You may recall that last year I unveiled Sports Business Radio's "Brightest Minds in Sports" list. As you might imagine, its very difficult to select the people with the best credentials for this list because there are so many talented people working in the sports industry. This year, I refined the list a bit and limited it to the owners and executives who are on the TEAM side of sports. So no agents, media executives or marketing executives on this list.

I'm sure there are several people who are low-profile type of people that could easily make this list. But without further ado, here's this year's list:

10.) William Davidson - The owner of the Detroit Pistons, Detroit Shock and the Tampa Bay Lightning is getting up there in age (84), but you can't argue with the success his teams have enjoyed. His Pistons won the 1989, 1990, and 2004 NBA Finals; his Shock won the 2003 & 2006 WNBA Finals; his Lightning won the 2004 Stanley Cup. His combined business ventures have led him to an estimated net worth of $3.5 billion. He's had the foresight to hire bright people to run his sports organizations and then stay out of their way for the most part.....a rarity amongst many pro sports owners.

9.) Rick Hendrick - Hendrick Motorsports has become the New York Yankees of NASCAR. With Jimmie Johnson, Jeff Gordon and now Dale Earnhardt Jr. ready to join the team in 2008, Hendrick has built a motorsports empire. Johnson and Gordon are one and two in the NASCAR NEXT CUP standings this year and Earnhardt Jr. is still the sport's most popular drive with fans and endorsers. Look for Hendrick to dominate the sport for years to come with this star-studded garage.

8.) Jeremy Foley - Billy Donovan - Urban Meyer - Athletic Jeremy Foley has led the University of Florida athletic department since 1992 and had the foresight to hire two of the brightest young coaches in America. Men's basketball coach Billy Donovan has led the Gators to the last two NCAA Basketball championships and Head Football coach Urban Meyer won the national championship when the Gators crushed the Ohio State Buckeyes earlier this year. According to CNN Money, the Gators athletic department took in $82.4 million in revenue in 2006.....before winning their football national championship this past January and their most recent basketball championship this past April.  Meyer signed a 6-year contract extension earlier this year that will pay him $3.25M per season and Donovan has a new 6-year contract that pays him $3.5M per season. The future is very bright.......and lucrative for the Gators.

7.) Jim Irsay - Bill Polian - Tony Dungy - The reigning NFL champion Indianapolis Colts have been built by one of the brightest braintrusts in sports. From the drafting of Peyton Manning (remember when there were some teams who actually rated Ryan Leaf higher than Manning going in to the 1998 NFL Draft) and Marvin Harrison to always finding a stud featured RB (Marshall Faulk, Edgerin James and now Joseph Addai) this group usually presses all of the right buttons on and off the field. The environment on the team is one of the best in sports because of the way Tony Dungy treats his players. And the franchise will increase its revenue earning potential when it begins play in the new $675M Lucas Oil Stadium starting in the fall of 2008. In a deal estimated at $122 million, Lucas Oil Products won the naming rights to the stadium for 20 years. Lucas Oil Stadium will be a seven-level stadium with a retractable roof seating 63,000 for football. The stadium features a retractable roof allowing the Colts to play home games outdoors for the first time since arriving in Indianapolis. Other than being the home of the Colts, the stadium will host games in both the Men's and Women's NCAA Basketball Tournaments and will serve as the back up host for all NCAA Final Four Tournaments. The stadium will make Indianapolis eligible to bid to host a Super Bowl and has a potential economic impact estimated at $286,000,000.

6.) RC Buford - Greg Popovich - This unsung pair has only produced 4 NBA Championships since 1999 and has built an unselfish culture in San Antonio that emphasizes TEAM. Drafting Tim Duncan was a no-brainer, but uncovering gems like Tony Parker (28th pick in 2001 draft) and Manu Ginobli (57th pick in 1999 draft) late in the draft turned the Spurs in to a championship team. Duncan's recent contract extension where he signed for approximately $10M less than what he would have likely received had he become a free agent epitomizes the unselfishness of this franchise and its players.

