Who’s the greatest?

It’s the one question in sports that will open a door that leads to hundreds of opinions.

Therefore, I am certain there will be disagreements with my selections for the 10 greatest teams in Colorado sports history. When it comes to compiling a list of greats in sports, you can’t win.

Ever.

This particular list is dominated by teams that compete in the four “major” professional sports leagues — NFL, NBA, NHL and Major League Baseball. As it relates to major sports played in Colorado, the rewind button stopped the tape in 1970.

Before 1970, the Broncos played in the American Football League and the Nuggets were in the American Basketball Association. Neither league survived despite producing stars and an entertaining brand of ball .

No doubt, Denver has seen some great “minor league” teams through the years. But for this list, we’re like Tiger Woods — it’s all about the majors.

And please pardon me for excluding some of the college teams from way back in the day that represented our state in national championship settings.

No disrespect meant toward the players and teams from the 1930s, 1940s, 1950s and 1960s. Seems my list dates to the disco era and dances forward.

Afros. Bell-bottoms. Leisure suits. Mullets. Champions, near-champions, winners, surprise contenders, fan favorites.

So today, as the 1998 Broncos celebrate the 10-year anniversary of their win against the Atlanta Falcons in Super Bowl XXXIII, take a step back with me into the relatively recent past and remember some of the best teams in Colorado sports through the past four decades.

In choosing the 10 greatest sports teams in Colorado history, I am reminded that on this date 10 years ago, the Broncos beat the Atlanta Falcons 34-19 in Super Bowl XXXIII.

It would be the second straight Super Bowl win for Denver. It would be the last game quarterback John Elway played wearing a Broncos uniform. It was the last season in which running back Terrell Davis did not miss a game.

It was 10 years ago.

Man, time flies.

Pair the 1998 Broncos with the '97 Broncos, who captured the franchise's first Super Bowl championship, and you have the greatest team in Colorado sports history.

At least, I believe it to be so. The second- greatest team on my list wasn't so bad, either.

Picking the order of the 10 greatest wasn't easy. My criteria were pretty simple: number of regular-season wins, playoff performances and championships won. Star power and fan connection were important elements, too.

Oh, and bonus points if broadcasting great Dick Enberg was behind the microphone for one of the great moments. He was for "The Drive" in 1987 in Cleveland, the 1991 Orange Bowl, Game 5 of the Nuggets-Sonics playoff series in 1994 and Super Bowl XXXII.

In making out this list, there was a bit of tug of war going on inside my head.

For example, the right side of the brain wanted to restrict the list to pro teams. The left side said, "Hey man, the University of Colorado's 1990 national championship football team ought to be on your list."

The left side won.

But the left side also suggested the 1984-85 Nuggets be included. You remember, the team that won 52 games and made the Western Conference final after the biggest trade in franchise history - Kiki Vandeweghe for Calvin Natt, Lafayette "Fat" Lever, Wayne Cooper and a pair of draft picks.

The left side also suggested the 1996 Broncos - the best Broncos team that didn't go to a Super Bowl. The team that lost at home against Jacksonville in the playoffs.

It was the game tight end Shannon Sharpe said the franchise might not recover from for years.

Of course, the Broncos went on to win Super Bowls in the next two seasons and, because of it, Sharpe might be elected into the Pro Football Hall of Fame today.

And those two championships are why the '97-'98 Broncos, combined in my book, have an edge over any other teams the state has seen.

Who is ranked, and where I've ranked them, might not rate as a perfect 10 in your book. But it is my list, after all - a list of the 10 greatest teams in Colorado sports history.

1. 1997 and '98 Broncos

Going into Super Bowl XXXIII, this group should have been shooting for the first three peat in Super Bowl history. But they choked in the '96 playoffs. Teams still feared the arm of John Elway, above, but no matter what anyone tells you, Terrell Davis' legs made the Broncos offense run with precision-like perfection. Davis ran for 2,008 yards in '98, and that team was driven - if not obsessed - with a championship repeat. When you hear talk of great Super Bowl teams, the '98 Broncos rarely are mentioned. To me, they were one of the three best Super Bowl-winning teams of the 1990s.

2. 2000-01 Avalanche

With an All-Star lineup that included Raymond Bourque, Patrick Roy, Joe Sakic, Peter Forsberg, Adam Foote and Rob Blake, they were supposed to win a Stanley Cup. The Avs won Game 7 of the Finals against the New Jersey Devils - the most important playoff game ever staged in Denver. Bourque, above, hoisted the Cup for the first time - and the final NHL game - in his 22-year Hall of Fame career. Long after the game ended, Bourque looked at me, sighed and said, 'I'm the man.' We smiled. I couldn't argue that fact.

