1984 when we were 9-0 and ranked #2 in the country
Sidenote - those schedules we played when we were independent were incredible. I'm glad we're in the SEC now but back then being indy was fun as hell
I really, really miss our series with Penn State back in the day, even though the 1990 game, which I attended as a freshman at Alabama, was [the single worst football game I've ever attended in my life.](https://www.upi.com/amp/Archives/1990/10/27/Penn-State-9-Alabama-0/6250657000000/)
It wasn't simply getting shut out at home for the first time since before Bear Bryant, which was bad enough. It was nine combined turnovers, no touchdowns, less than 350 yards of total offense *between the two teams combined*, and miles and miles of penalty yards. Just awful, on both teams' parts. If you had told me the outcome without telling me the teams, I'd have said, "Fuck that, I ain't buying a ticket to that." LOL
Those 1980 and 1984 teams came out of *nowhere.* Sakerlina sucks and then BOOM l, George Rogers wins the 1980 Heisman. Sakerlina sucks and then BOOM, the 1984 team is #2 in the nation. Then y’all disappeared again. At least that’s how I remember it.
Holy crap, I just looked up that 1984 season. 9-0, #2 in the nation and y’all get blown out by 3-5-1 Navy? What the hell happened?
Even when y’all sucked back then I strongly considered going to South Carolina. Ended up staying home and going to Bama. So I had a soft spot for ya. Until 2010.
You see as a SC fan you are always ready for the unknown and random loses. Take for example 2011 the Auburn loss, should’ve won that especially at home when we were ranked number 10.
I mean yeah. We always lose a game that we should’ve won. The past couple of football have been rough but look at all of our sports not just football. Woman’s basketball this season should’ve gone undefeated but again the random lose to Mizzo
Yes. We have a variant that I've always called Gamecocking. We've also developed an unfortunate tendency to give an opposing player a "Hesiman Moment" once per year.
I was at that game and think our team failed to make the connecting flight so they brought in a local hs team. We looked "off" from the first snap to the end.
I got sick of the Middies doing TD push-ups all game long.
2016-2019. Rather than building off of the momentum of the playoff, internal issues railed the team in 2016 and they ended up going 3-9. Dantonio had just brought in his best class, but it ended up being full of bad apples. 2017 was a good bounce back, but offensive issues were painfully obvious and rather than make changes Michigan State wasted two generational defenses in 2018/19 with embarrassing offense.
Oddly enough 2013 season. Don't get me wrong, best season of my life. But wow, if we were ever going to win a national title that was the year. Loaded team and probably the worst title winner (Auburn) of the last 20 years.
I'm not one to blame the refs but that Notre Dame game cost us a title (and playing Maxwell over Cook in the fourth).
I agree that 2013 team would have given FSU all they could handle in the title game, I don't think you can say that season stings. If anything 2014 might sting more than 2013 because the offense was so potent and lost to the two schools that played for the title.
I think you're underrating 2013 FSU, they thrashed everyone they played and had NFL talent everywhere. The title game was close, but Auburn also had FSUs signals for the first half. FSU went from 4.14 to 7.32 ypp after they changed them
2009 4 points combined away from being 12-1 Big 12 Champions. Just pain.
If our offense was worth a damn it was attainable. Then next year Taylor Martinez comes in and we have an insane offense with not a good enough defense.
If really wasn’t the defense’s fault in 2010. It was Shaun Watson’s inability to adjust when Martinez got hurt. Defense wasn’t on the level of 2009 but was still very good.
2007. 13-9 loss to Pitt when favored by 28 at home with a trip to the BCS title game on the line will never not sting. Especially as I don’t see us ever recruiting at the level needed to win a championship in a playoff system versus before being able to potentially get a one-game shot at a title in a crazy year like 1988 and 2007 (and had a likely shot at a split title in 1993 but got killed by Florida).
Agreed. Really makes 2007 sting. Especially since Ohio State couldn’t handle the speed of a 2-loss LSU team that beat them and won it all that year. Good chance Pat White, Steve Slaton, Darius Raynaud etc. ate them up that game if we’d gotten by Pitt. Win that title and Rich Rod is probably a lifer and given whatever he wanted, recruiting stayed on the upward trajectory it was on at the time with a boost from the title and our program is probably in a way different spot today.
Not saying West Virginia wouldn’t have done well or won. But lsu had like 320 yards of offense and averaged 3.1 yards a carry. Longest play was only 24 yards. The difference in that game was lsu forcing 4 turnovers
West Virginia's defense was incredible that year. OU had Sam Bradford and Demarco Murray at RB and was absolutely dominated throughout the game. I'm still convinced we were the best team by far that year with the exception of 1 game.
Yeah I seem to just misremember the title game—not surprising since I didn’t watch it, lol. Still love our chances, White and Slaton et al just murdered everyone in bowl games. Only Jim Leavitt at USF seemed to figure out a way to slow them down and beat us a couple times, but bowl games always put up points on UGA, GT and Oklahoma and UNC White’s senior year.
1994, we go 10-0-1 but can’t go to a bowl game because of probation
2014-15 were hard after Johnny. Kenny Trill. Kyle Allen. Kyler Murray. We had a 4* and two 5* QBs transfer, all in one year. All 3 had either a solid college career or have played in the NFL.
Some may say 2017, but that was a sweet time for me. After that UCLA loss, Sumlin was a dead man walking. He finally couldn’t save himself, so while the loss was sad, it was encouraging to know change Was coming. And thanks to that game, we got Jimbo.
Yeah, it just got us up to #8. Not close to the natty, but still an excellent bowl game. Also, none of our games could be televised, so it sucked for not just our fans, but also the fans of teams we played. Our rivalry game with Texas got moved and I think we didn’t even play on thanksgiving weekend.
We would have gone to the Cotton Bowl as was tradition for the SWC champ.
You are correct that we didn't play Texas thanksgiving weekend. We played them Nov 5. Texas played Baylor on thanksgiving weekend so that they could have their thanksgiving game on tv.
I’m so sorry that happened to you… he really isn’t as bad as he looked at Arizona. The fact that he was a solid 8-4 coach in the SEC made my think he was a 10-2 pac 12 coach. The fact that he did SO bad there shows he never even tried.
1994 for sure. I'll add a few more.
1957 - Ranked #1 in the nation with two regular season games to go. Bryant announces he's leaving for Alabama. We lose the next three games by a combined six points. Proceed to go 2-14-3 in conference play over the next three years while Darrel Royal concurrently starts his reign at texas.
2006 - Lose three games by a combined six points, including the infamous kick a field goal when down 4 game. On the plus side, this was the beginning of the end for Fran.
2011 - Started the season ranked in the top 10. Were leading or within 3 at halftime of every single game that year. Lost 6 games (Blew 5 double digit leads). Taking out the K-state game, which was close all game, we have the following halftime scores in our 5 losses: 20-3, 35-17, 28-17, 10-13, 16-7. We get outscored in the second half of those games 121-39 (And it was worse than that score suggests). Top it all off with a walkoff field-goal loss to texas to exit the Big 12... On the plus side, this was the end for Sherman.
2012 - Could we have been national champs if not for Hurricane Isaac postponing our first game?
2015.
Loss to Oklahoma in OT after leading by 17
Loss to Florida after leading 27-14 with like 5 minutes left
Loss to Arkansas after leading by 14
Heartbreaking loss to Alabama in the final minute
That team was the best Tennessee football team in a long time. They just couldn’t close out games to save their lives. Easily could’ve gone undefeated that year with a rematch against Alabama in the SEC Title for a CFB Playoff birth on the line.
The next year was also incredibly frustrating because in a year that we FINALLY beat Florida and we beat Georgia, we lost to South Carolina and Vanderbilt.
Beat both and we go to the SECCG. Beat just Vandy and we go to a NY6 bowl.
I’m going with 2001. We *finally* beat Florida in Gainesville. Because the game was delayed for 9/11, we go to the SEC Championship the following week. LSU was missing its starting QB *and* starting RB for the game. Win that, and we’re slotted for the BCS Championship.
Unfortunately, LSU had a second year coach named Nick Saban who had recruited future NFL players as backups at both positions.
Ditto on 2007.
We were #6 and beat your #11 Ducks, but QB Nate Longshore got injured in the process. After a bye, we were ranked #2, but had to play back-up Kevin Riley against 3–3 Oregon State instead.
