Gotta finish high in the regular season

History indicates that if you want to win a Cup in the EURO League, you have to place your team very high in the regular season standings. Teams that finished 1st won 5 times; teams that placed 2nd won 6 Cups; 3rd place finishers won 3 times; 4th place finishers won 3 Cups and Berlin placed 5th overall in Season 13 and was the lowest-seeded team ever to win it all.

Here is a list of where the eventual Cup winners placed in the regular season each season.

Season 1 – 1st place team won the Cup
Season 2 – 3rd place team won the Cup
Season 3 – 4th place team won the Cup
Season 4 – 3rd place team won the Cup
Season 5 – 1st place team won the Cup
Season 6 – 1st place team won the Cup
Season 7 – 2nd place team won the Cup
Season 8 – 1st place team won the Cup
Season 9 – 2nd place team won the Cup
Season 10 – 4th place team won the Cup
Season 11 – 2nd place team won the Cup
Season 12 – 4th place team won the Cup
Season 13 – 5th place team won the Cup
Season 14 – 2nd place team won the Cup
Season 15 – 2nd place team won the Cup
Season 16 – 2nd place team won the Cup
Season 17 – 1st place team won the Cup
Season 18 – 3rd place team won the Cup

Helsinki’s Cup win this season reinforces the point that finishing first overall in the regular season guarantees nothing. Munich poured it on to win the regular season title this season, but fell in the Cup Finals to the Jokerits.

In the 18 seasons of the EURO League, only 5 regular season champs went on to win the Cup: