10 Craziest Sports Comebacks of 2016 So Far

Leicester City's incredible season, which culminated in the unlikeliest of Premier League championships, has solidified its place on the all-time list of incredible sports comebacks. From near-relegation to league champions in just one season's time—it was stunning from start to finish.

And yet, Leicester's clinch via a Tottenham-Chelsea draw hasn't represented the only unbelievable comeback in sports this year. In fact, in just a few short months, 2016 has already been chock-full of them.

From Texas A&M's unreal March Madness victory over Northern Iowa to a come-from-behind 4x400-meter win even the announcers couldn't believe, here they are—the best, craziest and/or most inspiring comeback stories of 2016 so far.

Raptors' Game 5 Win over the Pacers

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It took the Toronto Raptors seven games to dispatch the Indiana Pacers in the first round of the NBA playoffs, and without an epic comeback in Game 5, who knows how it all would have turned out?

With the series tied at two games apiece, the Pacers led by 13 in the fourth quarter of Game 5. The Raptors unleashed a 21-2 run to start the final period and held on to win, 102-99. Pacers forward Paul George had 39 points on the game, but his team only scored nine points in the final quarter.

Pacers forward Solomon Hill hit a buzzer-beating three that would have tied the game had it left his hands on time.

This one could be viewed as a collapse by Indiana, or it could be labeled as an admirable effort both offensively and defensively by Toronto. Let's go with the latter.

Liverpool over Borussia Dortmund

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Two seasons after a second-place Premier League finish in 2013-14, Liverpool will once again miss the top four. And yet, things are looking up for manager Jurgen Klopp's club.  

Liverpool has an experienced manager at the helm. To boot, it pulled off a stunning upset over that same manager's former team, Borussia Dortmund, in April to advance to the Europa League semifinals.

Down 3-1 in the 57th minute and needing at least three goals to advance, Philippe Coutinho and Mamadou Sakho delivered and sent the match to a 3-3 tie as stoppage time approached. Dejan Lovren headed in a cross from James Milner to win, 4-3. All four of Liverpool's goals came in the second half. 

"Whatever else unfolds during Klopp's Liverpool reign, the Europa League quarter-final defeat of his old club is unlikely to be bettered in terms of one-off drama," Andy Hunter of the Guardian wrote.

The win has also proved to be invaluable to Liverpool's Champions League chances in 2016-17, as only a Europa League title can secure a place.

Syracuse Comes Back to Beat Virginia

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More than a few people thought Syracuse should not even be in the NCAA tournament. But once the improbable No. 10 seed got there, the team sure made it count.  

The Orange made the Final Four on the strength of an unbelievable upset victory over No. 1 seed Virginia in the Elite Eight.

Down by as many as 14 points in the second half, Syracuse, led by guard Malachi Richardson, went on a 20-2 run to take a 64-58 lead with two minutes remaining. Cuse ultimately won 68-62 thanks to 47 second-half points.

According to Mike Waters of Syracuse.com, legendary Orange head coach Jim Boeheim called it the best comeback he has ever been involved with and quipped, "Did anyone think this wasn't going to happen?"

Rich Hill, 36-Year-Old Starter

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Oakland Athletics pitcher Rich Hill has seen his share of ups and downs over the years.

Hill originated as a starting pitcher with the Chicago Cubs in 2005 but later sputtered. He moved to the bullpen in 2009 and had shoulder surgery that year as well as Tommy John surgery in 2011. From 2012-14, Hill played for four clubs and spent time in major and minor league pens. 

However, Hill wanted to be a starter again. He went as far as to opt out of a contract with the Washington Nationals to play independent ball for the Long Island Ducks in 2015.

That led to a minor league deal with the Boston Red Sox. A few successful September outings earned him a one-year deal with the A's, and Hill is making the most of the opportunity, to say the least.

At 36 years of age, Hill is 3-3 through six starts with the A's with a 2.53 ERA.

"In a month, he went from the bump at Bethpage Ballpark to Yankee Stadium. Mission accomplished," Ducks general manager Michael Pfaff said, per Ken Rosenthal of Fox Sports.

Celtics Come Back to Beat Heat

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In their final regular-season game with playoff seeding perhaps still on the line, the Boston Celtics staged a comeback win for the ages.

Down by 26 points in the first half, Boston outscored the Miami Heat by an unbelievable 34 points in the second half and won by a decisive margin, 98-88.

Several legendary Celtics, including Bill Russell, were at TD Garden for the game, and those players had an influence, even if indirectly.

According to Chris Forsberg of ESPN.com, Boston head coach Brad Stevens said he asked the team at halftime, "Who do we want to be? There are guys sitting around this building that hung banners. Like, how do you want to play? How do we want to feel about ourselves?"

