OT - ESPN's Most painful games list complete
Lists Michigan's most painful game as the tie to OSU in 1973 at number 9. Number 4 is our win in 1969 (painful for OSU).
App State isn't on the list of 50.
http://espn.go.com/college-football/features/houseofpain/_/n/
August 6th, 2010 at 12:19 PM ^
I was worried it was going to be #1. And the Colorado game wasn't on the list either, was it?
August 6th, 2010 at 12:30 PM ^
No, the Colorado game was not on the list.
the list makers are not UM fans.
Maybe they ARE Michigan fans and that's why those 2 games are not listed. Regardless, I'm thankful.
Having been at the Colorado game, that's what immediately came to my mind, too. That game hurt. We all stood there silently for what seemed like 30 minutes. "That didn't just happen, did it? No one ever completes a 64-yard hail mary to win a game. No one. There was a flag, right? Why do things like this always happen to us?" That game was a dong punch before there were such things as dong punches.
August 6th, 2010 at 12:27 PM ^
Yeah, I thought it was going to be #1 as well. I'm not quite sure why it isn't - but any list of dissapointing games with Michigan only being on there for a tie is fine with me.
If I remember correctly, that game wasn't even dissapointing for us until the voting happened for the Rose Bowl.
August 6th, 2010 at 12:36 PM ^
All I know is that whenever there's a Michigan game on ESPN Classic it's usually a game I don't want to be watching.
August 6th, 2010 at 12:31 PM ^
I don't see how App St was not there. We were ranked #5 in the country and a national contender. As much as it would pain me to see that on the list, well, isn't that the point? I guess the list had more to do with teams that were almost there, so close to reaching perfection, a championship, or some other milestone after achieving so much that season, only to see everything ruined. Like all we had to do was overcome that one last obstacle. Either way, App St probably should have been on there.
And just be thankful it was not in there.
August 6th, 2010 at 12:36 PM ^
The game was definitely disappointing, however I'd like to take a devil's advocate stance:
Unless you believe that winning the App State game makes us beat Oregon the next week (unlikely, if you want to think momentum helps it still doesnt change a blowout like that game was) then that season was going to be a "disappointment" compared to our preseason National Title hopes anyway.
By the time Wisconsin/OSU games were coming, we were in the running for a Rose Bowl birth and already forgot about App State. I dont think those two losses were affected by The Horror anyway.
So, if we beat App State we have a 9-3 regular season, and go to the Rose Bowl where we probably lose to what was the most talented team in the country that year (preseason #1 USC, finished #2 Coaches/#3 AP) who had, as USC usually does, one inexplicable loss to Stanford and another loss to #5 Oregon who, as we know all too well from week 2, had Dixon shred their defense.
Final record probably would've been 9-4 with a Rose Bowl loss to send out Coach Carr.
Actual season results: Final record 9-4 with a Capitol One Bowl win over Tebow's Gators to send out Coach Carr on players' shoulders.
The Horror might've been a blessing in disguise if you examine the rest of the season.
I'm glad you pointed the Wisconsin game out. People gripe about the OSU game but we played like absolute shit against Wisconsin and IMO should have won that game.
But I've gotta disagree with you on one point: I'd rather win the Big Ten and send Lloyd out on a lost bowl game than the scenario that actually happened. Maybe that's just Bo's influence on me talking...
I'm not an internet wiz, in fact im an internet incompetent, so I have no idea how to do that fancy yellow background quoting. With regards to your statement "I'd rather win the Big Ten and send Lloyd out on a lost bowl game than the scenario that actually happened." :
I agree. However, in the argument I was making going to the Rose Bowl to lose to USC doesnt = us winning the Big Ten. My premise is that Ohio State would've still won the Big Ten in 2007 and gone to the BCS Title game regardless of the outcome of the App State game. I'd rather our current "3rd place" (we beat Illinois and had the same in-conference record) finish with a win against Tebow's Gators than a 2nd place finish with a loss against USC.
I don't know, being able to be one of the few teams that handed Tebow a loss is something I'll always love. Especially considering it was the year he won the Heisman and the game was in Florida. That game is one of my happiest moments as a Michigan fan.
August 6th, 2010 at 10:25 PM ^
That Cap One bowl win was one of my favorite M games of all time. Not just that we won over a big-name opponent in a bowl game in their own back yard, but the way we did it.
It was only the 2nd time I was ever in who-are-those-guys? awe of my own team (the other was against Penn State in '97).
That game is the only positive thing that has happened to Michigan football since Bo died.
