College footballs 50 best bowl games: Where do TCU, Georgia wins in Playoff rank? -

Editor’s note: This story originally was published as part of The Athletic’s Tales from Bowl Season series in December 2021. It has been updated to include an early assessment of where TCU’s 51-45 win against Michigan in the Fiesta Bowl and Georgia’s 42-41 win against Ohio State in the Peach Bowl on Dec. 31, 2022 may fit in historically.

What makes a great college football bowl game?

High stakes help, but as we’ve seen time and time again, drama can be found anywhere from Nassau to San Diego and Miami to Pasadena. This ranking of college football’s 50 greatest bowl games gives extra weight to importance and team strength, lifting some of the most prestigious events higher, but there’s room for a wide variety of games in a highly subjective list that also takes into account entertainment value, distinctiveness and more.

This list does not include extra national championship games played at rotating neutral sites outside of the bowl system since 2006. Let’s get to it.

50. Sugar Bowl (Jan. 1, 1941): Boston College 19, Tennessee 13

In his final game before leaving to build a Notre Dame dynasty, Frank Leahy finished a perfect season for No. 5 Boston College, one of the nation’s top scoring teams, against fellow unbeaten No. 4 Tennessee, which had shut out eight of 10 opponents. After the Vols missed a field goal with three minutes left, Boston College drove 80 yards, with Charlie O’Rourke scoring the winning touchdown on a 24-yard run off a fake pass with two minutes to play — a play the Eagles picked up from studying Tennessee’s offense.

49. Fiesta Bowl (Dec. 27, 1971): Arizona State 45, Florida State 38

The first Fiesta Bowl set the game on a major bowl course with a fast-paced affair that stood as the highest-scoring bowl involving a top-10 team — the No. 8 Sun Devils — until 1995. The final seven minutes included a 68-yard punt return touchdown by Arizona State, a 25-yard touchdown pass by Florida State and a 2-yard Arizona State touchdown run to win with 34 seconds to play.

48. Hawaii Bowl (Dec. 25, 2003): Hawaii 54, Houston 48

On Christmas Day, Timmy Chang passed for 475 yards and five touchdowns, but Hawaii needed three overtimes to win after Houston’s Kevin Kolb connected with Vincent Marshall for an 81-yard touchdown with 22 seconds left to tie the score.

47. Holiday Bowl (Dec. 28, 2001): Texas 47, Washington 43

The best non-BYU Holiday Bowl featured 27 fourth-quarter points by No. 9 Texas, led by a 473-yard performance from Major Applewhite, who shrugged off three second-quarter interceptions. After Texas came back, No. 21 Washington took a three-point lead with 1:49 left, but Applewhite led an 80-yard drive that ended with Ivan Williams’ winning touchdown with 38 seconds to play.

46. Fiesta Bowl (Jan. 1, 1988): Florida State 31, Nebraska 28

The No. 5 Huskers jumped out to a 14-0 lead. No. 3 Florida State scored the next 21 in the second. Back and forth it went. Nebraska tried to put the game away in the fourth, but it fumbled at the goal line. The Seminoles responded by driving the length of the field before going backward and facing fourth-and-goal at the 15, where Danny McManus found Ronald Lewis for the winning touchdown.

45. Belk Bowl (Dec. 29, 2017): Wake Forest 55, Texas A&M 52

What do we want out of non-major bowl games? Entertainment. Wake Forest and Texas A&M combined for 63 first downs, 1,260 yards and 107 points in a three-point game that went down to the wire. That’ll do.

44. Sun Bowl (Dec. 25, 1987): Oklahoma State 35, West Virginia 33

On Christmas Day in El Paso: Mike Gundy, Thurman Thomas, Barry Sanders and No. 11 Oklahoma State bested Major Harris and West Virginia in a snow storm. West Virginia scored with 1:13 left, but Oklahoma State stopped the two-point attempt to seal the win. Thomas rushed for 157 yards and four touchdowns in his final college game.

43. Rose Bowl (Jan. 1, 1980): USC 17, Ohio State 16

Already named co-Rose Bowl player of the game a year earlier, Charles White topped his previous performance against Michigan to propel No. 3 USC past the No. 1 Buckeyes, denying them a national title share with Alabama. White rushed for a Rose Bowl-record 247 yards, including the game-winning touchdown with 1:32 left.

