NCAA FOOTBALL 2024 MEGA THREAD - WELCOME TO THE PLAYOFF ERA

Super cool. This play popped into my head the other night while driving. I have a real thing for punt returns that carry the national championship with them. Johnny Rodgers in 1971 (twice), Woodson in '97, Ismael in '91. Others? Don't recall. The famous Billy Cannon one (even before my time) kept LSU #1 and in the driver's seat for the title, but they lost the next week.

Pros: Desmond Howard agaiinst my Patriots 100/1 bet (bet when they were 0-2, Parcels/Belichick).

Just came across a note I made about the "vaccination" factor when playing monster teams in rematches (was working on it pre Ohio State/Oregon playoff game. I came up with some good examples:

Florida over Florida State super-sick D in 1996 Sugar Bowl (rematch of reg season finale, won by Fla. State)
Bama over LSU super sick D in 2011 title game after losing 9-6 in reg season
Giants over undefeated Patriots in Super Bowl after losing to them close in last game of reg season
Monster Georgetown team losing to Nova after the series was tooth and nail

I'm sure there are others, and counter cases. That's as far as I got with it.

1977 Nebraska snapped a streak against Oklahoma, their rival back then. The Huskers reward was a rematch in the Orange Bowl that Oklahoma won decisively.

How can you possibly not remember Bob Davie and Notre Dame beating LSU in the 1997 regular season and then losing their highly anticipated rematch in the Independence Bowl at the end of the year?

suppose
this all
depends
on our
mutual
interpretation
of monsters

this results oriented oregon fan is fully aware of many recent scoring incidents involving teams meeting again in championship events

Woodson definitely has the most important punt return in Michigan history. And that Desmond Howard kickoff return in the SB has to be the most important return in NFL history given the high leverage of it. Most famous return probably goes to Johnny Rodgers. I feel like I've involuntarily seen that a lot in my life. I never had the ability to really appreciate Rocket's two returns against Michigan in 89. Pure nightmare.

My favorite one is the 1988-9 Illinois basketball team, which is still the best Big Ten team I have ever seen. They completely eviscerated Michigan twice in the regular season and won the Big Ten title. Then they play in the Final 4 in what is imo the greatest college basketball game ever played (33 lead changes!!) and Michigan wins on a last 2nd shot.

My 2nd favorite one: Similar story line in 91-92. Ohio State has their best basketball team I've seen in my lifetime. They beat the Fab 5 by double digits both times on their way to winning the Big Ten championship. They face Michigan in the Final 4 and lose in OT.

Few things in life can top the feelings I had from both those victories. Pure cocaine rush.

Good ones. Guess who coached that Michigan team to the title (trick question)?

Reminds me of another one. UK routed by undefeated IU in 1975 reg season then beat them 92-90 in the Mideast Region final. Of course player of the year May was injured. His Willis Reed attempt didn't work.

Yeah I'd say they were rivals. Two awesome teams both with several dynasty stints, playing on Thanksgiving weekend for decades usually for the Orange Bowl and often for a Natty type match up. After the Game of the Century '71, OU payed them back winning 9-out-of-10, the only loss being two Heisman winner Billy Sims fumbles in the 4th Q, one near the goal line, maybe both near the goal line, I think 20-17 or 17-14.

Ooh a great one I can't believe I forgot in the vaccination category. 7-time defending NCAA champion UCLA opened the next season, 1974 against previous season undefeated but on probation NC State. UCLA routed them off the court. But in the Final Four later NC State took them down.

Another good one kind of is the UNLV-Duke thing from one year to the next, mostly the same players. From 30 point ambush loss to 2 point eek out win.

I had read the Big8 NU-OU tradition was played on Friday after Thanksgiving. But it was 1978 Huskers who played Oklahoma on Nov 11th and had a game after that against Mizzou (upset loss). I wonder what was the tradition if not always the last game.

That's what I was going for. In his autobiography (titled "Bo," I think), he said he read the bunch of soft under-achievers the riot act and had the sense they had never been spoken to like that before. Then they titled. Who hit the shot, that sharpshooter Glen Rice? I remember he had a monster tournament. I also remember that the title game was sort of two Cinderellas for one of the few times in major sports (???, examples?), and I mused live on the radio "Feels like an overtime" ... but in those days you couldn't bet such props really. Bummer.

Wow, so the Huskers beat OU finally then lost their last two games. Weird. A couple things. I almost wonder if there was some kind of rescheduling due to storms early in the year or something, and they had to flip games, or perhaps NU lobbied for the change of date having lost so many in a row. The UK v. UofL series had some of that in it, both basketball and football. But I don't know.

And I had long thought and was SURE the 1971 NU/OU classic GOTC was the Friday after T-Giving, but everything says Thanksgiving Day. So I missed that one, I guess, and realized it recently on the 50th Anniversary of the game (itself astounding to realize).

*Looking back over Nebraska schedules in that era it looks like it wasn't nearly so automatic that Oklahoma was their last regular season game perenially. Surprised here, but these things go thru phases. Usually but several times not the case.

Glen Rice did have a monster tournament but it was Sean Higgins that hit the shot that beat Illinois.

Michigan and Seton Hall were both 3 seeds.

1. Chip to the Raiders as OC. Will Ryan Day go back to calling plays?

Don't remember Higgins somehow. Gonna key it up. By Cinderella I meant and mean a perennial also-ran/underachieves that never gets there, or an unheralded program ... meaning two teams that at the beginning of the tournament that you would be shocked if they won it all. And there they sat: two of them in the finals. And I solved it with an overtime read. It was beautiful but not profitable (no prop available).

Wow I simply do not remember the Higgins put back play, and it was in the Final Four. I don't think I've ever missed a Final Four game since the UCLA days. Too many games in there I guess.

This is kind of what I mean about Day and Osbourne. It just never went their way at the end in spite of great winning percentage. Then Osbourne started amassing titles along with the win %. And it was GOAT-ish.

"Man, woman, and child, did that put 'em in the aisles!" has to be up there as one of the all-time great announcer calls.

I scanned the 1970s, the golden age 🙂 It appears Oklahoma played Oklahoma St the week after the Thanksgiving Nebraska game. I read that as a way of telling the little brother where to stand. The exception was a late Thanksgiving they would just bracket the holiday with Sat games. Mid 70s they changed and tried to play OU-NU on the Friday after Tday and fit cOSU wherever.

As an aside what an decade the 70s was for Switzer's Sooners. They had one season with more than one loss; 1977 when #2 OU was stunned by Lou Holtz's Razorbacks in the Orange Bowl and finished 7th at 10-2.

i've posted this before, but we had season tickets from somewhere mid 70's until early 80s so after the championship years of Joe Washington, Tinker Owens, and the Selmon Brothers but did get to see the last couple of Billy Simms years.

the 80s were just bonkers talentwise, i mean look at these names
https://247sports.com/college/oklahoma/l...

It was effin electric. The whole setting and build up to the game was almost surreal, and then that happened as an opening act. I really have it as the most exciting moment in TV sports of the 20th Century. Off the top of my head I might add Secretariat Belmont, Affirmed/Alydar Belmont, Ali/Frazier 1 (but not on live TV), believe it or not Leonard/Hearns 1, NC State takes down the Bruin dynasty in double OT in the Final Four, maybe the Jordan shot for the title ... I"m sure there are a bunch of others I'm not thinking of.

nc state over phi slama jamma will always do it for me