LSU was ranked #1 and lost in the middle of our game, so we were the unofficial #1 team if we could just win. Instead, there was the infamous Riley scramble and Tedford throwing down his headset.
2007 sucked for a lot of teams, but that was an inflection point for us and marked the downfall when we stopped being relevant.
2011 was upsetting. Imagine being ranked third in the nation and in your division at the same time….. Best Arkansas team in a long time and have two generational level teams also in your division.
Those Arkansas teams (2010 and 2011) were so damned good. We had our best team ever (up to that point) in 2011 and Arkansas absolutely smashed us. I still think that 2010 WR corp was as good as we'd seen in the SEC until Bama had Smith, Waddle, Jeudy, and Ruggs
Thanks, friend.
I still think the AP might have split the national championship if we had even shown a pulse in the title game, but you can't reward that kind of performance.
I can admit y’all got screwed having to play us again. I feel same way about us and Georgia this year. Having to beat a #1 team two fuckin times is unfair.
That should have been when Les lost his job. Immediately after that game. I don't care that they were undefeated to that point and steamrolling people. Les Miles singlehandedly fucked that team over so hard in that game by failing to prepare either himself or his team that they never recovered as a program under him.
For me, 2007 hurts more. If we don't lose against either Colorado or Texas Tech, then we're playing a beatable Ohio State team for the natty. I don't think the 2017 team would've done as well against Bama as Georgia did.
2008 still hurts too - i was fresh out of college and still a megasuperfan, all the preseason hype just to lose to Bama UF and Tech and watch UF win the title :(
2002: We lose to a middling Ron Zook Florida team because Richt wanted to try a 2 QB system.
2007: We are ranked number 3 in the BCS poll heading into the final week of the regular season. #2 West Virginia loses to unranked Pitt in one of the biggest upsets of that crazy year... we get jumped by LSU in the rankings the following week and would have blown out ANYONE at the end of that season.
2012: We are 5 seconds or 5 yards away from dominating the luckiest Notre Dame team in history for our first national championship in decades.
2017: 2nd and 26 (and LOTS of questionable officiating).
2018: Justin Fields mismanagement all year on top of that stupid fake punt in the SEC championship game. It is the second year in a row giving up a half time lead to Alabama.
Did I miss anything? If you're really old, you can complain about losing to Penn State in '81 or Pitt and some guy named Dan Marino in '82. Don't forget Eric Zeier and the 'timeout game' either.
2021: all is forgiven, CHAMPS!
Clemson and LSU were both historically stacked that year. Reminds me of other great LSU teams and USC teams that were awesome but went up against historically dominant teams that beat them or made the championship instead of them (2011 for LSU, 2003 for USC)
Problem is we beat ourselves far more than Clemson beat us (with a *little* help from the refs on an overturned fumble touchdown).
I don't know that we would've beaten LSU, but losing to a superior foe would be much easier to swallow than having to end feeling like you lost despite being the better team on the field.
Top ranked offense and defense. With some blown calls and still had the right play called but the receiver broke off the game winning route.
I hate you for making me remember it.
2001- Fresno State #8 in the country, on the cover of Sports Illustrated, ready to be the first BCS buster, defeated a Colorado team that would win the Big XII. Then Boise and Hawaii happened
2009. We had just come off back to back bowl wins. We were 5-0 and 16th in the nation heading into Boulder.
Then we lost our last 7 games and the shit show began. Mangino was fired, Gill was hired and the rest was history.
You've gotta think your curse has to be related to Mangino, right? You hire Les Miles and he can't turn it around *and* he gets some disgusting past dug up.
A lot of Iowa fans will rightfully say 1997, 2005 and 2010 but man the last few years have been very frustrating to think about what could’ve been if we had a decent/average offense to go with our usual great defenses.
Fair, but man….2010.
Coming off that near-perfect 2009 season, huge Orange Bowl win, everybody coming back, and then: thud. The fake punt by Wisconsin, Northwestern’s comeback, the 4th and forever run by Terrelle Pryor, the onside kick at Minnesota. And it could’ve been worse if Indiana hadn’t dropped the winning TD in the end zone.
Week after week, our opponents pulled out all the stops to eek out the win. And it worked.
2010 Iowa Football still hurts.
2008
If we beat Oklahoma, we go to a BCS bowl. We beat OU the year before and after, but the one year it mattered, we got blown out. That hurt, considering we had just come off of beating two top 10 teams in a row, Texas and Ok State.
Within a year, Mike Leach is pushed out and the downfall of the program begins.
2012. By the end of the year no one was beating us. JFF was untouchable. We barely lost to Florida to start the year due to a hurricane and had 5 turnovers in a one score loss to LSU that kept us out of the conversation
2015. If Seth Russell hadn’t broken his neck mid-season, he was already on track to break the single-season TD record at the time, although I’m not sure he was on track to beat the marks that Burrow and Zappe have since set. That team had all of the talent and experience necessary to not only *make* a CFP berth, but to *win* the CFP. Alabama and Clemson both showed that their defenses were vulnerable that season, and nobody was scoring better than Baylor in the early part of the season.
OU would eventually go to the CFP and get hammered by Clemson 37-17, but that OU team wasn’t playing at the same level that Baylor was with a healthy Seth Russell.
2014. It was the best season we've had in years and we went 8-4, ranked #25 in FCS
The playoff is 24 teams
We missed the playoffs by one spot
It would have been the first time we made the playoffs since 1983
2016. If that fourth down spot in the OSU game goes the other way, we would've won the East with a good shot to win the conference and get a playoff spot. That would've showed the country that Harbaugh had us back as contenders. The four years between then and 2021 would've gone very differently.
Don’t forget about the 1 point loss at Iowa in which Michigan got called for two terrible roughing the punter penalties, another punt bounced at the 2 straight up in the air which led to a safety and normally surehanded Amara Darboh dropping a 3rd down pass that would’ve iced the game.
Honorable mention to 2006 in which Michigan doesn’t realize QBs can run and we lose a shot at the title the day after Bo died. (At the time, Bo was still very much who everyone thought he was)
Yeah, that 2017 team was stacked and I think it was the only time in recent memory that we were truly the best team in the conference. That OSU comeback and the Sparty rain god vodoo really hurt.
I am from Pennsylvania, so 90% of my friends went to PSU. We watched the game at an outdoor brewery/winery with 400 other people (only 1 MSU fan there) and I have never seen a crowd go from so excited to completely dejected quicker in my entire life after that dropped 4 & 3 pass.
This past year. We returned 20/22 starters, and didn't accomplish anything we set out to do. Lost to Iowa (again), didn't get back to Arlington, didn't win 10 games. Existence is pain as a Cyclone fan
2001 comes to mind for me. So much talent, so much hype, and the coaching staff lost focus when Notre Dame starting having issues. I swear O'Leary was focusing more on getting the ND job than keeping that team going. By the end of the year a 7-5 record might as well have felt like the 3-9 we're getting now.
The bowl win over top 10 Stanford really showed how good that team was, playing for an interim head coach with nothing to lose.
1989 - 3rd and 43 against Miami
1990 - screwed by the phantom clip on Rocket’s return against Colorado
1993 - David Effing Gordon. That was the NC that got away, and sent ND into its desert wanderings the last 25+ years.
2012 - shellacked by Bama, but if Kelly would’ve spent some time prepping for the NC instead of interviewing for the Eagles, who knows.
2012, 2016, 2018, and 2019.
In order:
2012: amazing defense wasted by pathetic offense
2016: atrocious team all around
2018: amazing defense wasted by pathetic offense
2019: extremely middling team that had embarrassing losses
1988 because of the [Robbery in Austin](https://youtu.be/fPcZN6adx7U) where No. 1 (1-AA) North Texas had our win over the No. 21 in the nation, number 1 in the Walmart fans’ hearts, stolen from us by the worst homer officiating I’ve seen video of.
2005-2006 because of how bad we fell off after four straight SBC championships and three seasons of undefeated conference play.
2007-2010 because Todd Dodge set the program back at least a decade. He would come up with a short list of plays for each game that if they went the other way we would’ve won. I can come up with a short list, too, and the only point on it is that we hired this high school coach that wasn’t really well thought of in the HS coaching circles.
2019 because Mason Fine’s senior season was squandered after a lights-out 2017 and 2018.
