Special Report
20 Biggest Blowouts in Sports History
December 3, 2021 7:00 pm
Last Updated: December 16, 2021 4:14 pm
Sports fans love nail-biting, down to the wire games. Two evenly matched teams going head to head can turn into all-time classics. Matchups like the 2016 World Series between the Cleveland Indians and Chicago Cubs or the Miracle on Ice in the 1980 Olympics are thrilling. Unfortunately, not every game can be that exciting.
The Memphis Grizzlies set an NBA record on Dec. 2, 2021 when they drubbed the Oklahoma City Thunder 152-79. The 73-point margin of victory is by far the largest in league history and one of the most lopsided scorelines in the history of any sport.
To determine the biggest blowouts in sports history, 24/7 Tempo reviewed sports data platforms like the Sports Reference family of sites to find past games of professional, college, and international sports with the largest margins of victory in sports history.
Though basketball scores are typically higher than those in football, the back-and-forth nature of the game ensures that even the worst NBA teams can still rack up points. However, in sports like baseball, football, and hockey, the biggest blowouts occur when one team is dominant on offense and defense — scoring at will on one end, and holding their opponents scoreless on the other.
In professional or college sports, the talent level should, in theory, be close enough that games should stay relatively competitive. Yet many of the teams on the losing ends of these blowouts were in the midst of losing seasons and had no hope of going to the postseason.
The lack of motivation and talent that caused these teams to have a losing record in the first place may have made them much more susceptible to losing in a lopsided fashion. These are the worst teams in the history of every sport.
Click here to see the 20 biggest blowouts in sports history.
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