42. Orange Bowl (Jan. 1, 1969): Penn State 15, Kansas 14

John Riggins gave Kansas the lead early in the fourth quarter, but a Penn State blocked punt set up Chuck Burkhart’s long pass to Bob Campbell and subsequent 3-yard touchdown run with just 15 seconds left. Penn State went for two and the win and was stopped, but Kansas was called for having 12 men on the field. On the second try, Campbell scored to give Penn State the win and its first of four unbeaten but unrecognized seasons under Joe Paterno.

41. Orange Bowl (Jan. 1, 1988): Miami 20, Oklahoma 14

A year after a crushing defeat for the national title, Miami rebounded to top Oklahoma — owner of the nation’s top scoring offense and defense — for a championship under Jimmy Johnson in a highly anticipated matchup of two undefeated teams. The Hurricanes won a tight defensive battle despite a late Oklahoma touchdown, leaning on two long field goals by Greg Cox in addition to Steve Walsh touchdown passes to Melvin Bratton and Michael Irvin as the defense contained the Sooners’ wishbone offense.

40. Holiday Bowl (Dec. 29, 1989): Penn State 50, BYU 39

Future Heisman winner Ty Detmer set a still-standing bowl record with 594 yards of total yards. He threw a touchdown pass with 2:30 left to pull BYU, but Andre Collins intercepted a two-point attempt and ran it back for two points. BYU got the ball back and drove to the 38-yard line, only for Gary Brown to take a Detmer fumble 53 yards for a touchdown with 45 seconds left.

39. Chick-fil-A Bowl (Dec. 31, 2013): Texas A&M 52, Duke 48

Johnny Manziel’s final season didn’t go as planned, but it still ended in thrilling fashion in a 100-point shootout against surprise ACC Coastal champion Duke. In the final six minutes, Manziel threw a 44-yard touchdown pass to Derel Walker and Toney Hurd Jr. returned an interception 55 yards to lead the Aggies to the win. The game had 1,202 yards, and the only punt by either team was blocked.

38. Rose Bowl (Jan. 1, 2005): Texas 38, Michigan 37

It’s Vince Young’s forgotten Rose Bowl because he topped it a year later for the national title. As a sophomore, he led the No. 6 Longhorns to Pasadena for the first time, throwing for 180 yards and rushing for 192 yards with five total touchdowns. No. 13 Michigan kicked a go-ahead field goal with 3:08 left, but Texas responded with a drive to set up Dusty Mangum’s winning kick on the final play.

37. Sugar Bowl (Jan. 1, 1983): Penn State 27, Georgia 23

Penn State largely contained Herschel Walker in his final college game to win its first national championship. The Bulldogs erased most of an early Penn State lead, climbing as close as 20-17, before Todd Blackledge’s iconic 47-yard touchdown pass to a diving Gregg Garrity in the fourth quarter.

36. Cotton Bowl (Jan. 1, 2015): Michigan State 42, Baylor 41

The Cotton Bowl returned to the major bowl lineup as part of the New Year’s Six in 2014. As the warm-up act for the first Playoff semifinals, it more than delivered. Baylor built a 41-21 lead by the end of the third quarter, highlighted by a touchdown catch by 410-pound tight end LaQuan McGowan. But the Spartans scored three touchdowns in the fourth quarter, including a 10-yard Connor Cook pass to Keith Mumphery followed by a PAT with 17 seconds left for the win.

35. Holiday Bowl (Dec. 21, 1984): BYU 24, Michigan 17

A WAC team won the national title on Dec. 21 against an unranked 6-5 opponent. It’s hard to figure out the strangest part of that sentence, but after trailing 17-10, Robbie Bosco, playing through multiple injuries, threw two fourth-quarter touchdowns, including one to Kelly Smith with 1:23 left, to give the Cougars an unlikely championship in a topsy-turvy season.

34. Rose Bowl (Jan. 1, 1998): Michigan 21, Washington State 16

It’s still Michigan’s last Rose Bowl win, and it gave the Wolverines their last national title share. Ryan Leaf passed for 331 yards, but Heisman winner Charles Woodson intercepted him once in the end zone. A pair of long touchdowns from Brian Griese to Tai Streets made the difference, and Washington State got down to the 26-yard line on a hook and lateral in the final seconds before the clock ran out on Leaf.

33. Sugar Bowl (Jan. 1, 2015): Ohio State 42, Alabama 35

After Oregon dominated Florida State in the first Playoff game, Ohio State stunned Alabama behind the arm of third-string quarterback Cardale Jones and Ezekiel Elliott’s 230 rushing yards. In game Alabama led by as many as 15, Elliott ran for an 85-yard touchdown with 3:24 left to put the Buckeyes up by 14 to continue a late-season surge to the national championship.

32. Capital One Bowl (Jan. 1, 2005): Iowa 30, LSU 25

In Nick Saban’s final game before going to the NFL, No. 12 LSU trailed 24-12 before a fourth-quarter rally, including a touchdown with 46 seconds left to take a one-point lead. With seven seconds left, Drew Tate took a snap from his own 44-yard line and fired downfield to an open Warren Holloway, who shed a defender and sprinted into the end zone for a walk-off miracle touchdown for No. 11 Iowa.

31. Rose Bowl (Jan. 1, 2022): Ohio State 48, Utah 45

Ohio State receiver Jaxon Smith-Njigba caught 15 passes for a bowl-record 347 yards and three touchdowns, and the Buckeyes needed every bit of that production in a wild, back-and-forth shootout. Utah jumped out to a 14-0 lead and had touchdowns of 97 and 62 yards in the second quarter. Ohio State answered with seemingly endless big-play connections from C.J. Stroud to Smith-Njigba. When the Buckeyes took the lead late in the fourth quarter, unknown Utah backup quarterback — and pig farmer — Bryson Barnes relieved the injured Cameron Rising and tied the score with under two minutes left. Alas, the Utes’ upset bid fell short when Ohio State kicked the winning field goal with nine seconds left.

30. Rose Bowl (Jan. 1, 1926): Alabama 20, Washington 19

It’s known as the “Game That Changed The South,” with Alabama helping to put southeastern football on the map with its first marquee bowl win behind Johnny Mack Brown, who caught 59- and 30-yard touchdowns amid a third-quarter Alabama scoring surge for a comeback win.

29. Fiesta Bowl (Dec. 28, 2019): Clemson 29, Ohio State 23

In a Playoff semifinal matching two high-profile quarterbacks, Ohio State jumped out to a 16-0 lead, Clemson pulled ahead in the third quarter and Ohio State answered early in the fourth. With under three minutes left, Trevor Lawrence led Clemson 94 yards in four plays, capped by a 34-yard touchdown to Travis Etienne. Ohio State drove to the 23-yard line, only for Justin Fields to be intercepted in the end zone with 37 seconds to play.

28. Bahamas Bowl (Dec. 24, 2014): WKU 49, Central Michigan 48

On what appeared to be a ho-hum Christmas Eve afternoon in Nassau, the Hilltoppers cruised to a 49-14 lead by the end of the third quarter. Then Central Michigan rattled off four touchdowns to cut the lead to 49-42 with 1:09 left. After getting the ball back at its own 25 for one final play, Central Michigan QB Cooper Rush threw a pass downfield to Jesse Kroll, which started a sequence of laterals that ended with Titus Davis finding open space and reaching the pylon for a miracle touchdown. CMU went for two and the win, but its fade pass failed, and one of the most memorable plays in bowl history came in a losing effort.

27. Insight Bowl (Dec. 29, 2006): Texas Tech 44, Minnesota 41

The Golden Gophers dominated the first half and led 38-7 midway through the third quarter. The Red Raiders responded with four touchdowns and a 52-yard field goal to force overtime. After Minnesota kicked a field goal, Texas Tech got the winning touchdown from Shannon Woods. Graham Harrell passed for 445 yards, and Minnesota fired coach Glen Mason two days later. It stood as the single largest bowl comeback for nearly a decade, until …

26. Alamo Bowl (Jan. 2, 2016): TCU 47, Oregon 41

Oregon jumped out to a 31-0 halftime lead, but after quarterback Vernon Adams was injured, the Ducks didn’t score again in regulation. TCU scored 31 second-half points to force overtime, where the Horned Frogs won in the third period on a Bram Kohlhausen run and a defensive stop, equaling the 2006 Insight Bowl’s 31-point comeback.

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25. Independence Bowl (Dec. 31, 2000): Mississippi State 43, Texas A&M 41

The Snow Bowl on New Year’s Eve in Shreveport, La., featured Jackie Sherrill beating his old team in dramatic fashion. Mississippi State forced overtime on a touchdown with 1:30 left, then Texas A&M’s Ja’Mar Toombs rumbled for a 25-yard touchdown to open the extra period, only for Mississippi State to block the PAT, execute a lateral and run it back for two. Wayne Madkin won the game for the Bulldogs with a 6-yard run.