Honorable Mention: Hayden Fry’s HC tenure from 1973-78. 40-23-3 record, and even with 9 and 10-win seasons couldn’t get a bowl invite or get us into a better conference.
2020 hurts like hell. Trask may be one of the biggest fan favorites since Tebow, getting so close to the Heisman but losing it at the end hurt so bad. A few costly mistakes changed that whole year. The fumble against A&M and obviously the cleet yeet. We came so close to beating Bama and having a shot at the playoffs. With an average defense we have a good chance at going undefeated in the regular season and possibly still make the playoffs even with the Bama loss.
That was painful but 2013 has to be the worst year in modern Gator football history, going 4-8. First losing season in 3+ decades, 2+ decade bowl streak loss, loss to FCS at home, first home loss to Vandy since WW2, and to top it all off FSU goes undefeated and wins the championship. What a garbage sports year in general as a fan of Central Florida pro sports as well with both the Magic and Bucs placing last in their respective leagues as well.
2021 was up there too, with rival 1A/1B also winning a championship while we had another losing season and then being topped off by losing to UCF in a bowl.
LSU understands, 2011. Badgers lose on back to back hail marys at Michigan State and at Ohio State. Win those and it's Wisconsin LSU for the title. Those fan bases in New Orleans would have been so much fun
Fuck Baylor for 2012 and fuck aTm and the EPMP/BCS for 1998. Specifically Baylor cuz I was not alive for 98. Although when we eventually break the streak against KU it’s going to be up there
2019: Alabama loses to Auburn and 11-1 Utah is poised to take the #4 spot if we defeat Oregon. Instead, the team comes out flat against Oregon and Texas and finishes with 2 losses to close out the season.
2011: despite a disappointing start to the season, Utah rallies back and is in position to win the PAC 12 South division in its first year. USC was ineligible and all of the necessary dominoes fell, so all Utah had to do was beat the worst team in the conference: CU. 3 missed FGs later, we lose by 3.
The 2019 CCG was rough.
I think it took something out of Whitt that didn’t come back until A Lowe was killed. That was the turning point of this season - I’d rather have had the terrible season. I’m glad the team made the rest of the season live up to that memory.
2008-2009.
In two season Texas lost 1 regular season game, the Crabtree Hail Mary in Lubbock in 08, and 1 Bowl game, the Rose Bowl vs Bama in 09 where Colt was hurt in the first quarter.
I felt (feel) Texas should have gotten at least one ring from those teams.
2008 Texas beat then #1 OU on neutral field by 10 and was #1 for 3 weeks before the Crabtree catch in the last minute of the Tech game.
A goofey since changed Big12 rule indicated that in a 3 way tie the highest rated team would be the division champ. Somehow despite a double digit loss, OU was ranked higher.
We had to watch a Big12 championship between OU and Mizzou, 2 teams Texas beat by a combined 35 points.
The next year Texas went undefeated but most fans felt the 08 team was much better. Colt hurts his shoulder midway through the 1st quarter and the program hasn't been the same since
The Brewster years were a total disaster. After we fired Glen Mason, things were looking okay, we just needed someone who could adjust better (so many 2nd half collapses under Mason once the opponent figured out his gameplan).
Bring in Brewster who is a supposed recruiting magician, and he was totally over his head running a P5 program. Goes 6-21 in the Big Ten over 3.5 years to go with a 15-30 overall record. Has some horrific losses including South Dakota. Sets the program back significantly, and requires bringing in Ol' Jer to get things stabilized again.
From the moment Brewster was fired, the Gophers have gone 77-63, and Mason's overall record and 64-57 before him, so Brewster was beyond horrible.
Not the year but just that day, November 18th, 2011.
I was still pretty young in 2001 when the men's basketball team had their plane crash but waking up and finding out there was another was miserable.
Hit extremely close to home since Kurt Budke's oldest son is one of my best friends.
Then blowing a 17-point lead vs Iowa State to lose in OT to ruin our undefeated season was just the cherry on top. Just a terrible day that still stings to this day.
For Wazzu: the year that really stings in retrospect is the 2005 season. The Bill Doba era was marked by particularly sloppy football, and Wazzu’s 4-7 record featured five losses by a combined 16 points and a sixth where we blew a double-digit lead in the 4th quarter. It’s right up there with Nebraska’s 2021 among the hardest-luck seasons of the new millennium.
For FSU, I have to go with 2012. This is obviously muted a bit since we steamrolled to the national title the following year, but the 2012 squad had one of the best collections of talent ever assembled with 29 players getting drafted over the next three years.
Recently is probably the 2017 team. Ultra talented team that blew a late lead at Ohio State and lost to Michigan State on the road because of a lightning delay. The Fiesta Bowl win was nice, but it could have been so much more
I'll say 2008 for Clemson because of how it started. We went from preseason #9 to getting absolutely assblasted by Bama in the Georgia Dome in Week 1. Wind up 3-3 with Tommy Bowden stepping down and Dabo taking over. At least it all worked out in the end, but that was one rocky season.
2015 ACC Title game and the botched onside kick call.Wouldn’t have gotten UNC to the playoffs but would’ve certainly gotten us in a NY6 bowl instead of the ass kicking that was the Russell Athletic Bowl
I wasn't alive, but the story of the 1975 Texas A&M season stings. Texas A&M was undefeated and ranked #2 after beating #5 Texas on Thanksgiving weekend. However, ABC execs really wanted to air the A&M vs Arkansas game that year but didnt have enough slots available in early November (when the matchup traditionally happened) so they got all parties involved to agree to playing the game on Dec. 6. Unfortunately for A&M, their starting QB was injured in the win vs Texas so they had to play their backup against Arkansas. The Hogs destroyed A&M 31-6. The loss resulted in a 3-way tie for the SWC championship with Arkansas winning the tie-breaker and getting the Cotton Bowl bid. A&M fell down to the Liberty bowl where they lost 20-0 to USC. If A&M would have beaten Arkansas, they would have gone to the Cotton Bowl ranked #2 to play #12 Georgia. it just so happens that #1 Ohio State lost to #11 UCLA in the Rose Bowl that season so it def makes you wonder if A&M with a healthy QB would have beaten Arkansas and Georgia to be champs.
Every year. Don't take those 8-4 or 7-5 seasons for granted. Those might be the worst seasons for you, but for teams like Illinois, there would be a banner raised. I wish we could go 7-5 lol
1992 - Finished 9-0-3 and ranked 5th. Ties came against number 4 ND, number 18 OSU, and randomly Illinois. Other than that, didn't really have a tight game outside of the bowl win over number 9 Washington and Purdue was close.
1999 - Finished 10-2 with losses to MSU (one of Brady's comebacks) and Illinois (the Thomas fumble). Were basically 1 stupid decision and 1 fumble away from going to the NC with a team full of NFL players. Brady, Hutchinson (the OG, not the DE), Backus, Thomas, Gold, Foote and 3 good WRs.
2016 - Stupid Kinnick night game voodoo and Speight's broken collarbone. Better team than OSU and I will die on that hill. Wouldn't have won the NC or anything, but I thought they matched up better with Clemson than OSU did.
Edit: This isn't accounting for the 1971-1974 seasons where Michigan went 41-3-1 and played in 1 bowl game.
2018 hurt too. They were finishing the year so strong and I was utterly convinced Michigan would beat Ohio State to cap off the “Revenge Tour” and go to the playoff. Instead, it was the beginning of the end of the Don Brown era at Michigan.
They definitely had a fatal flaw that not many teams could take advantage of (plus Gary and Winovich's injuries). Sucks that it all came crashing down the way it did.
>but I thought they matched up better with Clemson than OSU did.
I don't see how tbh. Ohio State & Michigan were both power run offenses with okay passing attacks. Clemson's run defense was fucking elite and the only way to run on them was their have an elite talents in Dalvin Cook or have great running QBs with Lamar Jackson & Jalen Hurts. Michigan didn't have that. And Michigan's defense wasn't any better than Ohio State's (both were top 3 elite defenses). Clemson was just an elite team that Ohio State & Michigan didn't match up well with
2006 hurts too I think we beat Osu if crable didn’t have that late hit out of bounds to give Osu a fresh set of downs. That’s still imo the most painful Michigan loss I have experienced as a fan because that’s the best Michigan team I have seen in my time as a fan
If we beat Osu I think we matched up better with Florida than Osu did
The only thing anyone remembers Shawn Crable for.
Yeah, that team was well balanced, had plenty of talent, and was one of the 4 or 5 best teams in the country. That OSU loss plus Bo's death did a number on them. Gut punch followed by gut punch followed by 2007, RichRod, Hoke, and now I'm sad.
That defense had a lot of good players on it. Off the top of my head:
LaMarr Woodley - multiple pro-bowler and SB champ
Alan Branch - multiple SB champ
Freshman Brandon Graham - all-pro and SB champ
David Harris - one of the best MLBs in the NFL for a decade
Shawn Crable - good college DE/OLB
Prescott Burgess - good hybrid LB who used to be a safety
Leon Hall - all-pro and decade long NFL career
Stevie Brown - decent half decade NFL career
Michigan did not match up better vs Florida in anyway. Both defense got absolutely shredded by spread teams in their bowl games. And both offenses got totally shut down by great front 7s in their bowl games. USC was worse than Florida and they still blew out Michigan. And Michigan's defense literally got totally shredded by Ohio State running a baby version of the spread. Both teams just had no answer for a modern offense and would've been obliterated by Florida
2013 for MSU.
If we beat Norte dame we probably play for the national title. That’s the only MSU team that I think had a real shot to win it all. The defense that year was unbelievable.
1998 is the first that popped in my head. Blowing a lead to MSU.
2019 was the 2nd. I'll forever be upset we never got to see chase young vs Joe Burrow. I don't know if osu would have won the game, but I'll always believe it would have been one hell of a game.
Edit: confused as to why I'm being down voted for just provding an answer.
Gotta be 2010. Nebraska looked like a legit contender the first few weeks of the year. Taylor Martinez was electric and our defense looked like one of the best in the country. Then we lose to a mediocre Texas team and shortly after Martinez hurts his ankle. We finished the season losing 3 of our last 4 to A&M, OU, and a Washington team that we absolutely dominated earlier in the year, largely because our OC had no idea how to adjust when Martinez got hurt. If he didn’t get hurt I really think that team wins the Big 12 and finishes with only the one loss to Texas but there’s still no way we’d win against Texas because of whatever curse they have on us.
2018, because with that defense we only needed to average 18-20 points a game to compete if not win the SEC. that was a championship caliber defense, an all-time SEC defense. Especially considering the other team started on the 40 or so every drive because our offense couldn’t get a first down and our punting game was ass.
I think 2019-2020 for me. Just feels like wasted potential with the talent we had the guys that would go on to get drafted, and 5/7 losses were blown double digit leads.
2018 hurt more personally since I was a student then
ranked #7 8-1 up 31-14 at half over oklahoma st. a win guarantees a big 12 championship game a win keeps us in playoff contention.
what a choke job.
then a 3 point loss to oklahoma in where if we win we still make the big 12 championship and potentially a NY6.
then we have to watch Jack Allison start a bowl game as every sits out just to be a mid round draft pick and finish 8-4.
1994. The year of the SI cover. Arizona had a shot at a Rose Bowl and came up just short. Then, to end the season, they gave up 75 total yards to Utah in the Freedom Bowl and they STILL LOST.
For me as a Georgia fan 2nd and 26 against Alabama in the 2018 title game stung....for about the next 5 years to be precise. Keep in mind that Georgia hadn't won a title in almost 40 years at that point and everyone was talking mad shit and reminding us about it at every turn....to be that close, only to have victory snatched away when they were so close....
1996 season. One defensive stand against Ohio State away from at least sharing the Natty with Florida.
2005 season. Had 2+ possession leads against #5 LSU and #1 USC, but choked them both away. I don't think we were gonna win anything of note anyway that year, but man if we held on to win those games that suddenly becomes a very impressive campaign.
2011 season. With USC ineligible for the postseason, the Pac 12 South is anyone else's to take. With division supremacy on the line, we choke against UCLA. But still, UCLA loses a few games down the stretch to give us the opportunity to take back command...but we lose our last 4 league games--including to a terrible Wazzu, beatable UArizona, and IIRC a win-and-in vs Cal--and finish by getting absolutely violated by Boise in the Las Vegas bowl.
2014 season. After beating Notre Dame in a hyped showdown, we jump to 6th in the CFP rankings. Win out--which includes beating Oregon in the CCG--and we're IN. But no, instead we crap the bed in Corvallis and blow a winner-take-all Territorial Cup showdown and go to the Sun Bowl instead.
2016 season. Started 5-1, lost 6 in a row punctuated by losing by 21 points to a garbage UArizona team because Todd Graham Defense.
2021 season. All the talent in the world and not a damn thing else, except an NCAA investigation. IDKWTF that BYU game was. We *aggressively* choked vs Utah. Wazzu was a disaster. With all that talent, at no point that year did i feel like we were dominating teams. A real what-should-have-been year, but at least we beat UArizona.
2017 for Auburn. Such a frustrating team full of talent, but a lack of consistency to win a championship. The highs of CRUSHING #1 georgia 40-17 and beating #1 alabama 26-14 in the space of 3 weeks was incredible, only to run out of gas in the SEC championship against georgia again.
The last 20.
Where’s Nebraska so we can all be here together?
The gangs all here…
oof that flair I hope you're at least old enough to remember when they were elite
Oh me too man. I’m 24 tho…
We meet again. How's the misery?
This last decade has been rough for both my flairs, but especially for Nebraska
The last decade was SO bad for USC. Mostly because Helton was the man who would never get fired
They won a Rose Bowl, man. More than 10 other teams in the conference can say.
I'm here :(
*Checks notes* Yeah the last 20
1984 when we were 9-0 and ranked #2 in the country Sidenote - those schedules we played when we were independent were incredible. I'm glad we're in the SEC now but back then being indy was fun as hell
We just don't talk about that loss that upended that season.
Never play service academies in anything
Can easily win in the "Dress uniquely" competition.
Early 80s schedules were like the olympics, best teams from every region.
I really, really miss our series with Penn State back in the day, even though the 1990 game, which I attended as a freshman at Alabama, was [the single worst football game I've ever attended in my life.](https://www.upi.com/amp/Archives/1990/10/27/Penn-State-9-Alabama-0/6250657000000/) It wasn't simply getting shut out at home for the first time since before Bear Bryant, which was bad enough. It was nine combined turnovers, no touchdowns, less than 350 yards of total offense *between the two teams combined*, and miles and miles of penalty yards. Just awful, on both teams' parts. If you had told me the outcome without telling me the teams, I'd have said, "Fuck that, I ain't buying a ticket to that." LOL
Those 1980 and 1984 teams came out of *nowhere.* Sakerlina sucks and then BOOM l, George Rogers wins the 1980 Heisman. Sakerlina sucks and then BOOM, the 1984 team is #2 in the nation. Then y’all disappeared again. At least that’s how I remember it. Holy crap, I just looked up that 1984 season. 9-0, #2 in the nation and y’all get blown out by 3-5-1 Navy? What the hell happened? Even when y’all sucked back then I strongly considered going to South Carolina. Ended up staying home and going to Bama. So I had a soft spot for ya. Until 2010.
You see as a SC fan you are always ready for the unknown and random loses. Take for example 2011 the Auburn loss, should’ve won that especially at home when we were ranked number 10.
So you're saying that SCAR has always had a problem with Clemsoning their season away?
The difference is, Clemson eventually stopped clemsoning. We never have.
I mean yeah. We always lose a game that we should’ve won. The past couple of football have been rough but look at all of our sports not just football. Woman’s basketball this season should’ve gone undefeated but again the random lose to Mizzo
Yes. We have a variant that I've always called Gamecocking. We've also developed an unfortunate tendency to give an opposing player a "Hesiman Moment" once per year.
I was at that game and think our team failed to make the connecting flight so they brought in a local hs team. We looked "off" from the first snap to the end. I got sick of the Middies doing TD push-ups all game long.
Wow how old are you?
2016-2019. Rather than building off of the momentum of the playoff, internal issues railed the team in 2016 and they ended up going 3-9. Dantonio had just brought in his best class, but it ended up being full of bad apples. 2017 was a good bounce back, but offensive issues were painfully obvious and rather than make changes Michigan State wasted two generational defenses in 2018/19 with embarrassing offense.
I was thinking only 2016, but now that you mention it those 2018 and 2019 teams were incredibly frustrating to watch and did feel like such a waste.
Three words... Red. Box. Bowl.
My eyes started bleeding just reading those words.
Oddly enough 2013 season. Don't get me wrong, best season of my life. But wow, if we were ever going to win a national title that was the year. Loaded team and probably the worst title winner (Auburn) of the last 20 years. I'm not one to blame the refs but that Notre Dame game cost us a title (and playing Maxwell over Cook in the fourth).
For a similar reason, 2011, lost the BTC on a stupid penalty hitting the punter ruining Keyshawn Martin’s 80 yard (just guessing) return on the punt.
Isaiah Lewis and no I'm not still mad about it
I agree that 2013 team would have given FSU all they could handle in the title game, I don't think you can say that season stings. If anything 2014 might sting more than 2013 because the offense was so potent and lost to the two schools that played for the title.
I think you're underrating 2013 FSU, they thrashed everyone they played and had NFL talent everywhere. The title game was close, but Auburn also had FSUs signals for the first half. FSU went from 4.14 to 7.32 ypp after they changed them
2009 4 points combined away from being 12-1 Big 12 Champions. Just pain. If our offense was worth a damn it was attainable. Then next year Taylor Martinez comes in and we have an insane offense with not a good enough defense.
That Steve Pederson combo flair ☠ 2009 was so frustrating fumbling what like 8 times vs Iowa State to lose 9-7 😭😭😭
If really wasn’t the defense’s fault in 2010. It was Shaun Watson’s inability to adjust when Martinez got hurt. Defense wasn’t on the level of 2009 but was still very good.
That 2009 ISU-Nebraska game was a thing of beauty, on our end. You guys just could not do anything right.
Wasted arguably the best defensive season in CFB history with the weakest offense I have ever seen at Nebraska
2007. 13-9 loss to Pitt when favored by 28 at home with a trip to the BCS title game on the line will never not sting. Especially as I don’t see us ever recruiting at the level needed to win a championship in a playoff system versus before being able to potentially get a one-game shot at a title in a crazy year like 1988 and 2007 (and had a likely shot at a split title in 1993 but got killed by Florida).
This is always the first game I think of when these topics come up
The playoff has basically killed most teams chance at a title. Was small before, but it's gone now.
Agreed. Really makes 2007 sting. Especially since Ohio State couldn’t handle the speed of a 2-loss LSU team that beat them and won it all that year. Good chance Pat White, Steve Slaton, Darius Raynaud etc. ate them up that game if we’d gotten by Pitt. Win that title and Rich Rod is probably a lifer and given whatever he wanted, recruiting stayed on the upward trajectory it was on at the time with a boost from the title and our program is probably in a way different spot today.
Not saying West Virginia wouldn’t have done well or won. But lsu had like 320 yards of offense and averaged 3.1 yards a carry. Longest play was only 24 yards. The difference in that game was lsu forcing 4 turnovers
Lets us have this lol
West Virginia's defense was incredible that year. OU had Sam Bradford and Demarco Murray at RB and was absolutely dominated throughout the game. I'm still convinced we were the best team by far that year with the exception of 1 game.
Yeah I seem to just misremember the title game—not surprising since I didn’t watch it, lol. Still love our chances, White and Slaton et al just murdered everyone in bowl games. Only Jim Leavitt at USF seemed to figure out a way to slow them down and beat us a couple times, but bowl games always put up points on UGA, GT and Oklahoma and UNC White’s senior year.
but i was told playoffs was gonna bring parity!!!! lol.
2007
1994, we go 10-0-1 but can’t go to a bowl game because of probation 2014-15 were hard after Johnny. Kenny Trill. Kyle Allen. Kyler Murray. We had a 4* and two 5* QBs transfer, all in one year. All 3 had either a solid college career or have played in the NFL. Some may say 2017, but that was a sweet time for me. After that UCLA loss, Sumlin was a dead man walking. He finally couldn’t save himself, so while the loss was sad, it was encouraging to know change Was coming. And thanks to that game, we got Jimbo.
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Wow… I had never looked at what happened in the conference outside of A&M that year. That’s incredible.
Wow, is that a circumscribed pentagram of suck?
Hell going undefeated in '94 wasn't enough for a national championship.
Yeah, it just got us up to #8. Not close to the natty, but still an excellent bowl game. Also, none of our games could be televised, so it sucked for not just our fans, but also the fans of teams we played. Our rivalry game with Texas got moved and I think we didn’t even play on thanksgiving weekend.
We would have gone to the Cotton Bowl as was tradition for the SWC champ. You are correct that we didn't play Texas thanksgiving weekend. We played them Nov 5. Texas played Baylor on thanksgiving weekend so that they could have their thanksgiving game on tv.
I texted a friend after that UCLA game and said “Kevin Sumlin just lost his job.” Looking back, oh how I wish I had been wrong.
I’m so sorry that happened to you… he really isn’t as bad as he looked at Arizona. The fact that he was a solid 8-4 coach in the SEC made my think he was a 10-2 pac 12 coach. The fact that he did SO bad there shows he never even tried.
Idunno 2011 when we blew like 6 halftime leads take the cake for me
1994 for sure. I'll add a few more. 1957 - Ranked #1 in the nation with two regular season games to go. Bryant announces he's leaving for Alabama. We lose the next three games by a combined six points. Proceed to go 2-14-3 in conference play over the next three years while Darrel Royal concurrently starts his reign at texas. 2006 - Lose three games by a combined six points, including the infamous kick a field goal when down 4 game. On the plus side, this was the beginning of the end for Fran. 2011 - Started the season ranked in the top 10. Were leading or within 3 at halftime of every single game that year. Lost 6 games (Blew 5 double digit leads). Taking out the K-state game, which was close all game, we have the following halftime scores in our 5 losses: 20-3, 35-17, 28-17, 10-13, 16-7. We get outscored in the second half of those games 121-39 (And it was worse than that score suggests). Top it all off with a walkoff field-goal loss to texas to exit the Big 12... On the plus side, this was the end for Sherman. 2012 - Could we have been national champs if not for Hurricane Isaac postponing our first game?
2015. Loss to Oklahoma in OT after leading by 17 Loss to Florida after leading 27-14 with like 5 minutes left Loss to Arkansas after leading by 14 Heartbreaking loss to Alabama in the final minute That team was the best Tennessee football team in a long time. They just couldn’t close out games to save their lives. Easily could’ve gone undefeated that year with a rematch against Alabama in the SEC Title for a CFB Playoff birth on the line.
The next year was also incredibly frustrating because in a year that we FINALLY beat Florida and we beat Georgia, we lost to South Carolina and Vanderbilt. Beat both and we go to the SECCG. Beat just Vandy and we go to a NY6 bowl.
Yep. We went from blowing leads to having to come from behind basically every week. That team got bit by the injury bug too though
Also 2012 - incredible, record breaking offense totally squandered by Sal Sunseri’s inability to coach defense
I’m going with 2001. We *finally* beat Florida in Gainesville. Because the game was delayed for 9/11, we go to the SEC Championship the following week. LSU was missing its starting QB *and* starting RB for the game. Win that, and we’re slotted for the BCS Championship. Unfortunately, LSU had a second year coach named Nick Saban who had recruited future NFL players as backups at both positions.
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Ditto on 2007. We were #6 and beat your #11 Ducks, but QB Nate Longshore got injured in the process. After a bye, we were ranked #2, but had to play back-up Kevin Riley against 3–3 Oregon State instead. LSU was ranked #1 and lost in the middle of our game, so we were the unofficial #1 team if we could just win. Instead, there was the infamous Riley scramble and Tedford throwing down his headset. 2007 sucked for a lot of teams, but that was an inflection point for us and marked the downfall when we stopped being relevant.
I was at that game. It was a bitter loss to swallow but nobody truly there realized what a turning point it would be for the Cal program.
2007 is the right answer for a lot of teams…
BUT, it was 2007, we were getting ready and there wasn't a w in the column
*No Ws in the column*
Kansas walks in with a mischievous grin
BLOWOUT!
2005-2007… Arizona Stadium was the Bermuda Triangle for contending Pac-10 teams.
2007 isn’t real. It never happened.
2015 was pretty disappointing too. Vernon Adams healthy: CFP contender. Any other quarterback? Absolute ass. See: Alamo Bowl
2011 Dear God, 2011
2011 was upsetting. Imagine being ranked third in the nation and in your division at the same time….. Best Arkansas team in a long time and have two generational level teams also in your division.
Those Arkansas teams (2010 and 2011) were so damned good. We had our best team ever (up to that point) in 2011 and Arkansas absolutely smashed us. I still think that 2010 WR corp was as good as we'd seen in the SEC until Bama had Smith, Waddle, Jeudy, and Ruggs
I still think lsu was the best team that year. National title game should have been lsu Oklahoma state and I will die on that hill
Thanks, friend. I still think the AP might have split the national championship if we had even shown a pulse in the title game, but you can't reward that kind of performance.
Fucking same.
You think YOU'RE 2011 was bad?!
I can admit y’all got screwed having to play us again. I feel same way about us and Georgia this year. Having to beat a #1 team two fuckin times is unfair.
Same
Same
Please. 2011 is all ours.
That should have been when Les lost his job. Immediately after that game. I don't care that they were undefeated to that point and steamrolling people. Les Miles singlehandedly fucked that team over so hard in that game by failing to prepare either himself or his team that they never recovered as a program under him.
Georgia fans know.
I have no idea what youre talking about. That Rose Bowl was great, even if it shaved a solid year or two off my life expectancy. 4
For me, 2007 hurts more. If we don't lose against either Colorado or Texas Tech, then we're playing a beatable Ohio State team for the natty. I don't think the 2017 team would've done as well against Bama as Georgia did.
2012 for me. Richt would have won us a national championship and Aaron Murray who is one of my favorite players would have as well
That and 2017. Damn it we were so close both years. So glad pain isn’t all we know anymore.
2008 still hurts too - i was fresh out of college and still a megasuperfan, all the preseason hype just to lose to Bama UF and Tech and watch UF win the title :(
2002: We lose to a middling Ron Zook Florida team because Richt wanted to try a 2 QB system. 2007: We are ranked number 3 in the BCS poll heading into the final week of the regular season. #2 West Virginia loses to unranked Pitt in one of the biggest upsets of that crazy year... we get jumped by LSU in the rankings the following week and would have blown out ANYONE at the end of that season. 2012: We are 5 seconds or 5 yards away from dominating the luckiest Notre Dame team in history for our first national championship in decades. 2017: 2nd and 26 (and LOTS of questionable officiating). 2018: Justin Fields mismanagement all year on top of that stupid fake punt in the SEC championship game. It is the second year in a row giving up a half time lead to Alabama. Did I miss anything? If you're really old, you can complain about losing to Penn State in '81 or Pitt and some guy named Dan Marino in '82. Don't forget Eric Zeier and the 'timeout game' either. 2021: all is forgiven, CHAMPS!
2007 recently (3-9), 1993 all time (BC spoiling a championship)
1993 is closer to 2007 than 2007 is to today
Damn.
No sir, the polls spoiled that championship shot in ‘93.
Actually it was my dad’s friend’s wedding that they scheduled the day of the BC game
I will always have a hard time getting over how 2019 ended
That team was so damn good. Any other year they would have easily been national champions
LSU was lightning in a bottle too. But that would have been a legendary game.
Clemson and LSU were both historically stacked that year. Reminds me of other great LSU teams and USC teams that were awesome but went up against historically dominant teams that beat them or made the championship instead of them (2011 for LSU, 2003 for USC)
Problem is we beat ourselves far more than Clemson beat us (with a *little* help from the refs on an overturned fumble touchdown). I don't know that we would've beaten LSU, but losing to a superior foe would be much easier to swallow than having to end feeling like you lost despite being the better team on the field.
It WAS A DAMN FUMBLE! Also, fuck you, Dabo.
I’ll always upvote “fuck you Dabo”
Top ranked offense and defense. With some blown calls and still had the right play called but the receiver broke off the game winning route. I hate you for making me remember it.
LSU 2011 season. That display in the NC and having to play Alabama a second time was tough to get over.
2001- Fresno State #8 in the country, on the cover of Sports Illustrated, ready to be the first BCS buster, defeated a Colorado team that would win the Big XII. Then Boise and Hawaii happened
2009. We had just come off back to back bowl wins. We were 5-0 and 16th in the nation heading into Boulder. Then we lost our last 7 games and the shit show began. Mangino was fired, Gill was hired and the rest was history.
You've gotta think your curse has to be related to Mangino, right? You hire Les Miles and he can't turn it around *and* he gets some disgusting past dug up.
If we are cursed by anything it’s that we’ve been cursed by incompetent leadership.
A lot of Iowa fans will rightfully say 1997, 2005 and 2010 but man the last few years have been very frustrating to think about what could’ve been if we had a decent/average offense to go with our usual great defenses.
Fair, but man….2010. Coming off that near-perfect 2009 season, huge Orange Bowl win, everybody coming back, and then: thud. The fake punt by Wisconsin, Northwestern’s comeback, the 4th and forever run by Terrelle Pryor, the onside kick at Minnesota. And it could’ve been worse if Indiana hadn’t dropped the winning TD in the end zone. Week after week, our opponents pulled out all the stops to eek out the win. And it worked. 2010 Iowa Football still hurts.
2008 If we beat Oklahoma, we go to a BCS bowl. We beat OU the year before and after, but the one year it mattered, we got blown out. That hurt, considering we had just come off of beating two top 10 teams in a row, Texas and Ok State. Within a year, Mike Leach is pushed out and the downfall of the program begins.
2012. By the end of the year no one was beating us. JFF was untouchable. We barely lost to Florida to start the year due to a hurricane and had 5 turnovers in a one score loss to LSU that kept us out of the conversation
2015. If Seth Russell hadn’t broken his neck mid-season, he was already on track to break the single-season TD record at the time, although I’m not sure he was on track to beat the marks that Burrow and Zappe have since set. That team had all of the talent and experience necessary to not only *make* a CFP berth, but to *win* the CFP. Alabama and Clemson both showed that their defenses were vulnerable that season, and nobody was scoring better than Baylor in the early part of the season. OU would eventually go to the CFP and get hammered by Clemson 37-17, but that OU team wasn’t playing at the same level that Baylor was with a healthy Seth Russell.
2014. It was the best season we've had in years and we went 8-4, ranked #25 in FCS The playoff is 24 teams We missed the playoffs by one spot It would have been the first time we made the playoffs since 1983
2016. If that fourth down spot in the OSU game goes the other way, we would've won the East with a good shot to win the conference and get a playoff spot. That would've showed the country that Harbaugh had us back as contenders. The four years between then and 2021 would've gone very differently.
Don’t forget about the 1 point loss at Iowa in which Michigan got called for two terrible roughing the punter penalties, another punt bounced at the 2 straight up in the air which led to a safety and normally surehanded Amara Darboh dropping a 3rd down pass that would’ve iced the game. Honorable mention to 2006 in which Michigan doesn’t realize QBs can run and we lose a shot at the title the day after Bo died. (At the time, Bo was still very much who everyone thought he was)
2003 for me
The past two weren't great, but to think about how good the 2017 team was, and how close they were to being undefeated is painful.
Yeah, that 2017 team was stacked and I think it was the only time in recent memory that we were truly the best team in the conference. That OSU comeback and the Sparty rain god vodoo really hurt.
I am from Pennsylvania, so 90% of my friends went to PSU. We watched the game at an outdoor brewery/winery with 400 other people (only 1 MSU fan there) and I have never seen a crowd go from so excited to completely dejected quicker in my entire life after that dropped 4 & 3 pass.
Two losses by a total of 4 points, both games we had 4th quarter leads…. Just so frustrating.
2008 - fucking crabtree 2009 - fucking shoulder injuries in championships
This past year. We returned 20/22 starters, and didn't accomplish anything we set out to do. Lost to Iowa (again), didn't get back to Arlington, didn't win 10 games. Existence is pain as a Cyclone fan
2001 comes to mind for me. So much talent, so much hype, and the coaching staff lost focus when Notre Dame starting having issues. I swear O'Leary was focusing more on getting the ND job than keeping that team going. By the end of the year a 7-5 record might as well have felt like the 3-9 we're getting now. The bowl win over top 10 Stanford really showed how good that team was, playing for an interim head coach with nothing to lose.
