There is nothing sweeter than the victory of an underdog. Upsets are one of the things sports can claim which few other factions of life can. There is a select few of other competitive events aside from sports which can house an upset, but they are almost impossible to name. Let's take a gander at some upsets you might've missed/forgotten:
#10, 9, 8 USC still blacked out:
The Results: #1 USC 38....#2 Texas 41 (2005) #2 USC 31...Oregon State 33 (2006) #1 USC 23....Stanford 24 (2007)
The Story: Contrary to popular belief this is not a college football list...anyway. This during the era of USC dominance. They were contending every year for the National Title game and never (and I mean never) lost the Pac-10. They did, however, suffer three defeats, the last of which was a final knockout from which USC hath never recovered. First there was Vince Young v. the entire first round of the NFL Draft...Vince Young won. USC was supposedly the greatest college football team ever, but it took a Bush push to get them to 12-0 and they couldn't even beat a one-man show at Texas. The following season, USC rose to #2 and looked ready for revenge so long as they didn't have to go to Resar Stadium and play Oregon State. They did have to do exactly that, and 7 was too many turnovers and the Trojans lost again. Finally, in 2007 freshman coach Jim Harbaugh led a crispy 41 point underdog team into Southern Cal to face the Trojans in their supposed "resurrection year" after garnering the #1 preseason ranking. This isn't the preseason. Harbaugh and the Cardinal stomped all over the Trojans and sauntered out of the Grand Old Lady with a victory. USC has failed to get up from this blow. It's been so bad, Pete Carrol decided he'd rather coach the Seattle Seahawks.
#7 2007, Cardinals Turn Green Against the Orange
The Result: #19 Louisville 35....Syracuse 38
It was one of those years where Syracuse fans just couldn't wait for basketball season. The Orange would finish a dreadful 2-10 and only win one game in the not-quite-so-vaunted Big East. They had just lost to Illinois by 21 and had a top 20 team to amble over to L-Ville Louisville appeared not to quite be ready for the Orangemen, though. Louisville had breached the top 10 already and despite a loss to a kinda-decent-because-they-would-go-on-to-beat-#1-LSU Kentucky team. The Cardinals fell behind early and not even a 21 point charge in the 4th quarter was enough as Syracuse downed the Cardinals and senior Brian Brohm.
#6 2008, Utah pours Sugar on Saban
The Result: #4 Alabama 17.....#7 Utah 31 (2OT)
Nick Saban came to Alabama and whilst his team limped to a 7-6 record in his first season, the Tide began rolling (hahahaha) in 2008-2009. Alabama went 12-0 in the regular season, but lost to Florida in the SEC Championship game. The Tide settled for the Sugar Bowl of the 2008-2009 Bowl season against the dynamic Utah Utes. The Crimson Tide was favored by 17 points and had Senior John Parker Wilson leading the charge. Brian Johnson made the Tide's defense look silly, as Utah jumped out to a 21-0 lead after 1 quarter. Bama fought back to 21-17, but it was not to be. The Utes ended up defeating Bama 31-17...beating the spread by 31 points.
#5 2007, Boise Throws Una Fiesta!
The Result: #7 Oklahoma 42.....#9 Boise State 43 (OT)
No one can forget that Statue of Liberty. The entire left side of the field welcomed Ian Johnson into the endzone as the Broncos survived a second half Sooners' onslaught in which Oklahoma seemed to remember they had Adrian Peterson. Boise made a series of remarkable plays, tricking their way into overtime before tricking their way to victory. A hook and ladder led to overtime when Boise scored on 4th and 18 with 7 seconds left. Then a HB pass in overtime brought the game up to the final play. A 2pt conversion Statue of Liberty gave Boise the win and left college football analysts gaping and has given us the Boise State dominated era in non-BCS football.
#4 2010, No Bounce Back from Boise
The Result: #13 Virginia Tech....James Madison 16
The Hokies were the favorite to win the ACC in the preseason and I even selected them to make the National Title Game in 2010. They started off poorly and really grinded my gears by losing on opening weekend to the notorious Boise State Broncos. Virginia Tech, however, had a nice little bounce back game against FCS James Madison...that is until they found out James Madison was taking this shit seriously. Va-Tech led 14-3 at halftime, but obviously the Bulldogs rallied in the second in order to stun Blacksburg and saunter out smoothly with a 16-13 victory.
#3 2010, Cocky Ole Miss meets the FCS
The Result: Ole Miss 48......Jacksonville State 49
Just like many other SEC ball clubs, Ole Miss decided to schedule a "cupcake" game in the first week. I mean without it their season could be horrendous since they have the potential of going 0-8 in conference every year. However, Ole Miss was excited to know that former Oregon star Jeremiah Masoli was coming to Oxford (Mississippi) and would be leading the Rebels. However, he couldn't play week 1. That's alright, it was Jacksonville State and at the end of the 3rd quarter it was 31-13. Jacksonville State then entered "Beast Mode" and put up 21 fourth quarter points. They would complete a two point conversation in the 2nd overtime after the teams matched touchdowns in overtime #1 and win 49-48.
#2 2008, Swampy Conditions Just Right For Slowing Tebow
The Result: #4 Florida 30....Ole Miss 31
Ole Miss had already lost two games, and facing the legendary (not quite at the time) Tim Tebow did not make for a good time. The Rebels fell behind early (uncharacteristic of an upset) and was trailing 17-7 at half. Ole Miss decided to pick up the unfortunately named Houston Nutt and ended up shutting down Tebow and company in the second half. This included Ole Miss stopping Tebow on a RUN on 4th AND 1 in order to clinch victory. This is the only recorded stopping of Tebow on 4th and 1.
#1 2007, Where is Appalachian State?
The result: #5 Michigan 32....Appalachian State 34
The Story: Michigan had all the right story lines heading into 2007. A coach making his swan song and three returning seniors (Jake Long, Mike Hart, and Chad Henne) who forwent the NFL to try and make Lloyd Carr's swan song (the coach special. All Michigan had to do was saunter through an unusually soft Big-10...oh and 2-time defending FCS (Div-II) Champion Appalachian State. Michigan was playing in the Big House, scored on their first drive and everyone settled back to allow the onslaught.
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| Hands on Head: the international symbol for "SHIIIIIIIIT" |
Appalachian State decided that college football's natural order was worth ruining, so they kept banging away. The Mountaineers even had a 14 point lead during the 3rd quarter and lead by 5 entering the fourth. Still, I mean this is Michigan, at home. They wouldn't lose (see above picture)? Perhaps the icing on the delicious, watching Michigan become the first ever ranked D-1 team to lose to a FCS school is how Michigan had an opportunity to win it, but Appalachian State blocked the field goal attempt and time ran out (see above picture).
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