There is a Minnesota franchise in each of the four main North American men's professional sports (MLB, NBA, NFL, NHL). It has been a while since any of those teams have won the state a championship. As a matter of fact, only the Twins of the MLB have won it all, with World Series wins in 1987 and 1991.
The Vikings of the NFL, famously, are 0-4 in the Super Bowl, and they haven’t made it since the 1976 season. The Wild of the NHL, had their inaugural season in 2000-01, and have reached the conference finals once. They have made the playoffs four of the last five years, but haven’t advanced past the first round in any of them. Previous to them, Minnesota’s NHL franchise was the North Stars (now the Dallas Stars). The North Stars reached the Stanley Cup Finals in 1981 and 1991, but fell short of the ultimate goal.
The Timberwolves, of course, have never made it to the NBA finals. They reached the Western Conference finals the last two years, for just the second and third times in franchise history.
Which Minnesota franchise has the best chance of snapping that championship drought? Let's take a look at the championship odds listed courtesy of DraftKings SportsBook (as of 7/28).
4. Twins +12000 (19th best championship odds in MLB)
The Twins are 50-55 this season, currently 5.5 games back of a wild card position. There have been no rumors of them buying at the trade deadline, instead, relievers Jhoan Duran and Griffin Jax, infielder/outfielder Willi Castro, and even perhaps ace Joe Ryan have been speculated as pieces that the Twins can trade off. The playoffs are extremely unlikely this year.
3. Wild +4000 (15th best championship odds in NHL)
The Wild might be a tad underrated with their odds. Kirill Kaprizov looked like a Hart Trophy candidate until he got injured. Goaltender Filip Gustavsson is coming off a superb season. Still, there isn’t much star power surrounding Kiprizov (signing Vladimir Tarasenko doesn’t change that much), and they are clearly behind in the Western Conference pecking order compared to teams like the Oilers, Stars, Golden Knights, and Avalanche.
2. Vikings +2800 (tied for 11th best championship odds in NFL)
The Vikings are coming off an impressive 14-3 season. Unfortunately, they put together two duds to end the year. They got blown out by the Lions in the final week of the regular season, giving Detroit the NFC North title. Minnesota then lost to the Rams 27-9 in the opening round of the NFL playoffs. This season, they turn to JJ McCarthy at quarterback. The Lions, despite having their offensive and defensive coordinators move on to different teams, are the clear favorites in the division.
1. Timberwolves +1300 (6th best championship odds in NBA)
There are a bunch of very good teams in the NBA’s Western Conference. Even with that being true, the Thunder are the clear favorites to come out of the West again. They are the reigning NBA champions, and OKC is bringing back every one of their key players.
The tier below the Thunder in the Western Conference, at least on paper, would be the Timberwolves, Nuggets, and Rockets. The Wolves bring back much of their roster from last season's conference finals team, other than Nickeil Walker-Alexander, who signed with the Hawks. Second-year players Terrence Shannon Jr. and Rob Dillingham are expected to have a larger role in his absence.