30 Most Ridiculous Sports Finishes of the Past Decade

As the seconds tick down, the crowd watches anxiously, not sure which team will win. Will it be an upset? Will there be a miracle play involved for whoever wins?

When people look back on these games, they say to one another, "That was one of the most ridiculous games I've ever seen."

They have energy, passion and excitement that makes them more memorable than a regular game, united simply by their ridiculousness factor either in their outcome or final play.

Here is a list of 30 of the most ridiculous finishes in sports from the last decade.

No. 30: Panthers vs. Saints, 2003

After a beautiful transition down the field by the Saints in overtime, they botch a 4th-and-1 play, giving it back to the Panthers, who take it down to score a field goal, winning 23-20.

The view of the final moments of this game starts at about 4:20.

No. 29: Eagles Comeback over the Giants in 2010

At the beginning of the fourth quarter it looked like it was all over for the Eagles, who were behind by three touchdowns.

Then Michael Vick began to put in work, bringing the score closer by scoring three touchdowns before DeSean Jackson came in to return a punt for the fourth and final winning touchdown for the Eagles.

No. 28: Michael Phelps' Gold Medal No. 7, 2008

This was by far the most interesting and nail-biting performance of Phelps' career.

He swam the 100-meter butterfly against Milorad Cavic, winning gold for the U.S. by only .01 seconds.

No. 27: Ghana vs. Uruguay, 2010 World Cup Game

This game really came down to the last minutes.

Uruguay’s Luis Suarez was sent off for a handball, giving Ghana a penalty kick. They missed and then allow Uruguay to win on penalty kicks.

No. 26: Dodgers vs. Giants, 2004

The Dodgers had been on a winning streak but had to take on the hard-to-beat Giants.

The Dodgers were down by six runs before making a comeback and eventually winning on a walk-off home run.

No. 25: Stanford vs. USC, 2007

In this memorable finish, Stanford was able to throw a touchdown pass in the final moments of the game, not only beating USC but becoming the first team in 35 Trojan home games to do so.

No. 24: Penguins vs. Sabres, 2008 NHL Winter Classic

This game was intense between the Penguins and the Sabres.

It had been back and forth all night, coming down to the final shootout in overtime. The Sabres scored first, and the Penguins missed on their first shot.

Then on the second shot the Sabres missed, the Penguins made it and then on the third Sidney Crosby came in for the win.

No. 23: USA vs. Algeria, 2010 World Cup

The game had been tied at 0-0 all game and was coming down to the final minutes.

USA's Landon Donovan got a hold of the ball, dribbled, shot and missed, hitting the ball off the goalie.

The crowd looked as though all was lost...until Donovan regained control of the ball and took another shot, which went in, giving the U.S. the win.

No. 22: LSU vs. Tennessee, 2010

It looked as though Tennessee had its major upset against LSU all sewn up in the last minutes of the game.

Something seemed to click for the Tigers, who threw a 23-yard pass down the field, getting a first down.

Then they had an incomplete pass, but it was ruled that Tennessee had an extra man on the field, and LSU came back in a matter of seconds to score the winning touchdown.

No. 21: Vikings vs. 49ers, 2009

He may have been one of the oldest players in the NFL, but Brett Favre really proved his worth in this game.

The Vikings were down by four points with only 12 seconds to go. Then Favre threw a beautiful pass into the arms of Greg Lewis in the end zone for the win.

No. 20: Florida vs. Butler, 2000 NCAA Basketball Tournament

The score was 69-68, with Florida on the losing end.

Then Mike Miller took a running start, jumped as the buzzer sounds and launched the ball for the win for Florida.

The clip starts 23 seconds into the video.

No. 19: Chicago Blackhawks Win 2010 Stanley Cup

This was one of the most exciting NHL games to watch in the last decade.

The Blackhawks and the Flyers were all tied up at the end of the game, sending them into overtime, where the Blackhawks secured the win.

No. 18: Mavericks vs. Heat, Game 6, 2011 NBA Finals

After struggling all game, Dirk Nowitzki came alive in the end, playing like a whole new player, and sealed the fate of the NBA Finals, winning his team's first-ever championship.

No. 17: John Isner vs. Nicolas Mahut, 2010 Wimbledon

This was the world's longest tennis match at 11 hours and five minutes, but it ended with only a two-point difference.

You'd think one of them would have gotten tired towards the end and trailed off, but they both fought it out to the end with final score of 6-4, 3-6, 6-7(7), 7-6(3), 70-68.

No. 16: Iowa vs. LSU, 2005 Capital One Bowl

LSU had all but sealed up its victory in the fourth quarter with two additional touchdowns, but then Iowa seemed to wake up and threw a game-winning touchdown in the last minutes of the game for the win.

