Before we start, I'd like to clarify that the criterion for rating these teams is based upon the probability of success over the next seven years. Despite the fact that the New York Yankees, Detroit Red Wings and Los Angeles Lakers are great teams, they are relatively old and therefore will not be included in this list. I'm also including only one team per sport.

1. FC Barcelona (FIFA) - La Liga's best side is littered with young talent all over the pitch. Not only is this one of the most fun teams to play with in any soccer video game, the team is more than willing financially speaking to upgrade any problems that may arise. Lionel Messi is the finest soccer player on the planet and is somehow only 23 years old. FC Barcelona also has two of the best midfielders in the world in Xavi and World Cup hero Andres Iniesta. Add in David Villa and a stable back end, and you have got yourself a dynasty at your fingertips. Although, I must say, the squad would look even better if Samuel Eto'o was still around.

Other candidates: Real Madrid (La Liga), Chelsea (Premier), Manchester City (Premier), Internazionale (Serie A)

2. Miami Heat (NBA) - If you can find a way to maneuver around the salary cap and find some solid role players, this is an obvious choice for the NBA. LeBron James and Dwyane Wade are fine centerpieces to start your own Chicago Bulls-like run towards multiple titles. The NBA is a superstar-driven league, and the Heat have two of the five best players in the entire game locked up for years to come. (Sure, Chris Bosh is a great player, but I would venture that most people that use the Heat at this point would be in favor of trading him for some help elsewhere.) Either way, you really can't go wrong, especially since the NBA 2K sim engine always seems to put the team with LeBron or Kevin Durant in the NBA Finals every year. But hey, no disrespect intended towards Oklahoma City because that team would definitely rank in this top five if I were to include more than one team from a single sport.

Other candidates: Oklahoma City Thunder, Chicago Bulls, Utah Jazz

3. Washington Capitals (NHL) - Ovechkin, Backstrom, Green, Semin, Alzner, Carlson, Neuvirth, Varlamov. The Caps have acquired an embarrassment of riches during the past few years, and it is very tough to find another NHL roster with a homegrown core quite like the one in DC. It also helps that Ovechkin and Semin are two of the most entertaining players to use in a hockey video game in years. This probably would have been a tougher call to make had the Blackhawks not been forced to gut their roster because of salary-cap concerns. Pittsburgh and Los Angeles also made strong cases, but I have to lean towards Washington here.

Other candidates: Pittsburgh Penguins, Los Angeles Kings, Chicago Blackhawks

4. Green Bay Packers (NFL) - As a Vikings fan, it really pains me to say it, but Green Bay is simply set up to be one of the more dominant teams in the NFL over the next decade. Aaron Rodgers is going to be a Madden monster next season. Not only will his always-important awareness rating be bumped up about 10-15 points, but he's probably going to get a bump in speed, throw power, throw accuracy, agility and acceleration. Not only do they have Rodgers locked up, but the fact that Greg Jennings, Jermichael Finley, Bryan Bulaga and Ryan Grant round out the young offense is simply scary. When you look at the defense, Clay Matthews is only in his second year and there's no reason to think he won't be terrorizing quarterbacks for 10 years to come. Tramon Williams and BJ Raji round out the defense, which gives Green Bay a rock at all three levels of the defense. Oh yeah, and that Charles Woodson guy should be pretty good for 2-3 more years as well. Regardless, this was still the toughest sport to pick just one team from.

Other candidates: Atlanta Falcons, Philadelphia Eagles, New England Patriots, Baltimore Ravens

5. Tampa Bay Rays (MLB) - While we know the Yankees and Red Sox will continue be competitive no matter what because of their budgets, no team must strike fear into more baseball executives' minds than the Rays. Longoria, Upton, Price, Garza, Zobrist, Hellickson, Brignac, Jennings, Davis and Niemann are all fine players that should be a part of this organization for a very long time (sans maybe one of those starting pitchers who perhaps gets traded for some extra hitting). All of those years of losing have paid off tremendously now that a competent front office is finally running the show. There are some concerns with Tampa Bay having a relatively small budget, but both The Show and MLB 2K are pretty forgiving in terms of letting you keep your players if you win, and Tampa certainly has the talent to continue to do just that.

Other candidates: Texas Rangers, San Francisco Giants, Atlanta Braves, Washington Nationals