Winning or losing the App St game wouldn't have affected our conference standings.
It would have still remained:
OSU - NC Game
Illinois - Rose Bowl
Michigan - Cap One Bowl
So assuming App St win, we finish the season 10-3 (losses to Oregon, Wisconsin, and OSU)
We beat Illinois head-to-head and had the same in-conference record.
I was under the impression that the Rose Bowl committee selected Illinois because they were 9-3 and we were 8-4. However, a win over App state makes us 9-3 as well, and with the head-to-head in our favor I assume the Rose Bowl committee would've selected us. Is this correct or am I wrong about how the Rose Bowl was selected in 2007?
August 6th, 2010 at 12:44 PM ^
That was bad, but the ever increasing state of shock numbed most of the pain. The 2006 regular season finale? That was true pain.
Explain to me how a list containing references to Michigan football is off-topic.
Because the previous post about the start of the list was OT so I figured I'd follow suit.
Kinda surprised the 2005 PSU - Mich game wasn't there, especially considering PSU would've had a higher BCS rating than Texas had they won that game.
Double post
ignore
not on there in favor of a tie, the tie was not a loss and more of a screw job from msu who was trying to give us the middle finger ....
the 06 game was right after bo died and cost us a chance at the national championship (not just a rose bowl) and was actually a lose
not to mention the game was there for the stealing if crable just slows up a bit
Any list of the most painful games that has no mention of App State is kind of laughable to me. It's the last thing I would want to read about, but come on.
I feel a strange combination of shock and relief. I was dreading the sh*t-talk from people who actually read ESPN. But honestly, how could they have left it out completely?
To me the Horror was a horror solely because App State is a 1-AA team. Sure it was a bad loss and we played like crapola, but they were pretty damned good - likely in the top 40 D-1A that season. 2008 Toledo was a much worse loss (App State would have ban-jacked them). Stanford over USC and Syracuse over Louisville were bigger upsets in terms of point spread in 2007 - offshore sites had M -29.5 to -33 and the line for Louisville was -37 and -41 for USC.
App State did lose to Wofford and Georgia Southern in 2007.
You can hypothesize but you can't say for certain who they would have beaten that year. They beat Michigan because their strengths were our weaknesses. That game should have never been scheduled.
Edit: Meant to be a reply to Hemlock in post above.
Yes, but they also won the D-1AA championship by thumping Delaware 49-21. I agree on the never should have been scheduled argument.
Also, as 2-time defending champions and especially after upsetting #5 Michigan, App State was THE team to beat in D1-AA. Every single team probably focused their season around beating those guys to make a statement.
I mean seriously, App State was ranked in the top-25 for a while, that just doesn't happen in D1-AA. People were targetting them from day 1.
This list is rather ridiculous.Too many losses in the 1960s when college football wasn't near what it is today.
How was Michigan's 1996 13-9 win over Ohio State not on the list? That loss, at home, cost Ohio State a national championship. In a pre-BCS world, their Rose Bowl win over Arizona State would have trumped one-loss Florida's win over Florida State.
And that was the second year in a row we spoiled a perfect OSU season as a decided underdog. It definitely should be on there.
I couldn't believe CU 94 wasn't somewhere in the top 50, but, on reflection, that would be the opposite of the purpose of the list. That Michigan team was good, not MNC great, while that game really kicked on the afterburners for CU. Only the annual "step on our own dicks" game against NU prevented a perfect season.
(OT: A great season to be a 3L and a new dad.)
The CU game was devastating. For a good three years, people feared it would end up being a program-killer. It definitely should be on this list.
Our '94 team was loaded. It was the clear favorite to win the conference and was a preseason top 5 team. Collins, Wheatley, and Toomer were all seniors, and Wheatley was the preseason Heisman favorite. The line was deep and talented. The D had a ton of future pros, including Ty Law. It was one of the most loaded teams we've ever had. (Biakabutuka was our backup tailback that year.)
We got past our nemesis (ND) in week two, and CU appeared at the time to be our biggest remaining obstacle to a perfect season. We led most of the game and were on the verge of icing it when Che Foster fumbled. CU rallied, won on the Hail Mary and we were never the same. We dropped another heartbreaker, to PSU, a few weeks later and then the team just sleepwalked the rest of the way, finishing 8-4.
Moeller came under intense scrutiny and the pressure might have driven him to his drunken episode that cost him his job. Carr took over and turned in two so-so campaigns to start off his career. Entering the 1997 season, many fans felt we'd made a mistake promoting Carr and he was under a lot of pressure himself. The CU loss seemed to have started a downward spiral for the whole program. Fortunately it stopped right there.
