The 2016 MLB season has only a few days left in the regular season before the most fun month of sports action kicks off (this is a fact, by the way, so don't bother arguing). It's also the last installment of the power rankings and as I look back at this season, one thing in particular stands out.

This has been the easiest season since I've been at CBS Sports to rank the number one team. The Cubs were the obvious number one team in baseball until a 5-15 rough stretch from late June to mid-July and then took the "obvious best team" title back shortly thereafter.

usatsi9569381.jpg
The Cubs have thus far had 101 post-game handshakes in 2016. USATSI

The breakdown is rather astounding. Here are the teams that were ranked at number one at some point in the season and the number of weeks in the top spot:

1. Cubs, 23
TIE-2. Nationals, Giants, Rangers, Indians, Orioles, 1

That's it. I think there were roughly three weeks with the Cubs in first where there was even a legitimate argument against them. So around 20 of the 28 installments the Cubs were an absolute no-brainer in the top spot for me.

This is a major departure from previous seasons, where we constantly had shuffling in the top spot. I remember weeks where I'd leave the top spot blank and start going backward from 30 before I went back toward the top to figure out who I thought was the best team. This season, almost 3/4 of the time, I just mindlessly saw "1." sitting there and almost out of habit would type "Cubs."

It's even more a big deal given that this is the Cubs, obviously. We've heard all about fake curses and silly proclamations when it comes to this franchise for years and we'll continue to hear them in the coming weeks -- and moving forward into next season unless they make the World Series.

This is easily the best Cubs team since 1945, the last Cubs' pennant winner, and arguably the best since 1908.

The 2008 Cubs were 97-64 and had a plus-184 run differential.

The 1945 Cubs were 98-56 and had a plus-203 differential.

The 1935 Cubs were 100-54 with a plus-250.

The 1910 Cubs were 101-53 with a plus-213.

These 2016 Cubs are 101-56 with a plus-252.

Sure it's just a quick-and-dirty way to judge and we'd need to dive much deeper to fully "prove" the subjective notion, but in terms of the stats and the personnel, I think many would agree this is the best Cubs team since the supposed "curse" of the Billy Goat (necessary reminder that should be unnecessary: Curses don't exist).

They now head into the playoffs without a glaring weakness. Seriously, find one. They are a great offensive team, run the bases well, have great depth, have baseball's best defense, an outstanding rotation and a five-deep lock-down back-end of the bullpen. Joe Maddon is an excellent manager. They are mentally tough, too. Quite simply, if you claim the Cubs have a weakness, you're revising the team's resume due to an agenda.

Oh great. Here we go ...

"The Media has already crowned the Cubs!"

Nope, that's a foul. You don't get to do that. Stop right now and step away from the keyboard at once before I eject you. I must say, though, I'm flattered that you would call me the entire media. I mean, I am the purveyor of the Internet's most Official Power Rankings and all, but I am but one man, not The Media. Secondly, and obviously less importantly, the Cubs can still lose. That's the dramatic part of the baseball playoffs. The best teams don't always win it all.

If the best team does indeed win the World Series this season, there won't be a question who is hoisting the World Series trophy when all is said and done. There's been one obvious best team throughout the entire year and it's the Chicago Cubs. What a weird season.

Please find a way to enjoy the offseason through the excruciating absence of the Official Power Rankings. It'll be tough, but you owe it to yourself to try and fight through it. You can tell me how difficult it will be at matt.snyder@cbsinteractive.com.

