I am not certain why the "facts & figures" book is a necessary parameter, but to a certain extent I'll live with it.
A better guide in my mind might be the "CFL years" or the modern era of Grey Cup history, so from 1958 forward.
Having said that, it eliminates a few teams from contention like the 1948 Stamps, of the 3-peat 'Smoes.
But moving on, here is my pick for all teams.
I'll start with the easy ones.
The 78-82 'Smoes might be the best team period. So to pick the best team for the 'Smoes, is a crap shoot among those 5. I'll take the middle, 1980 because it was Moon's first year as a starter.
The Riders are easy as well.
We only have 2 to pick from so....1966.
1989 was a lot of fun, and a pretty good team.
But 1966 represented the high point of a very strong and steadfast team, that went to 13 straight West finals, and 5 Grey Cups. Ron Lancaster is a top 3 alltime Qb and George Reed is #1 running back ever. And many of the other players are hall of famers as well. They would have been even more successful except for 3 things.
Which leads me to the Stamps. It was a tough call here.
I am going with the 1998 version. The team owned the 90s, just like the Riders owned the late 60s early 70s, but until the Garcia led team, they had not taken full advantage.
I also considered the 1971 team. That team, as much as anything else, was responsible for preventing the Riders from winning a number of Cups. Almost as good a team, the two had to play the nasty best of 3 series each year and then the survivor had to travel east.
It is not a coincidence that both teams only Grey Cup win came when they got to play in Vancouver.
The second thing was the 1969 Ottawa team. Unfortunately, while the Green Riders fielded their best teams, so did the Black and Red. Something had to give.
Which brings us to the 3rd problem.
I am also picking the 1967 Ticat team. The 3rd championship in 5 years.
Any of these 4 teams could have repeated as champs--they were good enough--except for the existance of the others.
The rest of the league were not contenders.
But speaking of the rest of the league...
I think the most recent BC team is their best ever.
3 years in first, 2 out of 3 in the Cup, and now a win after cruising through the regular season, speaks to a very, very solid team.
I believe the 1996 TO team is their best.
Again, a great team, that owned the league, and even repeated.
With Montreal, I picked the 1974 version. It was the first year of a streak of 5 appearances in 6 years, with 2 victories.
And, last, but not least, the Bombers.
I return to the early years of the CFL.
I'll have to take a shower after this, but one thing is consistant in all my picks--not just winning once, but winning consistantly over time plays huge in my decisions. So I grudgingly agree with a previous poster....
And the Bombers won 4 Cups in 5 years, from
1958 to 1962, and I picked the 2nd edition of that most dominant Bomber team ever. Just because I was born that year!