Five Greatest College Bowl Games Ever

The greatest college football bowl games is a very difficult topic to tackle because of so much subjectivity in making such a list. Currently there are 34 bowl games scheduled and there are many that were once played but no longer. Then take into account that some games have been played since the 1940s and beyond that, there are probably over 500 individual games to choose from (I did not count, I am just guessing). Beyond that, what criteria does one use to determine their list? Do the games have to decide a national championship? Do they all have to be major bowl games? Do only bowl games between prestigious programs make the list? With so many choices, I decided to take the four current major bowl games (Rose, Fiesta, Sugar and Orange) and also add in the Cotton as it was a major bowl game up until the mid 90s and then from there choose one game from each of the five storied bowl games as my list. At the end of the list, I will give a list of games that came up just short of being highlighted.

Starting out, since the Cotton Bowl is no longer a "major" bowl game, I will highlight my choice from that game's history. The game was played between the Notre Dame Fighting Irish, led by future NFL Hall of Famer Joe Montana and the Southwest Conference champion Houston Cougars. Notre Dame came into the contest with a record of 8-3. The Irish started with losses to Missouri and Michigan before winning their next eight games and then losing to USC in their regular season finale. Houston lost their opener as well to Memphis State then winning eight in a row before losing to Texas Tech and defeating Rice to end the season.

Notre Dame came out firing and scored the first 12 points of the game before a Cougar touchdown ended the first quarter 12-7 in favor of the Irish. Houston gained the wind advantage in the second quarter and continued to score points unanswered. At the end of the half, Houston led 20-12 and Joe Montana had been taken out of the game as he was suffering from the flu (and in fact was fighting off hypothermia). Notre Dame's medical staff fed him chicken soup and covered him with blankets throughout the third and the first half of the fourth quarter as Houston continued to run up their lead. When Montana finally returned to the field with 7:37 on the clock in the fourth quarter, Houston had gained a commanding 34-12 lead. Undoubtedly, most people had given up on the game as a contest. Montana then proceeded to bring the Irish back. On the final play of the game, Montana threw a touchdown pass to Kris Haines to tie the score at 34 with the extra point attempt remaining. Joe Unis's kick sailed through the uprights but Notre Dame was penalized on the play and Unis had to retry the kick. Unis again kicked the ball through the uprights to give Notre Dame the 35-34 victory.

Next on the list is the 1979 Sugar Bowl. This game had it all - great programs (Alabama Crimson Tide vs. Penn State Nittany Lions),great coaches (Alabama's Paul "Bear" Bryant and Penn State's Joe Paterno) and the top two ranked teams in the country (PSU #1, Alabama #2). The only defensive struggle among my five choices, Alabama would win the game 14-7 despite Penn State having the ball inside the Tide's ten yard line with five minutes to play.

The first quarter was a scoreless struggle as was expected of the two teams. Alabama would finally break through late in the second quarter with a touchdown pass to give them the 7-0 lead. The two teams would trade touchdowns in the third quarter making the score 14-7 entering the final period of play. With five minutes to go in the game, Penn State had a first and goal from the Alabama eight yard line. After a two yard gain on first down, Alabama stopped Penn State on the one yard line on second down. On third and goal from the one, Penn State tried to power the ball in only to be stopped one foot from the line. Penn State again tried to power the ball in on fourth down but was stopped in their tracks, ending the last threat the Lions would make. Coach Bryant had his fifth and final national championship.

Fast forward five years to 1984. The scene was Miami, Florida, and the Orange Bowl. The top ranked Nebraska Cornhuskers against the fifth ranked Miami Hurricanes. This was a game that would transform the college football power landscape. The Cornhuskers were the dominant team all season long, only having two close games at Oklahoma and at Oklahoma State. Everyone knew what you would get when you faced the Huskers, a powerful running game and an above average passing game. Miami, on the other hand had lost their season opener to Florida before rolling through the rest of their schedule. Nebraska was expected to roll through the Hurricanes and easily win the championship. Miami had other ideas. They used their speed to put the Huskers down big quickly and after the first quarter, Miami held a shocking 17-0 lead. Nebraska scored the next 17 point to tie the game only to see Miami put two more touchdowns on the board to lead 31-17.

Nebraska scored early in the fourth to make the score 31-24 and it stayed this way until late in the game. Nebraska drove to score with under a minute to play to make the score 31-30. What happened next still makes Husker fans cringe. Hall of Fame coach Tom Osborne decided to go for two points instead of the extra point to tie the game (a tie would have guaranteed a national championship for Nebraska). When the pass was broken up in the end zone, Miami could celebrate their first national championship and would become a powerhouse program seemingly overnight. Coach Osborne was left to wait longer for his first title.

