While college basketball is in the conversation, I'll announce the "Freshman 15 Official NCAA Tournament Predictions", posted the week of the tournament, and if you're lucky (and I have the time), the "Freshman 15: Bracketology Edition" on Selection Sunday. Tremble in anticipation!
And now back to the subject matter you came here for. This week I'll rate the best 15 games of the past season, part of an ongoing quest to find entertaining off-season fodder for you, faithful reader. Drum roll, please!
15. Pittsburgh 36, Notre Dame 33 (4OT)
November 1, @ ND
The fact that they played 4 overtimes, kicking 7 field goals in the process, puts this game on the list. But it wasn't just a kicking exhibition at the end. This was a well-played, engaging game, highlighted by some brilliant LeSean McCoy runs.
14. Cincinnati 26, West Virginia (OT)
November 8, @ WVU
Perhaps the wildest finish of the year. Cincy was cruising along in this humdrum game, comfortably in front 20-7 with 1:11 to play. Backed up against their own end zone, they took a safety rather than risk a blocked punt, confident that 2 scores in just over a minute was impossible. Then the impossible happened. West Virginia scored with 19 seconds left, got the 2 point conversion, completed the onside kick, and managed to push the ball into field goal range for a 52 yarder as time expired, all in front of a half-full stadium. Fans were fighting to get back in. But the Mountaineers couldn't climb all the way over the top, allowing a Tony Pike TD pass in OT after only managing a field goal on their possession.
13. BYU 28, Washington 27
September 6, @ Washington
Who can forget this early season thriller, when Jake Locker's enthusiasm over scoring a TD to (presumably) draw even drew him a 15-yard excessive celebration penalty. Except that it wasn't. Locker simply tossed the football straight into the air as he rose from the ground in one fluid motion. The 15 yards were partly responsible for the extra point being blocked, and the Huskies were off to the races on their 0-12 campaign.
12. Alabama 27, LSU 21 (OT)
November 8, @ LSU
Nick Saban returned to Baton Rouge amid a raucous environment that nearly propelled the overmatched Tigers past the Crimson Tide. In a microcosm of the LSU season, Jarrett Lee's inability to protect the football did the Tigers in, when he threw his fourth interception of the game in OT.
11. South Florida 37, Kansas 34
September 12, @ USF
An early season primetime thriller between team who ended up falling short of expectations. Both Kansas and USF were in the top 20 at this point, and this game lived up to its billing as a big time nonconference matchup. Kansas went up 20-3. Then USF scored 31 straight to go up 34-20. Then Kansas drew even. And finally USF ended the game on a clutch 43 yard field goal by a freshman kicker. Whew!
10. Utah 13, TCU 10
November 6, @ Utah
The most significant challenge to Ute supremacy all season. TCU missed 2 fourth quarter field goals that would have put the game all but out of reach, then Brian Johnson led the Utes on an 80-yard game winning TD drive with under 3 minutes to go, against a defense that looked impenetrable all night.
9. Mississippi 31, Florida 30
September 27, @ Florida
The stunning Gator loss that gave us Tim Tebow's "win one for the Gipper" speech, and sent the angry Gators on a tear to the national championship.
8. Florida 24, Oklahoma 14
January 8, BCS Championship Game
The culmination of said angry Gator tear through the college football landscape. It wasn't the prettiest game nor the offensive extravaganza that most expected, but it was a national championship game that was tied in the fourth quarter. And it did showcase Tebow's dynamic, do-it-all style as he took the game into his hands and pulled Florida to victory.
7. Oregon State 27, USC 21
September 25, @ Oregon St.
It's very likely that USC would have beaten anybody in a head-to-head bowl matchup, even Florida. But because of this game they never got the chance. Shockingly, the Beavers dashed out to a 21-0 halftime advantage, then clung to their lead as USC tried to climb back into the game, capped by an INT return inside the 5 and a TD run by lil' Jaquizz Rodgers to put the game away. The fans in Corvallis got inside Mark Sanchez's head early and often, and USC was effectively taken out of the national championship hunt.
6. North Carolina 28, Miami (FL) 24
September 27, @ Miami
The most underrated game of the year, a great game that went under the radar. Miami jumped out to an early lead in a first quarter than included perhaps the most exciting non-TD of the season - a Hurricane punt return punctuated by 2 consecutive decleating blocks. YouTube it, or watch the highlight on the game recap page on espn.com. It's tremendous. Then North Carolina fought back from 11 points down in the fourth quarter with 2 touchdowns, the last with just under a minute left. But Miami had enough time to drive well into Tar Heel territory, and the game ended when the potential game winning TD pass slipped through the hands of a Hurricane receiver and into the waiting hands of a Tar Heel defender. The best offering the ACC put up this season.
5. Iowa 24, Penn State 23
November 8, @ Iowa
Ugh. I shared enough about this game in that week's post. Let's not revisit it.
4. Texas 24, Ohio State 21
January 5, Fiesta Bowl
Get used to seeing Texas on this list - 3 of the top 4 games of the year include the Longhorns. This was the best bowl game of the season, an intriguing matchup of classic programs. The Buckeyes were expected to lay another BCS egg, only to control the game for most of the first half before falling behind 17-6 by the end of the 3rd quarter. But the game Buckeyes fought back, taking a 21-17 lead, aided by the surprising emergence of Todd Boeckman, splitting time with Terrelle Pryor. After Ohio State scored with 2:05 left, Texas rallied back with a 2-minute drill executed to perfection by Colt McCoy. Quan Cosby raced through a gaping hole in Ohio State's secondary for the winning TD.
3. Florida 31, Alabama 20
December 6, Atlanta
The score doesn't show it, but the SEC Championship game was a great game. And it was probably the best game in the career of one of the greatest players in the history of college football. Anytime you witness a career-defining moment by an all-time great, that game will rank high on any list.
2. Texas 45, Oklahoma 35
October 11, Dallas
Mack Brown called it one of the best games he's ever seen. It was a back and forth, tense affair, a mano a mano struggle between two of college football's best QB's. It's hard to find a flaw in this game, right down even to the setting - a Cotton Bowl crowd split in the middle, burnt orange on one side, crimson on the other. In the end, a long Texas TD run, not pass, iced the game for the burnt orange. But Oklahoma would win the war with a trip to the title game.
1. Texas Tech 39, Texas 33
November 1, @ Texas Tech
Everything the previous game had, plus the single greatest moment of the season: Crabtree's shocking TD catch with one second left, straddling the sideline in double coverage, when the safe play is to just step out of bounds and let the field goal unit kick a 22-yarder to erase the one point deficit. Unreal. This game was a tour de force - Texas worked all game to come back after falling 19 points behind in the first half, finally crested the top with 1:29 remaining, then saw the game slip through their fingers (literally) with an interception drop just before Crabtree's closer.
Next week: Surprise! You won't find a recruiting breakdown here, even though national signing day is upon us. Recruiting is not my bag, baby, and I think the obsessive coverage of who is going to what school is quite ridiculous. Fans put way too much stock in how well their school's recruiting class is rated. Let the kids get into the system and have some coaching before we crown the 2011 national champion already.
Instead, I'll unveil something I call the "Four-Year Rankings", what I hope will be an annual analysis of what teams are the best of the last four years. Consider it a bit of a measurement of the outgoing senior class's success. While most college football analysts and bloggers debate what high schoolers will have the greatest impact over the next several years, we'll look at the cold hard facts of which high schoolers of yore actually did have that impact. I'm expecting some surprises and interesting revelations. See you next Wednesday.
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