24. GMAC Bowl (Dec. 19, 2001): Marshall 64, East Carolina 61

David Garrard and ECU capitalized on turnovers to build a 38-8 halftime lead, but Byron Leftwich and Marshall stormed back. They tied the score on a Leftwich touchdown pass with seven seconds left and missed the winning PAT, but they went on to win 64-61 in overtime. Leftwich threw for bowl-record-tying 576 yards in a game that still stands as the highest-scoring bowl game ever and is the third-largest bowl comeback.

23. Orange Bowl (Jan. 1, 1991): Colorado 10, Notre Dame 9

Colorado tied Tennessee, lost to Illinois and beat Missouri on a fifth down, but it entered the Orange Bowl ranked No. 1 with a chance to win the national title. Eric Bieniemy gave the Buffaloes the lead in the third quarter, with Charles Johnson relieving an injured Darian Hagan at quarterback, and they held onto it until Rocket Ismail returned a punt 92 yards in the final minute for the apparent go-ahead touchdown. Instead, the Irish got called for a controversial clipping penalty, and Colorado finished off one of the strangest national championship seasons ever.

22. Orange Bowl (Jan. 1, 2000): Michigan 35, Alabama 34

Tom Brady was merely a sixth-round draft pick, but perhaps his final college game was a sign of things to come. A wild third quarter featured three touchdowns of at least 50 yards, and No. 8 Michigan leveled the score after falling behind by 14. In overtime, Brady threw a 25-yard touchdown pass to Shawn Thompson. No. 5 Alabama answered but missed the PAT. Brady passed for 369 yards and four touchdowns.

21. Fiesta Bowl (Dec. 31, 2022): TCU 51, Michigan 45

In perhaps the most stunning result of the College Football Playoff system to this point, TCU gave up a 54-yard run on the first play of the game, only to storm to a 21-3 lead, then survive a roller-coaster second half that featured 69 total points. The Horned Frogs had two pick-sixes and a 76-yard fourth-quarter touchdown pass from Heisman runner-up Max Duggan to Quentin Johnston. The Wolverines racked up 528 total yards and made a 59-yard field goal. Eight touchdowns were scored in a span of 11 1/2 minutes from the third quarter to the fourth, and in the end, TCU held off one final Michigan possession in the last minute.

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20. Rose Bowl (Jan. 1, 1966): UCLA 14, Michigan State 12

The Spartans won the UPI coaches national title, then got upset by the No. 5 Bruins in Pasadena. Led by future Heisman winner Gary Beban, the Bruins jumped out to a 14-0 lead, then held on despite a Michigan State rally in the fourth quarter in which the Spartans scored two touchdowns but missed both two-point attempts — including one with 31 seconds left after a Bubba Smith blocked punt set up the TD.

19. Rose Bowl (Jan. 1, 1997): Ohio State 20, Arizona State 17

No. 4 Ohio State won the Rose Bowl for the first time in 23 years, spoiling a possible Arizona State national title. Ohio State took a third-quarter lead on a 72-yard touchdown from Joe Germaine to Dimitrious Stanley. After a blocked field goal, Jake Plummer seemingly drove the No. 2 Sun Devils for the win with an 11-yard touchdown with 1:40 left, but the Buckeyes answered, as Germaine found David Boston for the winning points with 19 seconds to play.

18. Rose Bowl (Jan. 1, 1963): USC 42, Wisconsin 37

It’s one of the greatest non-comeback comebacks in college football, in a game far ahead of its time, in the first bowl matchup of the AP’s No. 1 and No. 2 teams. USC led 42-14 in the fourth quarter before Wisconsin scored 23 consecutive points as darkness set in. The Badgers trimmed the lead to five with 1:19 left before USC recovered an onside kick and ran out the clock. Wisconsin QB Ron Vander Kelen threw for 401 yards. It would be 23 years until another player threw for even 300 yards in the Rose Bowl.

17. Cotton Bowl (Jan. 1, 1970): Texas 21, Notre Dame 17

It’s overshadowed by the Texas-Arkansas Game of the Century in early December, but the Longhorns still had to beat the No. 9 Fighting Irish in the Cotton Bowl to claim the AP national title. Notre Dame lifted a self-imposed ban on bowl appearances and made its first postseason trip since the 1924 season. Led by Joe Theismann, it appeared on the verge of spoiling Texas’ perfect season most of the day. But the Longhorns converted two fourth downs on a late drive, with Billy Dale’s touchdown with 1:08 left giving Texas the win.

