Losing to Colorado 62-36 shattered Nebraska's aura of invincibility and they have never recovered from it.

As much as it hurt losing the 2010 BCS National Championship game, the 1978 Cotton Bowl game against Notre Dame tops it. I have never watched a single minute of that game. It hurts that bad. 1977 season was one where my Longhorns were picked to finish 4th in the SWC. The team ended up beating OU then Arkansas. 1977 Longhorns were a surprise team finished undefeated despite the fact that it was not very deep. After defeating A&M by 29 points in College Station, the team came out of that contest badly nicked up. Everything built up during that season just fell apart on New Year's Day 1978 in Dallas.

For UCF, it is UCLA losing to Miami in 1998 in a hurricane makeup game. It cost us our first bowl bid, and it'd take another 8 seasons to finally make it. When UCLA lost, they fell out of the BCS title game and into the Rose Bowl, which pushed all the PAC-10 teams down a bowl, so UCF got knocked out of the Aloha Bowl.

We've had so many, especially the past few years. lol

Wish our bowl record was better, so I'll say one of those close bowl games.

It wasn't technically a loss but it might as well have been. Arkansas Tech Women's Basketball was selected for the 2021 NCAA Tournament but 3 days before the first game was to be played we withdrew due to covid contact tracing. We finished the season at 14-2 (1 loss in each the regular season and the GAC Tourney).

(06-15-2021 03:41 PM)Bronco14 Wrote:  We've had so many, especially the past few years. lol

Wish our bowl record was better, so I'll say one of those close bowl games.

I'll go with the baseball 1955 loss to Wake Forest (7-6) in the national championship. That could have been special for the WMU athletic program.

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In terms of lost opportunity for Iowa

2015 Big Ten CCG. MSU 16, Iowa 13
Iowa went 12-0 in regular season and led 13-9 in 4Q, when MSU went on 22-play drive, converting multiple 4th downs and scored winning TD with less than minute to play. If Iowa wins that game, they go to the CFP.

2009 - @OSU 27, Iowa 24 OT
The defacto Big Ten championship game. Both teams are 5-1 in conference. Winner wins the Big Ten regardless of what happens the following week. Iowa loses in OT

But the game that usually is looked at the true turning point for Iowa fans is

2010: Wisconsin 31, Iowa 30

Wisconsin converts a fake punt in 4Q and converts another 4th down on same drive on drive that resulted in game winning TD. Ever since that game Wisconsin and Iowa went in opposite directions. Wisconsin dominating ever since.

For Kansas, there were a lot of disappointing losses in basketball, but the team always bounces back. The national championship loss to Syracuse in 2003 was compounded by Roy Williams leaving a few days later. Had the program fallen off after Williams left, it would have been devastating, but Bill Self actually elevated the program even more. The football loss to Missouri in 2007 when both teams were in the Top 3 was devastating just because it ended a magical run. No guarantee that KU would have beaten OU in the conference championship game, but it would have been nice to get the opportunity.

I will also answer for Kansas State where there is an obvious game and that was the Big 12 championship game in 1998 vs A&M. KSU blew a 15 point lead in the 4th qtr and lost in OT. Had they won, they would have played for the national championship.

1991 - Lost to Illinois in opening game for otherwise perfect season with Peach Bowl Victory
2009 - Lost in Liberty Bowl to Arkansas, missed several field goals to win
2011 - Lost to SC in Charlotte after destroying them the first half
2011 - Lost to VT at home in close win
2014 - Lost in Birmingham Bowl to Florida, did not execute in redzone
2015 - Lost to Florida in Gainesville on last play when QB dropped the ball with wide open receiver in endzone for win
2016 - Lost to SC in Columbia due to not scoring in redzone

Likely Miami's Frozen Four game against Boston U a decade or so ago. Blew a 3-1 lead with less than a minute left in the 3rd period, then lost in OT. Thank the lord I wasn't a fan at the time.

For football I'm not sure historically but so long as I've been a fan it has to be the Cincinnati game in 2017. Lost every game against UC going back over a decade and we're up 17-6 in front of our biggest crowd in some time. Give up a TD to them with not much time left. We have the ball on 3rd and short, if we get a first down the game is over. Clock is running and our friggen coach doesn't call a timeout for an unknown reason so we get a delay of game. We immediately throw a pick six after that and our next drive stalls in the red zone (PI call in the end zone was taken back as well), they win 21-17.

Penn State football: I started following it in the mid-1990s, it is undoubtedly IMO the 1999 home loss to Minnesota. PSU was rated #1/#2 in the polls at the time. Lose on a last-second field goal to a decent but not great Minnesota team, they lost their next 2 games after that, and then they had a losing season 4 of the next 5 years. That single game really portended a downfall.

Penn State basketball: The NCAA being cancelled due to COVID last year. We have a good-enough-for-the-tournament team about once a decade. 2020 was that once in a decade team.

Cincinnati football: Starting following them in the mid-2000s. I think it is their last game, their come-from-ahead loss to Georgia in the Peach Bowl. Would have been a statement win for the Bearcats, they failed to get it done.

Cincinnati basketball: The 2018 NCAA second round loss to Nevada. They led by 20+ points midway through the 2nd half! The entire regional bracket had opened up for them, the Final Four opportunity was right there! Ugh.

