Who’ll join the Yankees in trying to end New York’s continuing title drought by its headliner teams?

We already knew that the Giants defeating Brady and Belichick and the Patriots for the second time in the Super Bowl in Feb. 2012 was a long time ago, and no sports fan here needs to be reminded of their favourite teams’ various shortcomings

Still, sometimes you come across a round-number statistic that jumps out at you as a number of significance.

The Blueshirts’ elimination in Game 6 of the Eastern Conference Final by the Panthers makes it a combined 100 seasons played by the Rangers, Islanders, Yankees, Mets, Knicks, Nets, Jets and Giants since the latter hoisted NFL’s Lombardi Trophy a dozen years ago.

Additionally, If you total up the length of each team’s drought — I was told there’d be no math! — it’s 287 seasons, with the Jets at 55 years and counting, the Knicks at 51, the Nets at 47 (never in the NBA), the Isles at 41, the Mets at 37, the Rangers now at 30 (and once in 84!), the Yankees at 14 and the Giants at 12. (Note: I’d also count the Devils (2003) as a local team since all of their games are aired in our TV market, which would push that aggregated figure to 308 seasons).

Anyway, for today’s exercise, let’s take a look at each team’s current title potential, listed in order of which local franchises are closest to halting the collective dry spell in these four sports.

Yankees: Pending free agent Juan Soto and scorching-hot Aaron Judge are rocking the M & M (Mantle and Maris) vibes in the Boogie Down, but the Yankees’ title hopes as early as this fall hinge on what surprisingly has been a stellar pitching staff that somehow has posted an MLB-best 2.78 ERA, all without a single pitch thrown by reigning Cy Young winner Gerrit Cole. Can Rookie of the Year frontrunner Luis Gil (7-1, 1.99) hold up and avoid an innings shutdown through the second half?

Knicks: Tom Thibodeau and All-Star point guard Jalen Brunson have established a long-absent culture at the Garden, and team prez Leon Rose faces key decisions this summer on how to get from Point B to Point C in terms of title contention. Does he run it back with three-time All-Star Julius Randle following season-ending shoulder surgery, or attempt to trade him in a package with draft picks for an upgrade to the roster the Knicks went to war with in the playoffs?

Rangers: Saturday’s loss is fresh in our minds, but the 2023-24 Presidents’ Trophy winners still have the splendid Igor Shesterkin in goal and a talented core. But another postseason fade by star winger Artemi Panarin, among others, makes you wonder if GM Chris Drury will look to shake up the top-of-the-roster mix for Peter Laviolette’s second year at MSG.

Jets: I was a year old when Joe Namath backed up his guarantee in Super Bowl III and just turned 56 a few weeks back. The Jets’ drought now exceeds the 54-year “now I can die in peace” skid the Rangers endured before finally winning it all behind Mark Messier’s guarantee in 1994. Complementing one of the NFL’s top defences, does 40-year-old QB Aaron Rodgers have enough left following Achilles surgery to make a serious run?

Giants: The Giants fittingly land in the middle of this list, because that’s where they are in their team’s development, whether it’s middling quarterback Daniel Jones trying to play closer to the scrambler who led them to a playoff spot in 2022 than the one who ran for his life behind a patchwork offensive line before suffering a non-contact ACL injury last year. Saquon Barkley is gone, but first-round wide receiver Malik Nabers could provide a long-coveted playmaker for Jones.

Devils: New Jersey took a step back and missed the playoffs after up-ending the Rangers in the first round in 2023, but a young core fronted by Jack Hughes and Jesper Bratt gives new coach Sheldon Keefe plenty of talent to build around in Newark.

Islanders: Following a coaching change that brought Hall of Fame goalie Patrick Roy behind the bench, the Isles rallied to qualify for the postseason for the fifth time in six years. But a second straight first-round departure felt like the window for any title contention for Lou Lamoriello’s group is just about closed.

Mets: Steve Cohen’s club went all-in to win it all before the start of the 2023 season, but a glorious flame-out resulted in the pawning-off of veteran studs Max Scherzer and Justin Verlander, among others. This year’s squad has been underwhelming for weeks with Pete Alonso headed for free agency and with Edwin Diaz unable to rediscover his 2022 magic following the WBC injury wreckage of last year.

Nets: Brooklyn’s all-in manoeuvres to land Kevin Durant, Kyrie Irving and James Harden ended in disaster, and Year 1 of their post-Big 3 retooling wasn’t much better. A 32-50 record in 2023-24 now turns to a summer with zero draft picks for new coach Jordi Fernandez to integrate into his rotation next season.

-- New York Post