16. Peach Bowl (Dec. 31, 2022): Georgia 42, Ohio State 41

Just one CFP semifinal game being a thriller would have been satisfying. Two in a row, at long last, was otherworldly. After TCU upset Michigan in the Fiesta Bowl, Georgia erased a 14-point fourth-quarter deficit to beat Ohio State in the second CFP semifinal of 2022. Even though Stroud torched Georgia’s defense much of the night, Stetson Bennett threw a 76-yard touchdown pass to Arian Smith in the fourth quarter — immediately after a Kirby Smart timeout saved the Bulldogs from an Ohio State fake punt — and a 10-yarder to AD Mitchell with 54 seconds left to pull ahead by a point. Stroud had one last chance, but Ohio State’s 50-yard field goal as the clock struck midnight missed wide, sending Georgia to its second consecutive national title game.

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15. Rose Bowl (Jan. 2, 2017): USC 52, Penn State 49

The two teams combined to go 3-5 in September, then neither lost in the rest of the regular season in surging to unexpected conference champions. USC raced to a 27-14 lead, but Penn State scored touchdowns on four consecutive offensive plays — including one of the greatest runs in bowl history by Saquon Barkley — and built a 14-point lead. USC then stormed back late to win behind Sam Darnold’s 473 total yards and a 46-yard field goal on the last play.

14. Orange Bowl (Jan. 1, 1965): Texas 21, Alabama 17

An injured Joe Namath came off the bench and won MVP honors in his final college game for the No. 1 Crimson Tide in the first live prime-time college football broadcast on network TV. But Alabama lost the game to the Longhorns, who scored touchdowns of 69 and 79 yards in the first half and stuffed Namath at the goal line late after Alabama rallied.

13. Orange Bowl (Jan. 1, 1995): Nebraska 24, Miami 17
12. Orange Bowl (Jan. 1, 1994): Florida State 18, Nebraska 16

In the 1993-94 game, Bobby Bowden captured his first national championship by denying Osborne the same. Charlie Ward, with the help of Nebraska penalties, drove the No. 1 Noles into position for a 22-yard field goal with 21 seconds left. The No. 2 Huskers actually got a chance to answer with a 45-yard field goal on the last play after officiating controversy, but the kick missed and Florida State won the national title.

A year later, unbeaten Nebraska had the edge in the polls over unbeaten Penn State and erased a 17-7 second-half deficit, with a safety and two Corey Schlesinger touchdowns giving the Huskers the win on the road against No. 3 Miami.

11. Rose Bowl (Jan. 1, 1975): USC 18, Ohio State 17

USC and Ohio State have met seven times in the Rose Bowl, none better than the rubber match of three consecutive meetings in the early 1970s. USC won big in the 1973 game and Ohio State won big in 1974. In 1975, the Trojans pulled off a dramatic one-point win against Heisman winner Archie Griffin and the No. 3 Buckeyes on a 38-yard touchdown pass from Pat Haden to John McKay Jr., the coach’s son, plus a two-point conversion pass to Shelton Diggs. USC leaped from No. 4 to No. 1 in the coaches poll to claim a split national title with UPI-ineligible Oklahoma.

10. Rose Bowl (Jan. 1, 2018): Georgia 54, Oklahoma 48

Penn State and USC played a classic Rose Bowl shootout to end the 2016 season. A year later, Georgia and Oklahoma somehow topped it on the Playoff stage: 102 total points, two overtimes, 1,058 total yards, a 17-point deficit erased by Georgia, a touchdown in the final minute to force overtime and a walk-off touchdown by the Bulldogs’ Sony Michel in the second extra period after a blocked field goal.

9. Sugar Bowl (Jan. 1, 1979): Alabama 14, Penn State 7

Bear Bryant won his fifth of six national titles and denied Joe Paterno his first in a defensive slugfest in which the Crimson Tide beat the Nittany Lions thanks in large part to the most famous goal-line stand in college football history, with Barry Krauss meeting Mike Guman just shy of the end zone on fourth-and-goal in the fourth quarter.

8. Cotton Bowl (Jan. 1, 1979): Notre Dame 35, Houston 34

On a cold, blustery day, scoring depended on which team was facing which direction. Notre Dame scored the first 12 points. Houston scored the next 34 to lead by 22 in the fourth quarter. A sick Joe Montana ate chicken soup in the locker room at halftime to warm up. In the second half of the fourth quarter, Notre Dame blocked a punt for a touchdown, made two two-point conversions, lost a fumble to seemingly lose the game, got a fourth-down stop and got an improvised Montana touchdown to Kris Haines on the last play. The Irish’s first PAT to win was wiped out by a penalty, but the second succeeded.

