The Biggest Bandwagon Teams of My Lifetime

What is a bandwagon team?  It’s a sports team that everyone suddenly likes.  

People with no previous connection to the team go out and buy the jerseys, hats, and (once upon a time) Starter jackets.  

The bandwagon team always has a couple of popular players.  They often have a charismatic coach.  One thing is certain: they have style and panache.  

Is it ever okay to jump on a bandwagon?  The short answer is no.  Bandwagoning is not allowed.  Just because a lot of people do it, doesn’t mean it’s okay. 

In the world of sports fandom, each person is allowed to pick one favorite team per sport at every level, and that’s it.  

Get ready for the exception: children ages 0 to 12 are allowed to switch their favorite teams whenever they want.  Bandwagon rules do not apply.  They can even switch allegiances in the middle of a game.  It does not matter.  

Once children turn 13, they have to follow the rules.  They’ve had ample time to pick their team in each sport, at every level.  Now, they’re stuck.  They must root for their chosen teams through thick and thin.*

(*Two “out clauses” exist:  1. A team moves to a different city.  For example, when the Sonics moved from Seattle to Oklahoma City, all of their fans were free to revoke their allegiance.  2. A team’s owner displays a continued pattern of stupidity and/or neglect.  Current examples include, but are not limited to the Knicks, Redskins, and Cowboys.  Those teams’ fans are free to go at any time.)

The general rule is “no bandwagon jumping.”

But that’s not the end of the story.  In some cases, jumping on a bandwagon is acceptable, as long as all five of these conditions are met simultaneously:

Bandwagon Condition #1: Your team’s season is officially over and the postseason is underway.

Bandwagon Condition #2: The bandwagon team is facing a detestable opponent.

Bandwagon Condition #3: The bandwagon team’s best player and coach are generally likable.    

Bandwagon Condition #4: The bandwagon team’s uniforms are not horrendous.

Bandwagon Condition #5: The bandwagon team has a unique or interesting story behind it.

If all five of these conditions are met, you are permitted to hop on the bandwagon.

How about a test run?  Let’s plug the Brady/Belichick Patriots into the equation and see if jumping on their bandwagon would ever be acceptable.  

Bandwagon Condition #1: If the postseason has begun, odds are that your team is out and the Patriots are in. So far, so good.  

Bandwagon Condition #2: No. The Patriots are not facing a detestable opponent.  They are the detestable opponent.

Bandwagon Condition #3: No.  Neither Brady nor Belichick is “likable.”

Bandwagon Condition #4: The Patriots’ uniforms are horrendous.  This is another disqualification.

Bandwagon Condition #5: This one is 50/50.  The Patriots do have a lot of interesting storylines in their background, but most of them involve cheating (Spygate I, Deflategate, and now Spygate II).

Verdict: Jumping on the Patriots bandwagon is never permissible.

One more test run.  How about the ’85 Bears? 

Bandwagon Condition #1: Check.  They went 15-1 and made the postseason.

Bandwagon Condition #2: They played the Patriots in the Super Bowl. So yes, they faced a detestable opponent. 

Bandwagon Condition #3: Their best player was Walter Payton and their coach was Mike Ditka.  Both were highly likable.

Bandwagon Condition #4: The Bears wore/wear pretty good uniforms.  Classy.  Not too bad.

Bandwagon Condition #5: Interesting storylines: they had never won a Super Bowl before, the players made a music video called the “Super Bowl Shuffle” before they had even qualified for the Super Bowl, QB Jim McMahon taunted the NFL commissioner about the dress code during a game, Walter Payton was the best player in the NFL at the time and perhaps the greatest of all time, the ’85 Bears had the greatest defense in NFL history (when have you ever seen a shutout in the conference championship game?), Ditka’s mustache, the Fridge.

Verdict: Jumping on the ’85 Bears bandwagon would have been fully permitted for anyone except Patriots fans.

Addendum 1: Even if you legally hop on a team’s bandwagon, you are never allowed to buy their gear.  You may cheer, but you may not wear (unless you’re 12 or under).

Addendum 2: Once a new season begins, your full allegiance must revert back to your original team.  A bandwagon jump can only be temporary (unless you’re 12 or under).

Let’s look at the biggest bandwagon teams that I have seen in my lifetime, in no particular order.  These are the teams that inspired many hat, jersey, and Starter jacket purchases.  

These teams caused many bandwagon jumpers to be asked in shock and disbelief by friends and loved ones, “Since when are you a _________ fan?”

(The bandwagon jumper will inevitably insist that he or she has been a _________ fan “forever.”  But we know the truth.  That Starter jacket looks brand new, so it’s more likely that they’ve been a fan for about two weeks.)

The biggest bandwagon teams that I have seen in my lifetime*:

(*I grew up in South Bend, Indiana, so several teams will not appear on my list: Notre Dame, Purdue, Indiana University, Chicago Bears, Bulls, White Sox, Cubs, Blackhawks, Indianapolis Colts, Pacers.  Those are the “home” teams where I grew up.  A home team cannot be a bandwagon team.  Let’s say you live in South Bend and you’ve never watched a White Sox game in your life.  Then one day, you notice that the White Sox are doing well and you go out and buy their hat.  You are not a bandwagoner.  You are simply fulfilling your civic duty by supporting a “home” team.  Buying a Red Sox hat, on the other hand, would make you a bandwagoner.  If you love Boston so much, why don’t you move there?)

1993 Florida State Seminoles (football)

Charlie Ward was their quarterback (and also a star basketball player).  He went on to win the Heisman Trophy that year.  Bobby Bowden was the legendary coach.  FSU had cool colors.  They were the upstart football program in the state of Florida at the time, doing their best to catch up with the Miami Hurricanes, who had dominated the 80’s.

In ‘93, FSU’s one loss was at Notre Dame.  Even though Notre Dame won the head-to-head matchup and also finished with just one loss, FSU was awarded the National Championship. 

Why?  Probably because the Seminoles were the big bandwagon team that year.

The Fab Five—University of Michigan, 1991-1993 (basketball)

Steve Fisher was not a charismatic coach, but his players more than made up for it.  The Fab Five was the best class of basketball recruits that I’ve ever seen.  They all started as freshmen and they made it to the national championship game their freshman and sophomore years. 

Chris Webber, Juwan Howard, Jalen Rose, Jimmy King, and Ray Jackson had style.  They had the black Air Maxes, black socks, and baggy shorts and jerseys.  

A lot of people jumped on the Fab Five bandwagon, especially in ’93 when they went up against big, bad Eric Montross and North Carolina in the title game. 

Michigan lost.  If they had won, the victory would have been rescinded years later, anyway, when the NCAA discovered that the Fab Five had broken a few rules.  (A Michigan booster gave them money while they were student-athletes.  Appalling, isn’t it?  Especially considering the millions that the University of Michigan, the NCAA, Nike, and CBS all raked in thanks to the Fab Five.)

The Jerry Rice/ Joe Montana San Francisco 49ers 

Like with Florida State, red and gold seem to be good colors for a bandwagon team to wear.  The Niners were a juggernaut in the late 80’s and early 90’s.  They attracted plenty of bandwagon support from fans far and wide.  

Their success began and ended with the short pass to Jerry Rice.  Once he had the ball, he could break out for a big play at any given moment because he was such a great runner.  

If Rice was covered, Montana could always get the ball to John Taylor or Roger Craig, who were dangerous as well.  

With coach Bill Walsh at the helm, the 49ers were an exciting and successful team, winning back-to-back Super Bowls in the ’88 and ’89 seasons.  To top it all off, their bandwagon was packed to the gills.

The 2015 “Legion of Boom” Seattle Seahawks

Richard Sherman, Earl Thomas, and Kam Chancellor patrolled the defensive backfield as the “Legion of Boom.”  

Marshawn Lynch, Russell Wilson, and Percy Harvin powered the high-octane offense.

Seattle had a distinct advantage at every home game because of their raucous fans, a.k.a. “The 12th Man.”  

The 2015 Seahawks had everything going for them: underdog status (the franchise had never won a Super Bowl), very cool blue and green uniforms, a coach in Pete Carroll who was just one of the guys, and most importantly, they played with edge and attitude.  

When they dismantled Peyton Manning’s Broncos in the Super Bowl that year, bandwagoners all over the country rejoiced.

2014-2016 Golden State Warriors 

These were the homegrown Warriors.  Steph Curry, Klay Thompson, Harrison Barnes, and Draymond Green went from the bottom of the standings to hoisting the championship trophy in the span of just a few years.

They were undersized.  They relied heavily on jump shooting.  None of them were top-5 picks in the draft.  None of them were flashy dunkers.  On offense, their manic movement and passing game were unique.  They dared you to play fast like them, to shoot 3’s like them.  Other teams couldn’t keep up.  

In 2015, they took out Lebron James and the Cavs in the Finals.  The next year, they set the regular season record with 73 wins.    

