Ranking Southern California’s most relevant pro/college teams

The names at the top of our annual State of Southern California Sports rankings don’t tend to change much. (Although, if the few respondents to my request for input a couple of weeks ago are any indication, the gap toward the top is widening, and that shouldn’t be surprising.)

But – have we said this before? – we have a deep bench here, in the second-largest metropolitan region in the United States (more than 18.3 million population over Ventura, L.A., Orange, San Bernardino and Riverside counties as of 2023) and undisputably the most diverse sports market in North America. The list of teams representing SoCal has lengthened over the years, and this doesn’t even take into account the sports culture bubbling under the surface of the major league franchises and major college programs surveyed here.

The criteria, as we’ve stated before, goes back to 2005 when we first began this yearly feature for The Press-Enterprise. The ranking involves a combination of competitive success, historic importance in the market, interest level and, not insignificantly, fan passion.

One measuring stick: If a team wins a championship, how big is the crowd at the parade? That should help explain the very top of the 2025 list.

1. Dodgers (last year 1): It is hard to think of a team that followed such a successful October with an even more impactful offseason. And it is easy to forget now that as the 2024 postseason began, Dodger fans were working through their own form of PTSD after first-round flameouts the previous two years. The margin between winning and misery, Pat Riley’s old line, is that thin.

(Yet when I asked in the column a couple of weeks ago for responses to the question of which team was truly No. 1 in this market – and the sentiment among those who wrote was unanimous – this passage from Jeff Teal of Los Alamitos probably summed them all up: “It’s no contest … ONLY THE DODGERS fans proudly wear their gear 12 months of the year, have a Pantone color all their own, fly their Dodger flags in season AND offseason. You don’t see much Laker gear or flags in July or August, but I see Dodgers hats and clothes 365 days a year.”

2. Lakers (last year 2): Laker fans, your turn to respond if you wish, although I would imagine that the vast majority of fans in this market fervently root for both. And both organizations have this in their DNA: Star quality matters, a lot. The Luka Doncic trade with Dallas was a shock because no one dreamed Doncic would be available. But consider: The top four scorers in NBA history and six of the first 11 all wore Laker uniforms at some point: LeBron James, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Karl Malone and Kobe Bryant in the top four, Wilt Chamberlain at No. 7 and Shaquille O’Neal at No. 11. Bryant was acquired in a draft night trade and the others were all free agents or acquired in trade. What the Lakers want, they often get.

3. Rams (last year 3): The Rams have been back for nearly a decade, still reassembling a fan base after 21 years away from the market but building on a vibrant L.A. history. And General Manager Les Snead and Coach Sean McVay have prioritized the present. The result: An 80-52 regular-season record and four division titles in McVay’s eight seasons, along with one Lombardi Trophy.

4. (tie) UCLA and USC women’s basketball (last year tied at No. 6): All these years, as women’s basketball has grown as a sport and a spectator attraction, its power centers were in the hinterlands: Storrs, Conn., Knoxville, Baton Rouge, Columbia, S.C., and Iowa City. Now the epicenter is Los Angeles, and that can’t possibly be bad for the sport. Two dynamic programs 12 miles apart, and two coaches in Cori Close and Lindsay Gottlieb who are rivals on the sidelines but have worked together to promote their teams and their sport.

(And if you don’t already have tickets for the teams’ rematch at Pauley Pavilion on March 1, you’re too late. It was sold out a week ago.)

6. Galaxy (last year 16): This is a resurrection story. Since 2014, when the Galaxy won its third MLS Cup in four seasons and fifth overall, the franchise seemed to have lost its way and was overtaken by the new franchise in town, LAFC. El Tráfico always has been a fair fight, but after winning Cup No. 6 in December the legacy franchise in Carson again has a leg up on the upstarts from downtown.

7. Chargers (last year 9): The Chargers are gaining market share, and under Jim Harbaugh there does seem to be a new attitude and approach. But a first-round departure in the playoffs brought back some old demons. Chargering is still a real thing until the team proves otherwise.

8. Clippers (last year 4): The Intuit Dome is impressive, and the Clippers have assembled a quietly capable roster. But they need to do some damage in the playoffs – and that could also be interpreted as Kawhi Leonard staying healthy through the postseason, which is never a sure thing.

9. UCLA men’s basketball (last year 11): Thanks to the transfer portal, rooting for a college team – and particularly men’s basketball and football – more than ever is rooting for laundry. The retooled Bruins are an NCAA Tournament-caliber team again, but they are just 1-5 in the Eastern and Central time zones … and next month’s Big Ten Tournament is in Indianapolis.

10. USC football (last year 8): Take away Lincoln Riley’s first season, when the Trojans were one balky Caleb Williams hamstring from getting to their first College Football Playoff, and there’s not a lot to distinguish Riley’s tenure from that of predecessor Clay Helton. Oh, and Helton brings his Georgia Southern team to the Coliseum on Sept. 6. Will Trojan fans greet him warmly, in a “those days really weren’t that bad” way?

11. LAFC (last year 10): LAFC finished 19-7-8 last season, identical to the Galaxy, won two of the three head-to-head meetings and then had to revamp the roster to satisfy the league’s punitive salary cap regulations. Ideally, each team pushes the other to be better. Isn’t that the way it should always be in a two-team market?

12. Kings (last year 12): This team seems to have reached a ceiling, and that won’t change until it at least wins a playoff series and, ideally, gets past the Edmonton Oilers. To date, Rob Blake’s front office has flubbed its rebuild of what was considered an elite franchise a decade ago. Kings fans, historically among the most loyal in this market, deserve better.

13. Angels (last year 13): The tenor of emails from Angels fans over the last few years has remained consistent. They’re loyal to the team, frustrated by its lack of progress over the last decade and fed up with Arte Moreno’s ownership. Meanwhile, in the what-else-can-go-wrong category, what seemed to be a Hall of Fame track for Mike Trout has stalled because of injuries the last three years. Will a shift to right field make a difference?

14. Angel City FC (last year 5): If this is indeed a golden era for women’s sports, the pro franchises in this town need to keep up with their college counterparts. ACFC had a shot at the postseason going into last September, but finished 1-4-2 to wind up 12th in a 14-team league at 7-13-6, changed coaches and executives and was penalized for salary cap violations while also going through an ownership shuffle. The good news: ACFC has a new performance center at Cal Lutheran. That’s a start.

15. Ducks (last year 17): Are there signs of progress in Anaheim, after what has seemed to be an interminable rebuilding project? The Ducks entered the Four Nations break with six victories in seven games and at 24-24-6 were within nine points of a wild-card playoff spot. That’s improvement, but for a franchise that hasn’t reached the postseason since 2018 it’s not enough. I’m sure GM Pat Verbeek would agree.

16. USC men’s basketball (last year 14): It’s still a football sch– I mean, a women’s basketball school. Eric Musselman replaced Andy Enfield and attempted to build a roster on the fly through the portal, but that’s a long, hard slog. There’s potential here, but the process will take a while.