The Texas Longhorns have won over 800 games in their storied past and four national championships. The USC Trojans have won 750 and ten national titles. Their meeting in the 2006 Rose Bowl was their fifth all time meeting, with USC winning the previous four. The two teams came into the game as the only unbeaten teams in Division I-A which season. Texas was defending Rose Bowl champions and the current Big Twelve Conference champion. USC was on a 34 game winning streak and was defending national champions. The three Heisman Trophy finalists were on the field (USC quarterback and 2005 Heisman winner Matt Leinart, Texas quarterback Vince Young and USC running back and 2006 winner Reggie Bush). At the end of the day, Texas would win their 800th all time game and fourth national championship by the score of 41-38.

The first quarter ended with the score 7-0 in favor of USC with the only touchdown being scored by USC's other star running back LenDale White. Texas would score the next 16 points before a USC field goal at the end of the first half made the score 16-10. The teams traded touchdowns with USC scores sandwiching a Texas score to make the score 24-23 at the end of the third quarter. All three of USC's touchdowns were score by White, who set the USC career rushing touchdown record in the game. Reggie Bush scored his first and only touchdown early in the fourth to put USC up 31-23. After a Texas field goal cut the lead to five, Matt Leinart did his part to help USC out by throwing a 22 yard touchdown pass to give USC a 38-26 lead. Vince Young answered the call on the next Texas drive, accounting for every yard either through the air or by running it (including running 17 yards for the touchdown) to bring the Longhorns back to within five at 38-33. After holding USC on a fourth and two attempt, the Longhorns took over at their 44 yard line with 2:09 on the clock. Young drove the 'Horns down the field and ran the ball in on 4th and 5 from the USC 8 to put Texas back in the lead 39-38 and then would run the ball in again on the two point attempt to give Texas the 41-38 lead, which they would hold on to in order to win the national championship.

I saved the best for last. This game did not decide a national champion but it was the most exciting college bowl game I personally have ever seen or heard about. The 2007 Fiesta Bowl pitted the Big 12 champion Oklahoma Sooners against only the second non-BCS conference representative to ever make a BCS bowl game. The champions of the Western Athletic Conference Boise State Broncos came into the game with a perfect 12-0 record. The game was a thriller that would end in overtime on a play straight out of the 1940s and a marriage proposal.

The first quarter ended with the Broncos ahead 14-7 and then they would expand the lead to 21-10 going into the second half. After trading touchdowns, in the third quarter, Oklahoma took control in the fourth starting out trailing 28-17. An early field goal made it 28-20 which would set up the most exciting minute and a half in my football memory. With 1:26 on the clock, Oklahoma scored a touchdown and two point conversion to tie the score at 28. On Boise State's ensuing possession, Marcus Walker intercepted a Jared Zabransky pass and returned it for another score. With 1:02 remaining, Oklahoma had the lead 35-28. The Broncos did not give up and from the 50 yard line; Zabransky passed the ball to Drisan James who tossed a lateral the ball to Jerard Rabb on the OU 35 who then ran the ball in for a touchdown which after the extra point tied the game at 35 with 12 seconds left. The game would then go into overtime.

On the first play of overtime, Oklahoma's superstar running back Adrian Peterson took a handoff and scampered 25 yards for a touchdown and Oklahoma took the lead 42-35. Boise State would have one possession to tie or win the game. While not as quick as Oklahoma, they worked the ball all the way into the end zone with a 6 yard pass from their backup quarterback (who had lined up as a running back in the formation). Instead of kicking the extra point, Boise State's coach decided to go for the win. "Statue Left" was the play call. The Statue of Liberty play was a staple play of teams in the 1940s and before and Boise State used it to perfection in this game. Zabransky took the snap and faked a pass to the right with his right hand. At the same time, he flipped the ball with his left hand to Ian Johnson, who ran to the left of the formation and untouched into the end zone for the win 43-42.

These are my five greatest bowl games ever played. Some others that did not make the cut for me were the 1987 Fiesta Bowl (Penn State 14, Miami 10), 2003 Fiesta Bowl (Ohio State 31, Miami 24), 1998 Peach Bowl (Georgia 35, Virginia 33), 1960 Cotton Bowl (Syracuse 23, Texas 14), 2006 Cotton Bowl (Alabama 13, Texas Tech 10), 1978 Gator Bowl (Clemson 17, Ohio State 15), 1983 Holiday Bowl (BYU 23, Missouri 17), 1980 Holiday Bowl (BYU 46, SMU 45), 1991 Orange Bowl (Colorado 10, Notre Dame 9), 1994 Orange Bowl (Florida State 18, Nebraska 16), 1902 Rose Bowl (Michigan 49, Stanford 0 - the first ever bowl game), 2005 Rose Bowl (Texas 38, Michigan 37), 1991 Sugar Bowl (Tennessee 23, Virginia 22), 1987 Sun Bowl (Oklahoma State 35, West Virginia 33) and the 2000 Sun Bowl (Wisconsin 21, UCLA 20).

All information was retrieved from Wikipedia.com and individual school websites.