Best Teams Of 2011: Green Bay Packers, Barcelona, And Dallas Mavericks Make The List

What is it that makes a team great?

Is it a consistent dominance from start to finish that simply suffocates opponents? The Green Bay Packers have certainly pulled off that feat since the calendar turned to 2011, winning 18 games in a row including a Super Bowl before being upset by the Kansas City Chiefs just a few weeks before we reached 2012. Perhaps the only team on the earth to play football at a level higher than Aaron Rodgers and the Pack this year may have been Lionel Messi and Barcelona, who played with an artfulness that even Steve Young would have been impressed by.

Of course, St. Anthony's Prep in New Jersey knows a thing or two about being dominant as well. The winningest high school basketball team in New Jersey history capped off its undefeated season by beating St. Patrick's High School, who was also considered a top 10 squad nationally, by double digits.

But perhaps great teams are defined by their ability to come together when it matters most. In that case, the UConn Men's basketball team and St. Louis Cardinals are the best teams of the year. Both of these teams were considered only darkhorse contenders during their regular seasons but would raise their games when it mattered most.

Or maybe in order to be a great team, you need to prove your mettle against a team considered better. The Dallas Mavericks defeated the defending NBA champion Lakers as well as the juggernaut Miami Heat on the way to their first championship. And Japan's Women's National Soccer team beat a physically imposing USA squad to win the World Cup.

Here are more than a dozen of the greatest teams from 2011. Help us decide which was the BEST TEAM OF 2011. We know these top clubs are just the tip of the ice berg. So let us know the other great teams that took place this year by clicking 'Add A Slide' and submitting a YouTube highlight of your favorite game.

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Comments

[triunegroup]

09:40 AM on 01/04/2012

This list is a joke. What about: Real Madrid, Manchester City/United, Spain's National Football Team, Australia's National Cricket Team, Brazil's National Women/Men Football teams, plus many others. I cannot believe even some High School and College US Teams made this list. Again, this list is a JOKE!!!

And, by the way, Barcelona is in a class all by themselves. There is no team in the world that demonstrates excellence and mastery as Barcelona does. Possibly the best club team in any sport ever!!!

Most people from countries around the world could not name one "superstar" on an NFL team, but billions can name Messi and Ronaldo as stars in their respective teams.

[Tony Owusu]

11:03 PM on 01/03/2012

Barca for me...

They make love to the ball.

[IndependentBadger]

02:01 AM on 01/02/2012

Barcelona is the greatest team of anything, ever. And I'm a Milwaukeean who knows the Packers are the greatest football team ever too. But there's just no comparison.

Their talent is absurd. Their "B" team is better than 2/3 of UEFA. 400,000 dues-paying members in the club? Messi, Puyol, Xavi, Iniesta, Busquets, Sanchez, Pique, Villa, Pedro, Guardiola, etc.

TEN of their players on Spain's monster world champion national team? LOL

And how do you beat a system that raises its own talent from diapers to retirement home?

[yelena gonzales]

05:06 AM on 01/02/2012

Totally agree.. I mean not to underrate other sports, but in a game where a 23-man squad plays 90+ minutes every match, without time-outs cept for the half-time break,with only 3 subs, almost twice a week, playing in 6 competitions, and winning 5 of that in a year (the league, European cup, Spanish super cup, European supercup, club world cup), 64 matches in a year, following a tough world-cup year where almost all first team players took part in... I mean really, the demands of the sport and level of consistent excellence they show is way above the rest...simply the best team in the history of sport for me..

[dansup]

08:29 PM on 01/02/2012

they are amazing

[Uncle Bill]

11:25 PM on 01/01/2012

Best teams of 2011 omits The All Blacks?  They won the Rugby World Cup on their home pitch- what more could you ask for?

[wellingtonian]

04:03 PM on 01/02/2012

I didn't know you could not breathe for 40 minutes, but I managed to in that game. Especially after Weepu and Cruden came off.

[dansup]

08:30 PM on 01/02/2012

agreed - a large oversight

[Raj Anurag]

11:16 PM on 01/01/2012

Barcelona most definitely. I don't really follow the sport (I think it's boring), but for some strange reason, I do enjoy watching Barcelona play. The way they weave through opponents' defense with short, quick, crisp, and precise passing ... inching their way closer and closer through enemy territory until one of their many diminutive players suddenly breaks loose and scores... pretty impressive. I don't really understand what's happening on the field but the clock-work precission is fascinating to watch.

I also love the Mavs because nobody really cared about them to start with (it was supposed to be the big market Miami vs. LAL showdown). The Japanese WC team was also a cool choice because they were heavy underdogs representing a country that was banged up pretty bad by the earthquake and tsunami.

[Riddler This]

11:09 PM on 01/01/2012

Three words: BARCA BARCA BARCA!!!

[niko73]

09:52 PM on 01/01/2012

Do you notice how it's darn near impossible to deny any of these champions . . . EXCEPT the BSC champion? Every other sport, ever other finals, you can't say there's much of a question because they actually played the game. Can't say that for college football, though. The sport is an embarrassment and they need to get it right or they will continue to be the laughing stock.

[clarkkentgriswold]

07:58 PM on 01/01/2012

The 2011 Barcelona team is the best team to ever play the game of soccer. No question.

[Aleks Rodriguez]

03:38 PM on 01/01/2012

Is this suppose to be a joke? UConn? St Louis? The best teams of the year?

FC Barcelona are widely regarded as being one of the greatest teams, if not the greatest in the history of soccer/football by many worldwide journalists. A sport that's existed since the 1800's. In 2011 Barcelona won 5 trophies including their league trophy, the Champions league trophy (best club competition in Europe), and the Club World Cup. Plus they had the best player in the world.

Seriously, stop pandering so much to American sports. Tons of people from around the world read this website.

FC Barcelona was hands down without debate the best team in the world in any sport in 2011. They have probably more than twice the amount of fans worldwide as the Packers and UConn as well/

[clarkkentgriswold]

08:00 PM on 01/01/2012

Agreed. They completely dominate every team they play. They'd be a tremendous team even without Messi - Guardiola must get a huge amount of credit for their brilliant style of play. However, Messi's a genius. It's too bad Argentina can't figure out how to play with him.

[niko73]

09:51 PM on 01/01/2012

I think they picked the best from each sport instead of several of the best teams from one sport. Or are you denying UConn was the best NCAA basketball team last spring?

[Aleks Rodriguez]

11:10 AM on 01/02/2012

I'm not denying that. I'm denying that they were the best team in 2011 like the article states.