Many of the big sports leagues are heading into – or getting close to – the postseason. But as Tennessee fans of many teams eagerly wait to see whether a playoff run is achieved, we thought we would take a look back at 2022 in Nashville pro sports.
Here in Music City we are lucky enough to be represented in three major sports leagues and by a minor league baseball team. This year we are also anticipating the return of the Arena Football League and our very own Music City Fire. But, while betting on the NFL postseason starts going into overdrive, here is a review of how last year went for our teams.
Tennessee Titans
Once again the Titans started the year off by claiming the AFC South. It was the second straight divisional title and victories over the Dolphins and Texans made Tennessee the number one team in the conference. But Super Bowl dreams were dashed by a shock win for the Bengals in the divisional playoff round.
Back to the drawing board then – and Mike Vrabel attempting to figure out how to take the Titans yet further in his fifth year in charge. All was looking good in November when the team was 7-3. But a six-game losing streak to round off the year didn’t bode well for Super Bowl chances this season either.
Nashville Sounds
We may not have Major League Baseball in Nashville, but the Sounds are one of the most beloved minor league teams in the region and competed in the newly formed International League in 2022 after the reorganization of the Triple-A tier. It was to prove an eventful year.
Nashville clinched the International League West with a record of 91-58 – the best in all of the IL. But the Sounds couldn’t match the Durham Bulls in the championship game, going down 13-0 in the single-elimination game. It was a disappointing end to an incredible regular season and now Nashville will come back in 2023 as one of the favorites to go all the way.
Nashville SC
Soccer continues to flourish in Tennessee and Nashville SC represents at the highest level of the game in the US. Last year saw the third season of Major League Soccer in Nashville and another solid season saw the club finish fifth in the Western Conference and earn a playoff spot once again.
But the Boys in Gold came up against an LA Galaxy keen on being able to prove a point against LAFC in the next round. A solitary goal ended Nashville’s hopes of going any deeper into the playoffs. But a definite high point was Hany Mukhtar claiming the league’s top goal scorer prize and proving that he is one of the very best players in Major League Soccer.
Figure 2 The Preds are struggling after the start of the 2022-23 season
Nashville Predators
Hockey has been a real success story in Nashville over the last 20 years ago and the fans have played a big part in that – cheering the Predators onto the Stanley Cup finals in 2017. Since then it has been one-and-done postseason series for the most part – and that was the same old story at the end of the 2021-22 season.
Nashville sneaked into the Western Conference wild card spots but then came up against eventual champions Colorado. A clean sweep ended the postseason pretty quickly and thoughts turned to the current season. After starting off successfully in the Czech Republic things have gone downhill and if things don’t change in the next few months the Preds will miss out on the playoffs for the first time since 2014.
Nashville Hopes for 2023
Nashville continues to show its talents on the national sports stage and there will be fans across the various leagues that believe that a championship will be coming to the Music City this year.
Whether that happens or not is yet to be seen. But the one thing that we can all be sure of is that the fans of all our teams will be some of the noisiest and most passionate in the entire country.