Biggest Movers
4 Mariners
4 Rays
Rk
Teams
  
Chg
Rcrd
1 Cubs Is Kyle Hendricks' unlikely Cy Young run going to be thwarted by Jon Lester (obviously others like Max Scherzer and the late, great Jose Fernandez are in the mix, too)? -- 92-70
2 Red Sox All signs point to a Theo Bowl in the World Series, with millions of fans crying about the coverage from The Media (again, it's not just me -- even if it seems that way due to my Official Power Rankings prowess). -- 89-73
3 Dodgers The Dodgers set the MLB record for most players on the disabled list in a single season and still clinched the NL West with a week to play. 3 93-69
4 Rangers I loved seeing Prince Fielder take part in the division-clinching celebration. Good for him. 1 81-81
5 Blue Jays Stop getting in fights when you have the playoffs as a much more important priority. Be above the nonsense. Otherwise everything looks great. 2 94-68
6 Nationals No Strasburg, no Ramos and maybe a banged-up Bryce Harper in the NLDS? Uh oh. 2 66-96
7 Guardians The first division title since 2007 comes in a season where Michael Brantley played in only 11 games. Carlos Carrasco and Danny Salazar combined to miss about 15 starts, too. Great season so far, Cleveland. 2 88-74
8 Orioles There have only been three instances in MLB history where a pitcher saved at least 45 games without blowing a save. Eric Gagne had 55 in 2003 and Jose Valverde had 49 in 2011. Zach Britton is at 46 right now. -- 75-87
9 Mets In contrast to the Astros (you'll see below), the Mets were three games under .500 for the collective months of May, June, July and August. They're gonna get in the playoffs thanks to a great April and very good September. 1 83-79
10 Tigers Remember when Justin Upton was having a terrible year? Since Aug. 20, he's hitting .311/.400/.762 with 16 homers and 39 RBI. That's in 34 games. 2 87-75
11 Mariners Tuesday night was a microcosm for the season. They had a 4-3 lead and looked ready to move just one game back of the second wild card. And then they allowed a six-run inning to change everything and crush their fans. 4 90-72
12 Astros We generally shouldn't give up on teams early in the season, but sometimes it has merit. Remember these Astros. They'd be a playoff team if we wiped out the April part of the schedule for the entire AL. Instead it's very likely that 7-17 start is going to cost them a postseason berth. Then again, there are still a few days left to pull off the miracle comeback. 3 87-75
13 Giants Buster Posey is slugging below .400 with only three homers since the All-Star break. Just one of the many, many issues that has befallen this ballclub. He did hit a home run in a blowout on Tuesday, though. Perhaps they are going to get it going just in time for the even-year playoff run? 1 81-81
14 Cardinals The home record thing is still so hard to fathom. They've lost 42 games at home, which is the most since 1999. There are still five home games left, too. 3 78-84
15 Yankees Gary Sanchez had zero home runs through Aug. 9. He has 20 now. 2 94-68
16 Royals Overall, it's been a disappointing 2016 season. The nucleus of the two-time AL champs and 2015 World Series champs is still intact for 2017 before free agency guts the team. One last run? -- 82-80
17 White Sox It's well past time. Start the rebuild this offseason. The first move is to trade Chris Sale. 3 60-102
18 Marlins You won't soon be forgotten, number 16. 1 79-83
19 Pirates Andrew McCutchen's WAR the past four seasons, respectively: 8.1 (when he won MVP), 6.3, 4.9, -0.3. 1 71-91
20 Rockies How about the Charlie Blackmon power surge? His previous career highs were 19 home runs and a .450 slugging (career high in qualifying seasons, of course). This year: 28 bombs and a .545 slugging. 1 43-119
21 Angels Since losing nine of 10, the Angels have gone 8-3. What, you want me to say something else? Tell the Angels to put something worth talking about around him. 1 72-90
22 Brewers Chris Carter has 39 home runs. One more and he joins this group: Ryan Braun, Prince Fielder, Richie Sexson, Ben Oglivie and Gorman Thomas. 1 97-65
23 Phillies Ryan Howard and Tommy Joseph both have at least 20 home runs, making these Phillies the 10th team ever with two 20-plus homer first basemen. 2 96-66
24 Athletics Twenty-four-year-old third baseman Ryon Healy has really closed the season nicely. Overall, he's hitting .309/.341/.526 with 18 doubles and 12 homers in just 249 at-bats. 3 76-86
25 Reds The Reds are actually an even 34-34 since the All-Star break. 3 83-79
26 Braves Freddie Freeman might take a 30-plus game hitting streak into next season. Keep an eye on that, and then we can fight all offseason about whether or not there should be carry-overs. 3 76-86
27 Padres Their leader in innings pitched this season is Luis Perdomo, he of the 5.59 ERA. Hard to imagine why they're ranked so low, huh? 1 90-72
28 Rays The Rays are one of six teams in MLB history to lose at least 90 games while hitting at least 200 home runs, per Sam Blum of MLB.com. That's some powerful futility. 4 77-85
29 Diamondbacks Paul Goldschmidt is a 29-year-old, power-hitting first baseman and he has 29 stolen bases this season. Those don't come around too often. 2 80-82
30 Twins They have clinched the top overall draft pick for next season and one more loss ties the 1982 Twins for the most losses since the move to Minnesota. Banner year, really. -- 70-92