(06-15-2021 07:13 PM)Realigned Wrote:  I will also answer for Kansas State where there is an obvious game and that was the Big 12 championship game in 1998 vs A&M. KSU blew a 15 point lead in the 4th qtr and lost in OT. Had they won, they would have played for the national championship.

That might be the biggest gut-punch devastating loss for ANY school EVER.

It was all right there for K-State. K-State playing in the National Championship game, something that was simply unimaginable for anyone prior to, say, 1995.

They also lost that game in slow-motion fashion too. The series of events was pure torture if you were a Wildcat fan:

1) Texas A&M drives and scores to make the deficit 8. 9:20 left on the clock.

2) K-State punts. Texas A&M drives into K-State territory but throws an interception with 3:30 left.

3) So K-State can nearly run out the clock. And Michael Bishop GETS the first down. But then fumbles! Texas A&M ball.

4) Texas A&M drives and scores a touchdown. But the deficit still remains 2.

5) They convert the 2-point conversion for the tie.

6) But there's still 1:00 left. K-State drives to their own 43, with 0:03 left. Michael Bishop throws a Hail Mary, the ball is deflected upward (think Kordell Stewart in 1994) and the ball is CAUGHT. It's complete! Except the catch happens at the 1-yard line and he is tackled there. End of regulation.

7) OT number 1. Texas A&M is held to a field goal. A K-State TD and they win it yet.

8) Except they settle for a field goal.

9) OT number 2. K-State ball first this time. They drive to the 8, 3rd-and-4. It's a fade pass pattern where the receiver was there but the pass was a bit too outside. But it was there. Inomplete, they settle for a field goal.

10) The defense does a good job at first. 3rd and 17 now for Texas A&M. But then it's Sirr Parker time, TD Aggies.

FSU: Any one of numerous losses over the last 5 seasons. The big one for me was 2018 at Syracuse. I know that was a great Syracuse team but there is no reason for a team from FL to go to a hot and humid Carrier Dome to be outconditioned by a team from CNY.

Cornell basketball: As bad as Cornell has been, the big one would be at Penn in 2010. You have a team that went to the Sweet 16 with losses to three 1 seeds and Seton Hall losing to a team ranked in the 330's.

Central Michigan over Bowling Green: Nov. 12, 1994. It was the regular season finale. At stake was a MAC championship and the conference's only bowl bid.

Momentum was swinging toward Bowling Green, in the hunt for a third MAC title in four years, when Central Michigan lined up to punt.

Michael Reghi with the call...





Central Michigan won a trip to Las Vegas. Bowling Green (9-2) stayed home. Six losing seasons followed for the Falcons.

(06-15-2021 03:06 PM)CitrusUCF Wrote:  For UCF, it is UCLA losing to Miami in 1998 in a hurricane makeup game. It cost us our first bowl bid, and it'd take another 8 seasons to finally make it. When UCLA lost, they fell out of the BCS title game and into the Rose Bowl, which pushed all the PAC-10 teams down a bowl, so UCF got knocked out of the Aloha Bowl.

To be fair, beating Auburn to go 10-1 or being competitive with Purdue at the Citrus Bowl would have helped more

For San Diego State football - last minute losses to Mizzou, BYU and UNC all sting because just something strange happened with them.
For San Diego State basketball - 2010 to UConn, we were up and were looking good and then Kemba Flopper happened, and changed the whole flow. That was the Aztec team that could have won their region and then who knows...

I'm a fan of Oklahoma. Oklahoma fans tend to remember the losses more than the wins. Some that hurt more than others:

1988 Orange Bowl: L 20-14 to Miami. National championship game. Sooners lost 3 games in three years, all to Miami.
2003 Big 12 championship game, L 35-7 to Kansas State. The beginning of the end of the Sooners' run of invincibility. Which led to:
2004 Sugar Bowl, L 20-13 to LSU. First of three national championship losses for Bob Stoops. Sooners ran into a perfect storm.
2005 Orange Bowl, L 55-10 to USC. Gave up in 2nd quarter.
2009 BCS NCG, L 24-14 to Florida.
2018 Rose Bowl, L 54-48 (OT) to Georgia. Offense had 10 starters drafted. Defense was FCS quality, and was our demise in the end.

But the most heartbreaking Oklahoma loss of them all was not in football. It was the 1988 NCAA national championship game in basketball, a 84-79 loss to Kansas. That OU team lost three games all year, had three NBA 1st round picks, and had beaten Kansas twice earlier that season. It's most heartbreaking because Oklahoma normally competes for national championships in football. Oklahoma is a very good basketball program, but not elite. I knew we'd never get back, and we haven't.

Omaha hockey: 2011 loss to Michigan. It was bad because of what it was. UNO was playing with them neck and neck, and they lost on a very inconclusive "goal" in overtime. There was never any white visible between the puck and the goal line, but they reviewed it for a good 15 minutes, and you just got the feeling the longer it went on the more they were looking for reasoning to give it to Michigan since they're the bigger name.

Omaha basketball: Losing to SDSU in the Summit finals and missing out on the first dance. They had as solid of a team as they've had since moving to Division 1, but the xDSU schools tend to be able to bring in one player that can dominate the league, and that year was no exception. The team hasn't been able to recover since.

Nebraska football: Colorado 2001 was a turning point for both programs. Nebraska hasn't recovered, but neither has Colorado, since they based their entire identity on taking Nebraska down. Now both programs are irrelevant.