Over the last year in sports, there's been a trend developing: long-time hard-luck teams finally breaking through and winning titles. Starting in October with the Anaheim Angels' stunning victory in the 2002 World Series, every major championship has gone to a team or organization that never has won a title or has gone many years without winning it all.

Before last season, the Angels labored for 41 seasons without playing in a World Series. In 1986, they were one strike away from the World Series, and in 1995 they blew an 11-game lead in August. But last season, after a 6-14 start, the Angels rode the Rally Monkey into the playoffs, where they knocked off the New York Yankees en route to their first World Series championship.

For years, Ohio State wasn't so much worried about winning football titles as it was with beating its hated rival, Michigan. The Buckeyes finished the 2002 regular season undefeated after beating the Wolverines in their finale. In January's Fiesta Bowl, they upset heavily favored Miami and earned their first national championship since 1968.

Since entering the NFL in 1976, the Tampa Bay Buccaneers had been the laughingstock of the league. They lost their first 26 games, and later lost 10 or more games for 12 consecutive seasons (1983-1994). But anchored by the league's best defense, the Bucs rolled through the playoffs and stymied the league's No. 1 offense in Super Bowl XXXVII, crushing the Raiders 48-21.

The Syracuse Orangemen started the 2002-03 campaign unranked and underclassed, with just one senior on the roster. Led by freshman sensation Carmelo Anthony, Syracuse finished 24-5 and earned a No. 3 seed in the NCAA tournament. The school had reached the Final Four on three previous occasions, but the 'Cuse had yet to win the elusive title. But this dance was different, as Jim Boeheim's bunch cruised through the tourney and knocked off Kansas in the title game, giving the school its first NCAA crown.

Now that the 2003 NBA playoffs are underway, it will be interesting to see if the Cinderella-story trend can continue.

The glass slipper seems to fit the Kings best -- it's been 51 seasons since their last NBA title -- and a championship this season would relieve the pain of last year's collapse in Game 7 of the Western Conference Finals. But there also are eight teams in the postseason who've never won the prize, including the Suns, Jazz, Mavericks and Timberwolves in the West, and the Pacers, Nets, Hornets and Magic in the East. In fact, of the current 16 playoff teams, only the Lakers and Spurs have won a championship in the last 12 seasons.

Moving on to the NHL, Anaheim's sweep of the Red Wings in the first round set the stage for a new Stanley Cup champion in 2003. Minnesota's upset of Colorado took another NHL powerhouse out of the postseason fray.

Five of the remaining eight teams have never won the Stanley Cup, including the upstart Mighty Ducks and Wild. The two first-round upsets in the Western Conference are a big boost to the fourth-seeded Canucks, who have yet to bring home the Cup in 32 frustrating seasons. Will the slipper fit this time around?