans in Super Bowl, 23-16 |
1942 St. Louis Cardinals, MLB | 106-48 (.688) | Beat Yankees in World Series, 4-1 |
2019 Kansas City Chiefs, NFL | 12-4 (.750) | Beat 49ers in Super Bowl, 31-20 |
1931 St. Louis Cardinals, MLB | 101-53 (.627) | Beat As in World Series, 4-3 |
2018-19 St. Louis Blues, NHL | 45-28-9 (.604) | Beat Bruins in Stanley Cup, 4-3 |
1969 Kansas City Chiefs, NFL | 11-3 (.786) | Beat Vikings in Super Bowl, 23-7 |
2015 Kansas City Royals, MLB | 95-67 (.586) | Beat Mets in World Series, 4-1 |
1985 Kansas City Royals, MLB | 91-71 (.562) | Beat Cardinals in World Series, 4-3 |
1946 St. Louis Cardinals, MLB | 98-58 (.628) | Beat Red Sox in World Series, 4-3 |
The NWSL playoffs start this weekend, with the Current hosting Gotham FC on Sunday (11:30 a.m. Central, ABC) in a single-elimination quarterfinal at CPKC Stadium in Kansas City. With 65 points from 26 games, Kansas City had the best regular-season record by 19 points and the most wins in the NWSL’s 13-year history. The NWSL playoffs will end just days before the Missouri sportsbook apps market’s Dec. 1 launch.
Temwa Chawinga led the Current with 15 goals this season and is a nominee for the Ballon d'Or, which goes to the FIFA world player of the year. If K.C. wins the NWSL title, will they join the list above? There are no set criteria for our top 10 Missouri pro sports seasons ever. We factored in each team's regular-season record, postseason dominance and individual brilliance.
Here are our top three choices for best seasons all time by a Missouri pro sports franchise. Do you agree?
The 2022 Kansas City Chiefs were one of 13 teams in NFL history to win at least 14 games in a season and win the Super Bowl. They scored 496 points, second most in franchise history and first in the league, and also led the NFL with 7,032 yards (an average of 413.6 per game).
Quarterback Patrick Mahomes won his second Most Valuable Player award and led the league with 5,250 passing yards, the fourth most ever in a season. The one argument against these Chiefs at No. 1, perhaps, is that all three of their playoff wins were in one-score games. That includes a 38-35 victory over the Philadelphia Eagles in Super Bowl LVII, in which K.C. needed Harrison Butker’s last-second field goal to avoid overtime.
Check out updated Kansas City Chiefs Super Bowl odds all season. Bettors in Missouri will have several weeks of regular-season NFL games to bet on, plus the playoffs, once the state’s legal, regulated operators get underway in a few weeks.
The 1999 St. Louis Rams were coined the “Greatest Show on Turf” for one of the most high-powered offenses of the modern era. The Rams, in their fifth season in St. Louis, scored 526 points (second most ever in an NFL season at the time).
St. Louis went from 4-12 the year before to world champs. It was not just the offense, which led the NFL in points and yards. The defense was also stout, ranking fourth in fewest points and sixth in fewest yards allowed.
Quarterback Kurt Warner emerged from obscurity ton win MVP and Offensive Player of the Year Marshall Faulk had a career-high 2,429 yards from scrimmage in 1999. Those two are among the members of this team in the Pro Football Hall of Fame, a list that also includes wide receiver Isaac Bruce, offensive lineman Orlando Pace and head coach Dick Vermeil. They beat the Tennessee Titans 23-16 in Super Bowl XXXIV.
The 1942 St. Louis Cardinals had the 10th-best winning percentage ever for a World Series champion (.688), also the best winning percentage in franchise history. In classic Cardinals fashion, St. Louis only ranked sixth out of eight NL teams in home runs (60) but edged the Brooklyn Dodgers to win the pennant by two games before routing the New York Yankees 4-1 in the Fall Classic.
The Cardinals are one of baseball’s most glorious franchises, with 11 World Series championships and another eight pennants to their name, but no Cards team has topped the 1942 squad’s 106 victories. And that was in the era of 154-game seasons, with this franchise mark enduring for decades after the advent of the 162-game regular season in 1961.
Pitcher Mort Cooper won MVP honors after going 22-7 with a 1.78 ERA in 1942. He led the league in victories and ERA, and his 8.2 Wins Above Replacement (by baseball-reference metrics) was first in the NL as well, though at the time the only WAR that anybody knew about was World War II.
Here are some other Missouri pro sports teams that had seasons to cherish in the state’s collective memory.
We’ll end with a quick nod to league champions that did not make this list, such as the NBA’s 1957-58 St. Louis Hawks (the franchise left for Atlanta in 1968 but has not won a title since) and Kansas City’s Major League Soccer entrant, which won the MLS Cup as the Kansas City Wizards in 2000 and under the team’s current name, Sporting Kansas City, in 2013.
Will the Current add to the state’s soccer and overall sports legacy by capturing the 2025 NWSL championship?
Check out the best Missouri sports betting promotions right here at BetMissouri.com as the launch date draws closer.
USA Today photo by Kirby Lee
Author
Jim Tomlin is a contributing editor for BetMissouri.com. Jim brings 30-plus years of experience writing and editing stories about sports, gambling and the intersection of those two industries. He has worked at the Tampa Bay Times, FanRag, Saturday Down South and Saturday Tradition and now lends his expertise to BetMissouri.com, among other sites.
Cited by leading media organizations, such as:
