Pride of Detroit
The Detroit sports teams are (almost) all very competitive. But who will lift their respective trophy first?
If I had a nickel for every time a Detroit football team lost in disappointing fashion to a Washington-based team in the playoffs in 2025, I’d have two nickels. Which isn’t a lot, but it’s weird that it happened twice.
The Michigan Panthers of the United Football League shared a similar fate as the Detroit Lions of the National Football League. The Lions, winners of the NFC’s top seed, fell to the Washington Commanders in a playoff letdown. The Panthers, meanwhile, lost to the DC Defenders in the UFL’s championship showdown, getting demolished to the tune of 58-34. Playoff hardships are nothing new to Detroit sports, with the Detroit Tigers (MLB) and Detroit Pistons (NBA) also falling short in their latest playoff appearances. The last major professional sports team in Detroit to hoist their respective trophy was the 2008 Detroit Red Wings, an era of domination that feels long passed.
The University of Michigan Wolverines graced the state of Michigan with their NCAA football championship back in January of 2024, but otherwise, it has been a barren trophy cabinet for the state. Looking exclusively at professional sports, which team has the best chance to win a championship?
Today’s Question of the Day is:
My answer: the Detroit Lions.
Had you asked me a year ago, this would have been a lock for the Lions. The other franchises in Detroit were struggling, and the Lions were nearly atop the league and one half of football away from a Super Bowl appearance. Yet while I still think they are the likeliest to win a title for Detroit, there are some competitors.
The Panthers are quite literally the closest to a championship—they just lost in the title game, of course. However, unlike most of the professional teams in Detroit, the Panthers play in a lower tier. The UFL is equivalent to the minor leagues for the NFL, and as a result, there can be a high roster turnover from year to year. For example, the Panthers were carried by quarterback Bryce Perkins, winner of the league’s MVP award this season. He is almost certainly a lock to re-join the NFL this upcoming summer, leaving a major question mark for the Panthers. The UFL is a smaller league (just eight teams), but next year’s roster could look very different.
The other team that gave me surprising consideration were the Tigers. For years, the Tigers were in their rebuilding phase—perhaps too long for some fans. Yet years of mediocrity has seemingly been rewarded. The Tigers are the surprise of the 2025 MLB season thus far—as of this writing, they have a MLB-leading 46 wins with a stellar 46-27 record.
Sure, they play in a weak division (the Chicago White Sox in particular are a bottom-feeder), inflating their win total. However, the Tigers have the makeup of a...
