I love college football as much as anyone I know. At age 10, I can
still remember vividly the 1984 Orange Bowl, where Nebraska decided to
go for two points and win the national championship, only to come up
short, and lose 31-30 to Miami.
Seven years later, at the same venue, when Colorado beat Notre Dame
10-9, I decided that night that I was going to go to school in
Boulder.
When thinking of great college football postseason moments, I
would say there are two more college football postseason moments that
have rivaled the two that I just mentioned.
The first would be the Texas/USC Rose Bowl in 2006. You had the most
electrifying quarterback in college going against the most
electrifying running back in Reggie Bush. Young scores in the last
minute and Texas wins 41-38.
The next season, we see a David vs Goliath matchup, in Boise State
against Oklahoma in the Fiesta Bowl. I dont think I know a single
person who bet on Boise. Boise executed a perfect hook and lateral on
4th and 18 to send the game to OT. After OU scores in OT, Boise does
the same, and runs a perfect statue of liberty play for the 2 point
conversion to win 43-42.
Amazing stuff.
But it could have been better.
My first memory of college hoops is when North Carolina
beat Georgetown to win the 1982 college basketball title. I don't
really remember the Jordan shot that ended up winning it. What I
remember is when Georgetown guard Fred Brown threw the ball to UNC's
James Worthy and yelling out to my dad, "Why did he do that, what is he
doing?"
Two of the next three Final Fours were classics as well. Who can
forget NC State's Dereck Whittenburg's "pass" to Lorenzo Charles to
stun Akeem Olajuwon and Houston 54-52. Jim Valvano running around
looking for anyone to hug. Man, that was true Madness.
Then in 1985, 8th seeded Villanova, shocks the world and heavily
favored Georgetown 66-64. What Villanova did was truly remarkable. They
shot a sizzling 78.6% (22-28) from the field, and still remain the
lowest seeded team to win the tournament.
Another Final Four that stands out is in 1988 when "Danny and the
Miracles" did make a miraculous tournament run. As a #6 seed, Danny
Manning led Kansas University, as a #6 seed, to a national
championship, upsetting Mookie Blaylock and the Oklahoma Sooners.
The greatest Final Four upset that I ever witnesed occurred in the
semifinal round in 1991 when, Duke led by Christian Laettner, beat
previously undefeated and previous national champion UNLV 79-77. I
don't think anyone outside of coach K, saw this one coming.
In 1993, Dean Smith got his second national title, thanks in part to
Chris Webber calling a timeout, when his team had none. Michigan was
down 73-71 with 30 seconds remaining, when the Webber gaffe occurred,
and subsequently lost the game 77-71.
Ten years ago, Duke was supposed to beat Connecticut by double
digits but Rip Hamilton and Khalid El-Amin shocked Elton Brand,
Trajan Langdon, and the rest of the Blue Devils 77-74.
2006 marked the year of the biggest cinderella story in college
hoops. #11 seeded George Mason upset who many considered the best team
in the country that year, Connecticut to advance to the Final Four.
George Mason was just two wins away from cutting down the nets and
pulling off the biggest upset in sports since the USA made people
believe in miracles at Lake Placid in 1980.
All these moments are great, and as you notice, the number of great
moments happens a lot more in college basketball than in
college football. This is because more teams have a chance to make
history, many teams know they have a chance to win it all, and it
really makes for great sport.
We need to have a playoff system in college football sooner than
later for the good of the game. It's time for some "Change", just ask
the leader of the free world.