5.) David Stern - Every time you think to yourself, "David Stern is slipping", hop on a plane and head to China or Europe. Once you get there you'll see that no U.S. commissioner has done a better job of growing his brand internationally than Commissioner Stern has. Yes he's got major challenges at home (Sonics ownership, Tim Donaghy scandal, controversial suspensions of Stoudemire and Diaw during last year's playoffs and the failed game ball experiment), but Stern is a visionary without peer. My trip to China in September opened my eyes to just how great the potential is for the NBA in Asia alone (See the recent Yao vs Yi game that was carried by 19 TV stations in China and seen by 250 million people). He'll get things squared away domestically even though its going to be a bumpy ride for the next few years.

4.) Roger Goodell - Is making a strong case for the "Best North American Pro Sports Commissioner" title. He's handled PR nightmares with Vick, Pacman, Tank and Henry with an iron fist and he's further establishing the NFL as the dominant sports league in the United States. Remember this stat - the NFL's TV rights fees are more lucrative than the TV rights fees for the NBA, MLB, NHL and NASCAR combined. Staggering stat that shows just how dominant the NFL is. Under Goodell's leadership the league will only become stronger.

3.) Robert Kraft - Scott Pioli - Bill Bellichick - Owner, GM and Head Coach nirvana. These three have built an NFL dynasty that could go undefeated this season and win their 4th Super Bowl this decade (won in 2001, 2003, 2004). People can talk about "Spygate" all they want, but you don't enjoy the success the New England Patriots have enjoyed with smoke and mirrors. These guys are the real deal. And their work this past offseason is their best work yet. After losing to Peyton Manning and the Colts in the AFC Championship, they went out and got Randy Moss, Dante Stallworth, Wes Welker and Adalius Thomas. And they motivated each of them to play at the highest level of their careers. From top to bottom, this is the NFL's best run organization.

2.) Mark Cuban - The Dallas Mavericks owner may not have a championship under his belt, but if I had to choose one person from the world of sports to come up with a creative idea or plan and my life depended on it, Cuban would be my choice. Cuban is a visionary who has the gift to see trends and technologies develop years before the rest of us do. Labeling him as a sports owner would be doing him a grave injustice. This is a person whose interests are diverse (HDNet) and creative (he was one of the producers for the Academy-Award nominated movie "Good Night, Good Luck"). And his passion to win is second to none (did you see him working tirelessly on Dancing with the Stars despite recent hip surgery??!!). Its too bad John Canning Jr. has the Cubs ownership deal locked up because Major League Baseball could sorely use an "outside the box" thinker like Cuban. As a matter of fact, people would be smart to seek Cuban's opinion more often. Are you listening Bud Selig and David Stern?

1.) John Henry - Tom Werner - Larry Lucchino - Theo Epstein - The Boston Red Sox have become THE model for organizations in sports. They're diverse and they are increasing the exposure for the brands in an intelligent way. And there's certainly no arguing with the success this group has enjoyed over the past several years. After an 86-year drought, the Boston Red Sox have won two World Championships since 2004. From the way they present their brand to their keen eye for talent, these four executives have pushed all of the right buttons since taking the reigns of the Red Sox in 2002. On the baseball side of things, they've made great inroads in to the Asian market by signing Dice-K Matsuzaka and Hideki Okajima (the Red Sox will open the 2008 season in Japan), they've been very successful at acquiring just the right players for their ballclub (David Ortiz, Josh Beckett, Mike Lowell) and they've built a great farm system (that has produced players like Jonathan Paplebon, Dustin Pedroia and Jacoby Ellsbury). Elsewhere in their growing sports empire, they're co-owners of a successful NASCAR team (Roush Fenway Racing) that will allow them to cross promote their brands when they choose. They've made some clever improvements to Fenway Park and a Red Sox ticket is perhaps the toughest ticket to come by in all of sports these days (and has allowed them the luxury of a $143M team payroll). Other sports organizations will chase these four men as they continue to set the standard for how to operate a sports business - on and off the field.