3. 1975-76 Nuggets

Every night was a shootout at McNichols Sports Arena for these Nuggets, who might have won the American Basketball Association championship - except in the Finals, they had to compete against the league's greatest player, Julius "Dr. J" Erving, and the New York Nets. Denver led Game 6 by 22 points before the Nets mounted a comeback to claim the title in the final ABA game ever played. In a time-machine matchup, I'd pick this Nuggets team - with acrobatic David Thompson, above, and high-scoring Dan Issel - to win a series against any other Nuggets team.

4. 1995-96 Avalanche

Denver's first pro championship was supposed to come from the Broncos, right? Somehow, a team from Quebec - the Nordiques - with a young Joe Sakic, above, managed to skate into McNichols Sports Arena and beat the local NFL team to the punch. Remember the Patrick Roy trade, and people wondering why his last name is pronounced "Waaah"? A lot of those same people were turning in their orange Broncos jerseys for Avs sweaters after Uwe Krupp scored the winning goal in the third overtime period of Game 4 to clinch the Stanley Cup against the Florida Panthers.

5. 2007 Rockies

They were a .500 team in mid-July. In late September, they became the 1927 New York Yankees, winning 13 of their final 14 games in the month. Rocktober fever gripped the Rocky Mountain region as the Rockies beat San Diego in a one-game playoff for the playoffs, then swept Philadelphia and Arizona for their first National League pennant. The Boston Red Sox swept Colorado in the World Series, but the mania sure was fun while it lasted. For one special six-week stretch, we had championship-caliber baseball in Denver.

6. 1977 Broncos

Denver was sweet on its first NFL playoff team. Sweet like M&Ms - as in Craig Morton, above, and Haven Moses on offense. Sweet like soda, as in a dominant defense nicknamed the Orange Crush. And how sweet was it to defeat the bitter-rival Oakland Raiders to go to Super Bowl XII. Sweetness aside, these Broncos were as tough as nails on the football field - with a defense that hasn't been matched by the franchise in more than 30 years.

7. 1993-94 Nuggets

Close your eyes and you still can see Dikembe Mutombo on the floor, smiling and clutching the basketball. On paper, Denver's first-round, best-of-five series was a mismatch in favor of the Seattle SuperSonics. The Nuggets won Game 5 to become the NBA's first No. 8 seed to eliminate a No. 1 seed - and capture the attention of the sports world. People were talking basketball in Denver again. It should've been the start of something big for the Nuggets organization. Instead, they let it crumble to shame.

8. 1990 CU football

I know what you're thinking - this team should be ranked higher because it won a national championship. OK, a share of the national title. Georgia Tech won the coaches' poll. Too many weird occurrences around the Buffs. A fifth-down win in Missouri. A one-point loss at Illinois. A season-opening tie against Tennessee. Still, the Buffs, led by Darian Hagan, above, reached the Orange Bowl in Miami, where their undefeated season ended against Notre Dame the previous year. In a rematch against the Fighting Irish, Ronnie Bradford's blocked extra-point attempt, and the clipping penalty that nullified Raghib Ismail's punt return for a touchdown, helped CU win 10-9. The state of Colorado turned upside down in celebration.

9. 1995 Rockies

They gave Colorado, as well as the Rocky Mountain region, its first case of pennant fever - playing their third season in the majors and first at Coors Field. In the opening game of the season - and at Coors Field - Dante Bichette, second from right, hit a winning home run in the bottom of the 14th inning to beat the New York Mets. It was a good omen for the homer-happy Blake Street Bombers, who proved good hitting can beat good pitching - but you can't win a championship without good starting pitching. There was no shame in losing to the eventual World Series champion Atlanta Braves.

10. 1986 Broncos

This team finished with 11 wins and the AFC West title. Remember, the '85 Broncos won 11 games - and missed the playoffs. The Broncos went to Cleveland to play the Browns in the AFC Championship Game. Quarterback Bernie Kosar threw a 48-yard touchdown pass to Brian Brennan, helping give Cleveland a 20-13 lead with 5:43 left in regulation. Game over, right? Instead, John Elway, above, engineered a 98-yard tying touchdown march remembered as The Drive. Rich Karlis' 33-yard field goal in overtime sent the Broncos out of the rubble of Milk-Bones thrown by Cleveland fans and into Super Bowl XXI in Pasadena, Calif. Trust me, Browns fans still haven't recovered.

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