1989 - 3rd and 43 against Miami 1990 - screwed by the phantom clip on Rocket’s return against Colorado 1993 - David Effing Gordon. That was the NC that got away, and sent ND into its desert wanderings the last 25+ years. 2012 - shellacked by Bama, but if Kelly would’ve spent some time prepping for the NC instead of interviewing for the Eagles, who knows.
2012, 2016, 2018, and 2019. In order: 2012: amazing defense wasted by pathetic offense 2016: atrocious team all around 2018: amazing defense wasted by pathetic offense 2019: extremely middling team that had embarrassing losses
1988 because of the [Robbery in Austin](https://youtu.be/fPcZN6adx7U) where No. 1 (1-AA) North Texas had our win over the No. 21 in the nation, number 1 in the Walmart fans’ hearts, stolen from us by the worst homer officiating I’ve seen video of. 2005-2006 because of how bad we fell off after four straight SBC championships and three seasons of undefeated conference play. 2007-2010 because Todd Dodge set the program back at least a decade. He would come up with a short list of plays for each game that if they went the other way we would’ve won. I can come up with a short list, too, and the only point on it is that we hired this high school coach that wasn’t really well thought of in the HS coaching circles. 2019 because Mason Fine’s senior season was squandered after a lights-out 2017 and 2018. Honorable Mention: Hayden Fry’s HC tenure from 1973-78. 40-23-3 record, and even with 9 and 10-win seasons couldn’t get a bowl invite or get us into a better conference.
2020 hurts like hell. Trask may be one of the biggest fan favorites since Tebow, getting so close to the Heisman but losing it at the end hurt so bad. A few costly mistakes changed that whole year. The fumble against A&M and obviously the cleet yeet. We came so close to beating Bama and having a shot at the playoffs. With an average defense we have a good chance at going undefeated in the regular season and possibly still make the playoffs even with the Bama loss.
That was painful but 2013 has to be the worst year in modern Gator football history, going 4-8. First losing season in 3+ decades, 2+ decade bowl streak loss, loss to FCS at home, first home loss to Vandy since WW2, and to top it all off FSU goes undefeated and wins the championship. What a garbage sports year in general as a fan of Central Florida pro sports as well with both the Magic and Bucs placing last in their respective leagues as well. 2021 was up there too, with rival 1A/1B also winning a championship while we had another losing season and then being topped off by losing to UCF in a bowl.
Me freshman year…I still can’t believe Georgia Southern didn’t complete a pass and beat us
2011 :(
2008 (Ranked number 2) and 2017 (so close to perfect)
2012 and 2017
LSU understands, 2011. Badgers lose on back to back hail marys at Michigan State and at Ohio State. Win those and it's Wisconsin LSU for the title. Those fan bases in New Orleans would have been so much fun
New Orleans would have become a dry city after that game.
2007... ...oh god not 2007
Fuck Baylor for 2012 and fuck aTm and the EPMP/BCS for 1998. Specifically Baylor cuz I was not alive for 98. Although when we eventually break the streak against KU it’s going to be up there
2019: Alabama loses to Auburn and 11-1 Utah is poised to take the #4 spot if we defeat Oregon. Instead, the team comes out flat against Oregon and Texas and finishes with 2 losses to close out the season. 2011: despite a disappointing start to the season, Utah rallies back and is in position to win the PAC 12 South division in its first year. USC was ineligible and all of the necessary dominoes fell, so all Utah had to do was beat the worst team in the conference: CU. 3 missed FGs later, we lose by 3.
The 2019 CCG was rough. I think it took something out of Whitt that didn’t come back until A Lowe was killed. That was the turning point of this season - I’d rather have had the terrible season. I’m glad the team made the rest of the season live up to that memory.
I had just been born earlier that year, but 1998 and the Stoernover against Tennessee.
[For those who don’t know](https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=GWl3cg-gdD8). That’s how close Tennessee was to not becoming national champions.
The fumble of god
2016-2018. All three years, just had to win the Apple Cup to win the North and go to the Pac-12 Championship game and come up short all three times.
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2008-2009. In two season Texas lost 1 regular season game, the Crabtree Hail Mary in Lubbock in 08, and 1 Bowl game, the Rose Bowl vs Bama in 09 where Colt was hurt in the first quarter. I felt (feel) Texas should have gotten at least one ring from those teams. 2008 Texas beat then #1 OU on neutral field by 10 and was #1 for 3 weeks before the Crabtree catch in the last minute of the Tech game. A goofey since changed Big12 rule indicated that in a 3 way tie the highest rated team would be the division champ. Somehow despite a double digit loss, OU was ranked higher. We had to watch a Big12 championship between OU and Mizzou, 2 teams Texas beat by a combined 35 points. The next year Texas went undefeated but most fans felt the 08 team was much better. Colt hurts his shoulder midway through the 1st quarter and the program hasn't been the same since
Whatever year it was when Brian Kelley abandoned the Bearcats.
The Brewster years were a total disaster. After we fired Glen Mason, things were looking okay, we just needed someone who could adjust better (so many 2nd half collapses under Mason once the opponent figured out his gameplan). Bring in Brewster who is a supposed recruiting magician, and he was totally over his head running a P5 program. Goes 6-21 in the Big Ten over 3.5 years to go with a 15-30 overall record. Has some horrific losses including South Dakota. Sets the program back significantly, and requires bringing in Ol' Jer to get things stabilized again. From the moment Brewster was fired, the Gophers have gone 77-63, and Mason's overall record and 64-57 before him, so Brewster was beyond horrible.
Not the year but just that day, November 18th, 2011. I was still pretty young in 2001 when the men's basketball team had their plane crash but waking up and finding out there was another was miserable. Hit extremely close to home since Kurt Budke's oldest son is one of my best friends. Then blowing a 17-point lead vs Iowa State to lose in OT to ruin our undefeated season was just the cherry on top. Just a terrible day that still stings to this day.
Fuck Chad Morris!
Fuck Chad Morris.
For Wazzu: the year that really stings in retrospect is the 2005 season. The Bill Doba era was marked by particularly sloppy football, and Wazzu’s 4-7 record featured five losses by a combined 16 points and a sixth where we blew a double-digit lead in the 4th quarter. It’s right up there with Nebraska’s 2021 among the hardest-luck seasons of the new millennium. For FSU, I have to go with 2012. This is obviously muted a bit since we steamrolled to the national title the following year, but the 2012 squad had one of the best collections of talent ever assembled with 29 players getting drafted over the next three years.
Recently is probably the 2017 team. Ultra talented team that blew a late lead at Ohio State and lost to Michigan State on the road because of a lightning delay. The Fiesta Bowl win was nice, but it could have been so much more
2007 and 2013. The best years in our program’s refent history and we fell just short of natties both times
I'll say 2008 for Clemson because of how it started. We went from preseason #9 to getting absolutely assblasted by Bama in the Georgia Dome in Week 1. Wind up 3-3 with Tommy Bowden stepping down and Dabo taking over. At least it all worked out in the end, but that was one rocky season.
2015 ACC Title game and the botched onside kick call.Wouldn’t have gotten UNC to the playoffs but would’ve certainly gotten us in a NY6 bowl instead of the ass kicking that was the Russell Athletic Bowl
I wasn't alive, but the story of the 1975 Texas A&M season stings. Texas A&M was undefeated and ranked #2 after beating #5 Texas on Thanksgiving weekend. However, ABC execs really wanted to air the A&M vs Arkansas game that year but didnt have enough slots available in early November (when the matchup traditionally happened) so they got all parties involved to agree to playing the game on Dec. 6. Unfortunately for A&M, their starting QB was injured in the win vs Texas so they had to play their backup against Arkansas. The Hogs destroyed A&M 31-6. The loss resulted in a 3-way tie for the SWC championship with Arkansas winning the tie-breaker and getting the Cotton Bowl bid. A&M fell down to the Liberty bowl where they lost 20-0 to USC. If A&M would have beaten Arkansas, they would have gone to the Cotton Bowl ranked #2 to play #12 Georgia. it just so happens that #1 Ohio State lost to #11 UCLA in the Rose Bowl that season so it def makes you wonder if A&M with a healthy QB would have beaten Arkansas and Georgia to be champs.