Despite the admirable effort, the Celts still landed with the No. 5 seed and had to face the Atlanta Hawks in the first round. (They lost the series, four games to two.) 

Dominick Cruz Wins Back His Title

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Dominick Cruz was stripped of his UFC bantamweight title after an ACL tear and other injuries kept him from the cage for two years, from 2012-14.

He staged a brief comeback in September 2014 and handily defeated Takeya Mizugaki before suffering yet another ACL tear.  

There were those who doubted Cruz would ever return to his former glory, but finally, redemption came. In January, Cruz returned to the cage to defeat defending champion TJ Dillashaw and reclaim his title.

Damon Martin of Fox Sports called it "the greatest comeback in UFC history."

"I've tried to explain that there's no such thing as rust. ... I've said it to everybody," Cruz said, per Alex Oates of the Herald Sun. "Rust does not exist unless you don't train hard enough, and I've trained my butt off."

TCU Shocks Oregon

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In January, the TCU Horned Frogs met the Oregon Ducks in the Valero Alamo Bowl. TCU trailed 31-0 at halftime but eventually won, 47-41, after three overtimes.

The 31 points TCU overcame to win tied the largest deficit in the history of bowl games. ESPN Stats & Info also pointed out: "Since Texas Tech's 31-point comeback in the 2006 Insight Bowl, teams are 0-1,463 when trailing by 31 points in any point in the game."

TCU quarterback Bram Kohlhausen, a senior transfer making his first start, threw for 351 yards and scored four touchdowns (two passing, two rushing). TCU mounted nine straight scoring drives to close the game, culminated by an eight-yard touchdown run by Kohlhausen to win it.

Even TCU head coach Gary Patterson couldn't quite wrap his head around the win.

"How do you explain any of it? I mean, seriously, how do you explain any of it?" Patterson said after the game, per Max Olson of ESPN.com.

Phil Healy from the 'Depths of Hell'

In April, Phil Healy, a runner for the University of College Cork in Ireland, pulled off the impossible. The anchor of her school's 4x400-meter relay team, Healy took the final handoff in fifth place. What followed was so amazing, even the announcers couldn't believe it.

Healy wasn't even on the radar—not even in the video for much of her leg, in fact—but surged back in the final stretch to overtake the leaders.

One broadcaster cried, "UCC from the depths of hell are powering through," according to T. Rees Shapiro of the Washington Post.

For her part, Healy said, "I thought yeah I'm feeling really good I might as well kick. I thought, Jeez, I can go a bit further," per Shapiro.

The footage of her incredible run went viral, and Ian O'Riordan of the Irish Times called it a "run for the ages."

Indeed.

Texas A&M Makes NCAA Tournament History

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March Madness has its nickname for a reason, but what Texas A&M did to Northern Iowa this year was especially insane.

UNI led by 12 points with 35 seconds left in the second-round matchup, which would generally be pretty deep into it's-in-the-bag territory.

Four UNI turnovers and 14 Texas A&M points later, the game headed to the first of two overtimes. A&M went on to prevail, 92-88, capping off what David Worlock of the NCAA labeled the "largest last-minute deficit overcome to win in college hoops history."

According to Neil Paine of FiveThirtyEight, the odds of this happening were 3,000-1 (only slightly better than our winners for craziest comeback of 2016—stay tuned).

Admon Gilder Sr., whose son tied the game for Texas A&M at 71-71 in regulation, said, "That wasn't just a victory for Texas A&M. It's a good win to give people hope. It confirmed to me, just like Jim Valvano said, never say never," per Pete Thamel of SI.com.

A&M went on to lose to Oklahoma in the Sweet 16, but that victory will be with the players for life. 

Leicester City's Premier League Title

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It's tough to put into words just how incredible Leicester City's 2015-16 Premier League title really is. To fully understand the depth of their accomplishment, you must realize where they came from.

In May 2015, Leicester had barely staved off relegation in what was itself an impressive late-season run. Given the general lack of parity in English football, small-market teams such as Leicester have historically had a tough time rising in the ranks at all, let alone winning titles.

"For the past 20 years, Arsenal, Chelsea, Manchester City and Manchester United have played keep-away with the Premier League trophy," Eric Betts of Slate wrote. "That quartet has dominated English soccer so thoroughly that only two other teams, Liverpool and Newcastle United, have even finished second during that span."

In 2015-16, however, Leicester brought in veteran manager Claudio Ranieri, and all the right players and pieces fell into place for what will go down as one of the most incredible runs in Premier League history.

Before the season, Leicester's title odds were 5,000-1. According to Betts, other 5,000-1 bets in England included Elvis being alive and Kim Kardashian being elected United States president in 2020.