#6: 2011-12 Bulls
Everybody and their mother thought this would be the year. The year the Bulls finally made it back to the NBA Finals in the post-Jordan era. A season ago the team had reached the Eastern Conference Finals. Experts were certain this tough, young roster was ready to take down LeBron James and his Miami Heat. Spearheaded by superstar Derrick Rose and the best defense in the league, they clinched the #1 seed and home court advantage in the playoffs. The Philadelphia 76ers looked like a cakewalk in the first round.
Then the most gutwrenching injury maybe in Chicago sports history happened. Rose landed awkwardly in the closing minutes of a Game 1 victory, tearing his ACL. Shocked and dismayed at the loss of their leader, the Bulls went on to lose four of the next five games. They were just the fifth #1 seed to fall to a #8 seed since the mid-1990s.