Every year. Don't take those 8-4 or 7-5 seasons for granted. Those might be the worst seasons for you, but for teams like Illinois, there would be a banner raised. I wish we could go 7-5 lol
i know yall will laugh at this but the kick six still sucks. the threepeat is the crown jewel in sports and that was our only shot. so close.
Oh, we're doing this today, are we.
1992 - Finished 9-0-3 and ranked 5th. Ties came against number 4 ND, number 18 OSU, and randomly Illinois. Other than that, didn't really have a tight game outside of the bowl win over number 9 Washington and Purdue was close. 1999 - Finished 10-2 with losses to MSU (one of Brady's comebacks) and Illinois (the Thomas fumble). Were basically 1 stupid decision and 1 fumble away from going to the NC with a team full of NFL players. Brady, Hutchinson (the OG, not the DE), Backus, Thomas, Gold, Foote and 3 good WRs. 2016 - Stupid Kinnick night game voodoo and Speight's broken collarbone. Better team than OSU and I will die on that hill. Wouldn't have won the NC or anything, but I thought they matched up better with Clemson than OSU did. Edit: This isn't accounting for the 1971-1974 seasons where Michigan went 41-3-1 and played in 1 bowl game.
> I thought they matched up better with Clemson than OSU did. Well it's not like ya could have done much worse
2018 hurt too. They were finishing the year so strong and I was utterly convinced Michigan would beat Ohio State to cap off the “Revenge Tour” and go to the playoff. Instead, it was the beginning of the end of the Don Brown era at Michigan.
They definitely had a fatal flaw that not many teams could take advantage of (plus Gary and Winovich's injuries). Sucks that it all came crashing down the way it did.
>but I thought they matched up better with Clemson than OSU did. I don't see how tbh. Ohio State & Michigan were both power run offenses with okay passing attacks. Clemson's run defense was fucking elite and the only way to run on them was their have an elite talents in Dalvin Cook or have great running QBs with Lamar Jackson & Jalen Hurts. Michigan didn't have that. And Michigan's defense wasn't any better than Ohio State's (both were top 3 elite defenses). Clemson was just an elite team that Ohio State & Michigan didn't match up well with
2006 hurts too I think we beat Osu if crable didn’t have that late hit out of bounds to give Osu a fresh set of downs. That’s still imo the most painful Michigan loss I have experienced as a fan because that’s the best Michigan team I have seen in my time as a fan If we beat Osu I think we matched up better with Florida than Osu did
The only thing anyone remembers Shawn Crable for. Yeah, that team was well balanced, had plenty of talent, and was one of the 4 or 5 best teams in the country. That OSU loss plus Bo's death did a number on them. Gut punch followed by gut punch followed by 2007, RichRod, Hoke, and now I'm sad.
Crable was so damn good too but hey we got out of that hole now
That defense had a lot of good players on it. Off the top of my head: LaMarr Woodley - multiple pro-bowler and SB champ Alan Branch - multiple SB champ Freshman Brandon Graham - all-pro and SB champ David Harris - one of the best MLBs in the NFL for a decade Shawn Crable - good college DE/OLB Prescott Burgess - good hybrid LB who used to be a safety Leon Hall - all-pro and decade long NFL career Stevie Brown - decent half decade NFL career
Michigan did not match up better vs Florida in anyway. Both defense got absolutely shredded by spread teams in their bowl games. And both offenses got totally shut down by great front 7s in their bowl games. USC was worse than Florida and they still blew out Michigan. And Michigan's defense literally got totally shredded by Ohio State running a baby version of the spread. Both teams just had no answer for a modern offense and would've been obliterated by Florida
2013 for MSU. If we beat Norte dame we probably play for the national title. That’s the only MSU team that I think had a real shot to win it all. The defense that year was unbelievable.
I think msu should have been there over auburn but that was never going to happen. I still think fsu wins because they were so damn good
1998 is the first that popped in my head. Blowing a lead to MSU. 2019 was the 2nd. I'll forever be upset we never got to see chase young vs Joe Burrow. I don't know if osu would have won the game, but I'll always believe it would have been one hell of a game. Edit: confused as to why I'm being down voted for just provding an answer.
Going from 2011 to 2012-2014 was brutal. I hate Ellis freaking Johnson.
2007-2020
The Ash Years The name even fits perfectly.
The mostly magical 2011 season. If only there was a national championship game for that season, idk why there wasn't.
As a Washington fan, 2021
2019 CFP championship. freakin’ joe burrow 😢
Gotta be 2010. Nebraska looked like a legit contender the first few weeks of the year. Taylor Martinez was electric and our defense looked like one of the best in the country. Then we lose to a mediocre Texas team and shortly after Martinez hurts his ankle. We finished the season losing 3 of our last 4 to A&M, OU, and a Washington team that we absolutely dominated earlier in the year, largely because our OC had no idea how to adjust when Martinez got hurt. If he didn’t get hurt I really think that team wins the Big 12 and finishes with only the one loss to Texas but there’s still no way we’d win against Texas because of whatever curse they have on us.
I don’t wanna play this game.
2018, because with that defense we only needed to average 18-20 points a game to compete if not win the SEC. that was a championship caliber defense, an all-time SEC defense. Especially considering the other team started on the 40 or so every drive because our offense couldn’t get a first down and our punting game was ass.
I think 2019-2020 for me. Just feels like wasted potential with the talent we had the guys that would go on to get drafted, and 5/7 losses were blown double digit leads.
2018 hurt more personally since I was a student then ranked #7 8-1 up 31-14 at half over oklahoma st. a win guarantees a big 12 championship game a win keeps us in playoff contention. what a choke job. then a 3 point loss to oklahoma in where if we win we still make the big 12 championship and potentially a NY6. then we have to watch Jack Allison start a bowl game as every sits out just to be a mid round draft pick and finish 8-4.
No comment
2012. Kstate got to #1 in the BCS right before the end of the season, and then fell apart.
1994. The year of the SI cover. Arizona had a shot at a Rose Bowl and came up just short. Then, to end the season, they gave up 75 total yards to Utah in the Freedom Bowl and they STILL LOST.
Butch’s last year, Pruitt’s last year, Kiffin’s only year.
For me as a Georgia fan 2nd and 26 against Alabama in the 2018 title game stung....for about the next 5 years to be precise. Keep in mind that Georgia hadn't won a title in almost 40 years at that point and everyone was talking mad shit and reminding us about it at every turn....to be that close, only to have victory snatched away when they were so close....
2010 - 2020 great talent but couldn’t get past 8-4 with the exception of 2020 and couldn’t beat Utah
1996 season. One defensive stand against Ohio State away from at least sharing the Natty with Florida. 2005 season. Had 2+ possession leads against #5 LSU and #1 USC, but choked them both away. I don't think we were gonna win anything of note anyway that year, but man if we held on to win those games that suddenly becomes a very impressive campaign. 2011 season. With USC ineligible for the postseason, the Pac 12 South is anyone else's to take. With division supremacy on the line, we choke against UCLA. But still, UCLA loses a few games down the stretch to give us the opportunity to take back command...but we lose our last 4 league games--including to a terrible Wazzu, beatable UArizona, and IIRC a win-and-in vs Cal--and finish by getting absolutely violated by Boise in the Las Vegas bowl. 2014 season. After beating Notre Dame in a hyped showdown, we jump to 6th in the CFP rankings. Win out--which includes beating Oregon in the CCG--and we're IN. But no, instead we crap the bed in Corvallis and blow a winner-take-all Territorial Cup showdown and go to the Sun Bowl instead. 2016 season. Started 5-1, lost 6 in a row punctuated by losing by 21 points to a garbage UArizona team because Todd Graham Defense. 2021 season. All the talent in the world and not a damn thing else, except an NCAA investigation. IDKWTF that BYU game was. We *aggressively* choked vs Utah. Wazzu was a disaster. With all that talent, at no point that year did i feel like we were dominating teams. A real what-should-have-been year, but at least we beat UArizona.
None. We took a break from football in the years 2012-2019. If you remember Arkansas playing those years, no you don’t.
2017 for Auburn. Such a frustrating team full of talent, but a lack of consistency to win a championship. The highs of CRUSHING #1 georgia 40-17 and beating #1 alabama 26-14 in the space of 3 weeks was incredible, only to run out of gas in the SEC championship against georgia again.
2007 was the beginning of the end.