7. Sugar Bowl (Dec. 31, 1973): Notre Dame 24, Alabama 23

New Year’s Eve today is a questionable time for the Playoff now; in 1973, a Sugar Bowl to decide the AP title between Notre Dame and Alabama moved the needle in a big way. The two unbeaten teams delivered in a back-and-forth classic. The Irish went ahead on a field goal with 4:26 left, the moved the chains to run out the clock late after being backed up at their own 1 with a 35-yard pass on third-and-8. Alabama had already won the UPI coaches national title, but the AP waited until after the game to crown the more deserving Irish.

6. Holiday Bowl (Dec. 19, 1980): BYU 46, SMU 45

This was the best of many classic Holiday Bowls involving BYU at its peak under LaVell Edwards. Craig James and Eric Dickerson combined for 332 rushing yards to propel SMU to a 45-25 lead midway through the fourth quarter. BYU stormed back, scoring 21 points in the final 2:33. After cutting the lead to 45-39 with two minutes left, the Cougars blocked a punt to set up Jim McMahon’s winning Hail Mary to Clay Brown. McMahon finished with 446 yards and four touchdowns.

5. Fiesta Bowl (Jan. 2, 1987): Penn State 14, Miami 10

It’s a game that foretold what was to come, with increased emphasis on national championship games: a heavily lobbied for matchup between No. 1 and No. 2, moved back a night to Jan. 2 in a made-for-NBC event that captured astronomical television ratings. The game itself? Sloppy but highly dramatic. Miami dominated Penn State with a 445-162 total yards advantage. But Penn State confused Heisman winner Vinny Testaverde all night and intercepted him five times, including at the goal line in the game’s final moments for a 14-10 upset win.

4. Fiesta Bowl (Jan. 3, 2003): Ohio State 31, Miami 24

Sixteen years after losing to Penn State in one famous game in Tempe, Miami returned for something similar against Ohio State, led by Maurice Clarett and a loaded defense. The Canes sent the game to overtime with a last-play field goal, seemingly won in the first OT before a controversial pass interference flag and lost to the Buckeyes in the second OT period. It was the only one of 16 BCS championship games to require extra time, and it ended Miami’s 34-game winning streak.

3. Fiesta Bowl (Jan. 1, 2007): Boise State 43, Oklahoma 42

It’s the gold standard of non-national championship bowls. The underdog darling Broncos leaned on trick plays to take down one of the bluest of blue bloods. Boise State blew an 18-point third-quarter lead, fell behind by giving up 15 points in less than 30 seconds late and forced overtime on a 50-yard hook-and-lateral with seven seconds left. Trailing by seven in OT< Chris Petersen added to the magic by calling for a trick play touchdown pass by receiver Vinny Perretta on fourth down and a Statue of Liberty to Ian Johnson for two points and the win.

The 2007 Fiesta Bowl is one of the greatest games in college football history 🗽🐴@CoachBobStoops and @CoachPeteUW relive the epic game between Oklahoma and @BroncoSportsFB pic.twitter.com/Uf4knNu12L

— FOX College Football (@CFBONFOX) November 6, 2021

2. Orange Bowl (Jan. 2, 1984): Miami 31, Nebraska 30

The most famous decision in college football history: Undefeated No. 1 Nebraska could have tied its way to the national title against No. 5 Miami. Instead, Tom Osborne played to win. The heavily favored Huskers trailed most of the game but rallied in the fourth quarter, with Jeff Smith’s touchdown with 48 seconds left pulling the Huskers within one. Osborne went for two, Nebraska missed and Miami began its transformation into The U by leaping from No. 5 to No. 1 on perhaps the wildest bowl day of all time.

1. Rose Bowl (Jan. 4, 2006): Texas 41, USC 38

It’s the greatest college football game, period. Matt Leinart, Reggie Bush and a USC team labeled by some as greatest ever were upended by Vince Young and Texas in an all-time great individual performance that came down to Young running it in for the winning touchdown on fourth-and-goal, with Keith Jackson making his final call. Iconic players, a great game from start to finish and one of the most dramatic endings, all in the most famous setting in college football.

(Illustration: John Bradford / The Athletic; Photo: Wally Skalij / Los Angeles Times via Getty Images)

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