But in the 2016 Finals, Lebron did the impossible and willed the Cavs back from a 3-1 series deficit to defeat the Warriors.

That summer, Kevin Durant signed with Golden State and replaced Harrison Barnes.  The Warriors became a “super team.”  They were no longer the underdogs. 

They won two titles with KD, but it wasn’t the same as before.  Their mind-bending style and flair on offense faded away.  They became more methodical.  Since Durant can score at-will in one-on-one situations, they often left the ball in his hands and cleared out of the way.

Who didn’t love the pre-KD Warriors?  Pretty much everybody outside of Cleveland jumped on the bandwagon at some point.  Steph Curry jerseys were everywhere.  

Durant’s arrival made the Warriors unstoppable, but he took away their underdog status.  Fewer fans got on the bandwagon as a result.  Now that he has moved on to the Brooklyn Nets and Steph Curry and Klay Thompson are out injured, the Warriors are struggling. The bandwagon is empty.  

When Curry and Thompson return to the court next season, we’ll find out if the Warriors can regain their status as a big time bandwagon team. 

1995 Dallas Cowboys

The ’95 Cowboys won the franchise’s third Super Bowl in four years.  But this particular Cowboys team was unique.  This Cowboys team had Deion Sanders.  

They already had All-Pros Troy Aikman, Emmitt Smith, and Michael Irvin.  Adding “Neon” Deion, the two-sport megastar, into the mix brought Cowboys bandwagon jumpers out of the woodwork.

The Cowboys had pizzazz and they dominated.  The emblematic play that year was in the Super Bowl against the Steelers, when Deion (normally a cornerback) came in at wide receiver and caught a 47-yard pass, setting up their first touchdown in a game that they would go on to win 27-17. 

When Deion made that play on the biggest stage, it was the ultimate in-your-face move.  It was the ultimate cocky move.  It was the ultimate Cowboys move.  

Defense?  Offense?  Punt returns?  Deion wanted to do it all, and he did.

Not many people could resist hopping on the Cowboys bandwagon that year.

Miami Hurricanes (football)

This was the longest-running bandwagon of all time.  It began in the 80’s with Bernie Kosar, Vinnie Testaverde, and Steve Walsh and lasted through the 90’s and early 2000’s with Warren Sapp, Devin Hester, and Clinton Portis.  

People loved the white, orange, and green uniforms and the no-holds-barred attitude.  The Hurricanes won and they won big.  The coaches barely cared to contain the players’ exuberance.  They scoffed at personal fouls and celebration penalties.  They had no doubt that they would win, and they usually did.  

Miami’s legacy: five national championships from 1983 to 2001, dozens of players picked in the first round of the NFL draft, and millions and millions of Starter jackets sold (and sometimes orange jeans to match, for an added touch).    

The Ken Griffey Jr./Randy Johnson Seattle Mariners

That was a great Mariners team back in the 90’s.  They made the playoffs a couple of times, but never made it to the World Series.  Ken Griffey Jr. had speed, style, and a sweet home run stroke.  Randy Johnson’s fastball was untouchable.  They had Edgar Martinez, Tino Martinez, and a young shortstop prodigy named Alex Rodriguez.  

They could have used a bit more pitching to get them over the hump in the playoffs.  One thing they didn’t lack: people jumping on their bandwagon.

2004 Boston Red Sox

They came back from a 3-0 series deficit to beat the dreaded Yankees and win the pennant.  They swept the Cardinals in the World Series to win their first title since 1918. In doing so, they broke the “Curse of the Bambino.”  

Everyone outside of New York and St. Louis was on the Red Sox bandwagon that year.  I was cheering them on.  Now that they’ve won four World Series titles in 15 years, though, my warm feelings toward the ’04 team have dissipated just a bit.   

Strike that.  They’ve dissipated completely.  Manny Ramirez?  Curt Schilling?  Johnny Damon?  What was I thinking, cheering for them?  I no longer have any warm feelings toward the ’04 Red Sox.   

This has been a list of the biggest bandwagon teams of my lifetime.  If you have discovered that you are an unlawful bandwagoner, I urge you to repent and mend your ways. 

If you have stuck with all the teams you picked at age 13 (or prior), I commend you.  You are not a bandwagoner.  You are true sports fan. 

If I have missed any bandwagon teams, please leave a comment and let me know. 

Check back soon for my upcoming lists: the reverse-bandwagon teams, and the teams that should have been bandwagon teams but weren’t.