I'm going to let you in on a little industry secret: The Premier League table lies.
Much like the famous quote from former NFL coach Bill Parcells, "You are what your record says you are," the idea that the Premier League table is the final source of truth about the quality of all 20 teams isn't quite right. And I don't even mean that in some confusing, underlying-numbers-y, your-eyes-are-lying-to-you kind of way. (Although, that is also true.)
Instead, I mean that all the Premier League table tells us through 38 games is how many points all 20 teams won in relation to each other.
Uh, yeah? OK, dude, what are you getting at?
Unlike American sports with playoffs or even the Champions League, you actually don't have to beat the best in order to be the best. Outside of the two games you get against the best teams in the league, your standing in the table is largely determined by how well or poorly everyone else plays against each other.
Right, Arsenal fans? The Gunners took four out of six points against both Manchester City and Liverpool, outscoring the past two teams to win the Premier League title by a combined 5-2 scoreline over four games. And yet, the Gunners head into the final weekend of the season with just a 7% chance of winning the league, per ESPN BET's odds.
The main reason Arsenal are unlikely to win the league is not that Arsenal aren't a title-caliber team -- it's that they happen to be a title-caliber team in the same season as Manchester City, the title-caliber team in six of the past seven years.
Regardless of what happens Sunday in the final matchday of the campaign, this season is going to produce at least one of the greatest second-place teams in Premier League history, and it'll also mark the end of the road for the greatest second-place manager in Premier League history.
So, you know what that means: It's time to rank the 15 greatest teams that didn't win the Premier League! From Chelsea to Manchester United and more, plus a couple other teams from this season (ahem), we'll measure what made these teams so great, even if their runs didn't end in a title.