If there has been a theme in Minnesota pro sports in 2024, it’s that we don’t know anything.

The teams who started their 2024 seasons with the greatest expectations, arguably, were the Twins and Timberwolves based on how they finished the previous year. Everyone else had somewhere between mediocre and modest expectations, and all of those teams arguably have (or are in the process of) exceeded what we thought they would do.

I’m going to expand our list and do a countdown of the five pro teams I consider good surprises in 2024.

5. Minnesota United: The Loons didn’t even really have their plan (or head coach) in place at the start of the season, and they faltered badly during the early summer months. But they rallied to play like one of Major League Soccer’s best teams down the stretch and won a playoff series before succumbing to the L.A. Galaxy in the conference semifinals.

4. Minnesota Frost: Their new season is technically underway, but it’s just two games in. Their first season started in January and culminated with a PWHL title. While that wasn’t shocking given the level of talent Minnesota had in a six-team league, it certainly counts as a pleasant surprise.

3. Minnesota Wild: OK, so get this. I thought the Wild would be thoroughly mediocre this season, and I was not alone in expressing that sentiment. It felt like one more year in purgatory before cap relief arrives, and a dangerous one with Kirill Kaprizov coming up on free agency a couple of summers from now. Instead, the Wild entered Thursday with a 17-4-4 record and the most points (38) in the entire NHL. That this effort only puts them third on the list is a testament to the competition and that there is still a lot of season left.

2. Minnesota Vikings: Betting odds and advanced metrics had the Vikings pegged for around seven wins this season. Nobody who made predictions for the Star Tribune picked them to win more than nine. But here they are at 10-2, a near-cinch to make the playoffs and still in contention to win the best division in football. It’s been a masterful coaching job by Kevin O’Connell and Brian Flores as well as a huge surprise.