No. 15: Steelers vs. Cardinals, Super Bowl XLIII

The Steelers beat the Cardinals with 43 seconds to go on the clock. Ben Roethlisberger threw a precision pass for a lightning-fast touchdown and the Steelers win in Super Bowl XLIII.

Play comes at 6:20 in this video clip.

No. 14: Kings vs. Lakers, Robert Horry Hits Game-Winning Three-Pointer, 2002

The Lakers were down, and there wasn't much time left on the clock, and then boom—Robert Horry nailed an amazing three-pointer over the Kings to win Game 4 of the Western Conference finals for the Lakers.

No. 13: 2005 Champions League Final

Milan was up 3-0 for most of the game, but Liverpool made an amazing comeback, scoring three goals near the end of the game.

Liverpool went on to win the match 3-2 in penalties.

No. 12: Lightning vs. Flames, Game 6, 2004 Stanley Cup Final

Another prime example of an exciting and unpredictable Stanley Cup match, the game went into double overtime before the Tampa Bay Lightning won.

No. 11: Giants vs. Patriots, Super Bowl XLII

This became one of the most memorable Super Bowl games of not only the last decade, but of all time.

The Patriots came into the game undefeated and the predicted winners.

They almost fulfilled that prophecy before the Giants made an amazing comeback towards the end of the game to win Super Bowl XLII 17-14.

No. 10: USA Defeats Cuba in 2000 Olympics

The USA had been defeated time and time again by the Cuban national team since the official inclusion of baseball in the Olympics in 1992.

Even in the preliminaries of the 2000 Olympics the U.S had lost to Cuba, but in the final matchup between them, the U.S. came back and won 4-0.

No. 9: Diamondbacks vs. Yankees, Game 7, 2001 World Series

The Yankees had been the World Series winners three years in a row before this matchup in 2001.

Most assumed the Yankees would win the series again, especially when the Diamondbacks were six runs down, but then they made a huge run, winning the series for the franchise's first title.

No. 8: Ohio State vs. Miami, 2003 BCS National Championship Game

The game ended in one of the Buckeyes' best defensive plays of all time after going into the second overtime.

The Buckeyes kept Miami, on its 2-yard line, at bay for multiple downs to win the national championship.

No. 7: Andre Agassi vs. James Blake, 2005 US Open

Andre Agassi beat James Blake in a grueling five-set match in the 2005 US Open semifinals.

The entire match came down to the last game and could have gone either way, the talent was so well matched between these two.

The crowd even gave the two a standing ovation when it was over.

No. 6: Boise State vs. Oklahoma, 2007 Fiesta Bowl

Oklahoma had a huge lead before Boise staged a giant comeback and captured the Fiesta Bowl in 2007, won by a two-point conversion.

No. 5: USA vs. Brazil, Women's World Cup 2011

This was the one game during the entire Women's World Cup this year that truly rallied the entire nation to support Team USA.

The U.S. team made an unbelievable turnaround to reach a 2-2 draw with the South American team before coming back to win 5-3 in the shootout.

No. 4: Kansas vs. Memphis, 2008 NCAA Tournament

All hope seemed lost for Kansas in this ridiculous game when it was down by nine points close to the end.

However, it seems Kansas had plans other than losing when it made a ridiculous comeback to win the game and the national championship.

It was also the first year the Final Four had been comprised of all No. 1 seeds.

No. 3: Michigan vs. Notre Dame, 2011

The ending to this game was one of the most ridiculous in the history of sports.

Notre Dame was beating Michigan before Michigan seemed to wake up and mount a defense at last in the third quarter.

It all came down to the final moments of the game, when Michigan's Denard Robinson threw for a 16-yard touchdown to Roy Roundtree to win the game 35-31.

No. 2: Appalachian State vs. Michigan, 2007

This was a true nail-biter of a game. No one expected a little Division I-AA team to come in and not only keep up with but hold its own as well against a big-time Division I-A school.

But that is exactly what Appalachian State did in 2007 against Michigan.

The game came down to the final moments before Appalachian State blocked an attempted field goal by Michigan, winning 34-32.

No. 1: USC vs. Texas, 2006 Rose Bowl (BCS National Championship)

This is the No. 1 most ridiculous ending to a game in the past decade. 

USC came into the game the defending Rose Bowl champions, and Texas came in as the undefeated Big 12 champs.

It literally came down to the last seconds, when Texas won 41-38 with a touchdown.

The most ridiculous part was quarterback Vince Young was almost completely unguarded all the way to the end zone.