Vote Now: The South’s Most Unforgettable College Sports Moments

So much to unpack from the highest-scoring Rose Bowl ever. Baker Mayfield lighting up UGA’s defense, Nick Chubb and Sony Michel running hither and yon, a defensive scoop-and-score, a blocked field goal, overtime…on it went for four hours.

Michael Jordan hit the winning shot—something he often did—with fifteen seconds left in a seesaw game. But it was only after Georgetown’s Fred Brown passed the ball to the wrong team that Dean Smith finally claimed his first NCAA title.

UNC won its first national women’s title in the most dramatic way: Down two with 0.7 seconds left, Charlotte Smith took the inbounds pass and nailed a three-pointer. She also grabbed a staggering twenty-three rebounds.

Bill Bates played fifteen NFL seasons and has three Super Bowl rings, but he’s still mainly known as the dude who got trucked by Herschel Walker. UGA’s freshman running back introduced himself to the Vols’ safety on his first career touchdown.

Christian Laettner drained the most dramatic shot in March Madness history, but the unsung hero was Grant Hill, whose seventy-nine-foot inbound pass was also perfect. Big Blue fans still rue the decision to not put a defender in front of Hill.

No. 2 Miami beat No. 1 FSU when the Seminoles’ thirty-four-yard field goal sailed wide right with under a minute to go. This was the first of five missed FSU kicks that would have tied or won the rivalry game over a twelve-year span.

South Carolina’s Dawn Staley became the first Black coach, male or female, to win multiple Division I basketball titles. It was only fitting that she did it going against UConn’s legendary coach Geno Auriemma.

Nebraska was hyped as the Team of the Century. Miami? A fun Cinderella story. At the end, the Huskers opted for a two-point try when a kick would have earned them a tie and the national title. Miami held, altering the program’s trajectory.

The craziest Iron Bowl finish ever, which is saying a lot. In a tied game, Bama attempted to win it on a fifty-seven-yard field-goal try with one second left. When the kick fell just short, Auburn’s Chris Davis returned it 109 yards for a touchdown.

Up 16–3 with under six minutes to play, No. 2 Alabama had national title hopes and seemingly not much to fear from Auburn’s anemic offense. But the Tigers blocked two punts, returning both for scores, within a four-minute span to win.

Southerners seem to fall into two categories: those who love “Rocky Top” and those who loathe it. But most agree it was pretty cool when Peyton Manning conducted the UT band after he led the Vols over their biggest rival in Birmingham.

Vince Young added to his Longhorn lore by scrambling for an eight-yard touchdown on fourth down with nineteen seconds left to stun USC. Many consider this the greatest college game ever, and sixty-two players from it went on to play in the NFL.

Houston (a.k.a. Phi Slama Jama) seemed an unstoppable dunking machine. But it was Lorenzo Charles’s improbable final-second dunk that won the game, and launched coach Jim Valvano’s famous and frantic search for someone to hug.

In the first matchup of top ten teams at Death Valley, FSU and Clemson were tied in the final minutes when, on fourth down from their own twenty-one, the Seminoles used some serious sleight of hand. The chicanery led to the winning field goal.

Who pulls a veteran star quarterback for an unproven sub in the title game? Nick Saban, by God! Down 13–0, Saban yanked Jalen Hurts for Tua Tagovailoa. In overtime, the new kid took a sack on first down, then threw the Tide’s most famous pass.

UConn, owner of eleven national titles, entered with a 111-game win streak. Mississippi State was playing in its first Final Four. But MSU’s Morgan William, the smallest player on the floor at five feet five, hit the winning buzzer-beater in overtime.