That's fine. I was basing the "not MNC great" on the end result. Who knows how things unfold with a different outcome in that game. For purposes of the ESPN list, early losses and "sleepwalk[ing] the rest of the way" seems to DQ that game from that list. It would definitely by high on a dong punch list though.
But I was about 10 rows up in the corner of the end zone for the '94 play from Stewart to Westbrook. Maybe it's just the fact that I was there or maybe because I was still pretty young, but that was by far Michigan's most painful loss for me. I've never been so dumbfounded in my life. I think I lost my innocence that day.
Second may have actually been the '06 loss to OSU. If only because I was hoping for a NC and the B10 was on top of the world; only to end with us and OSU getting embarrassed on the national stage, thus ushering in the era of the media questioning the caliber of the B10. At least this past bowl season was a little bit of vindication.
Great list compiled by ESPN but to not have that game on there is laughable. 42-39 shootout with a personal foul penalty affecting the final outcome. Oh and I think there was some sort of BCS Championship Game berth on the line or something.
Other missed games: The Horror, SMU-BYU (20 point comeback in last 4 minutes I believe), Purdue-Wisco with Orton's fumble after he'd seemingly iced the game. Sure there are plenty more.
App State didn't get on this list but if you do remember the Michigan 2007 season ended up being an actuall success in the end. It didn't derail us the rest of that year. We still beat ND, MSU, PSU, went 8-4 and beat Florida in the Capital One Bowl. In my opinion besides the App State and Oregon game 2007 ended well for Michigan. It could of gone a hell of a lot better though. If we were healthy and played against Ohio State like we did against Florida we would have killed the Buckeyes.
Thank you for refreshing our memory. I had completely forgotten about that season.
Wisconsin losing to Michigan in 2008 had to have been just gut wrenching for Badger fans. Wisconsin's up 19-0 at half then all of a sudden Michigan catches some fire, scores a touchdown then on Wisconsin's next possession they throw an interception and take it down the field for a touchdown and make it 19-14 and all of a sudden things for the Badgers just fall apart completely. Michgan's defense stops the Badgers passing and running game, scores another td to make it 19-20, then another to make it 19-27, Wisconsin finally hits their receiver for a TD to make it 25-27 and Beilma decides to go for two for the tie throws complete BUT what do we see? A lone yellow flag the call ineligible receiver downfield. Wisconsin takes it's last shot, Evridge throws too high, its incomplete Michigan upsets 9th ranked Wisconsin in it's biggest comeback in Michigan history. That loss derailed the Badgers 2008 season.
August 7th, 2010 at 12:17 PM ^
about the actual game you're suggesting here, you'd think you would actually have the facts of the game straight. you say our interception return for a TD brought us within 19-14. Except, that was the Minor 34 yard TD run that did that. Michigan didn't stop the Baders running/passing game to get the ball back and take the lead. They literally did that right after Minor scored his TD.
As far as derealing their season, how do you know Wisconsin wouldn't have lost those next 3 weeks anyways, even if they had beaten us? Their next 3 games were Ohio State (10-3), Penn State (11-2), and Iowa (9-4)
August 6th, 2010 at 11:41 PM ^
Win it and he plays for the National Championship. Probably beats an overrated OSU, and rides off into the sunset many years later as the King of West Virginia with large sections of the campus named after him.
He loses it. It starts a cascade of ill feelings at WVU, culminating in Rich Rod leaving his alma-mater for Michigan amid a fire-storm of controversy.
At Michigan he crashes and burns upon arrival - losing seasons, losing B10 records, loses to MAC teams, NCAA rules violations, etc . . . you know the story.
His life has basically been hell since that loss.
This may all work out OK for Rich Rod in the end, but you gotta wonder if he wakes up at night in a cold sweat, rubbing his eyes, saying "there's no place like home, there's no place like home", hoping the loss was just a bad dream.
I don't think RR took that much grief from the WV fanbase over the Pitt loss. Pat White's thumb injury was a pretty big mitigating factor. But it did take away the possibility of a national title, which had helped to paper over the long-standing differences RR had had with his AD (who must be some asshole, given that Beilein also hated him). The "truce" was over after that and RR began to look elsewhere (as he had the previous offseason).
While the last two years have been crappy, neither RR nor Beilein was pleased with the way they were treated by the WVU administration and I don't think they're pining to return.
Isn't that essentially what this is? If it's a painful loss for one side, it's a big win for the other.