Every FBS College Football Team's Worst Moment in History

We did a similar article a few months ago in regards to the BCS teams, but today we're expanding to all the FBS schools.

We've seen some pretty bad moments in college football—like really, really bad. From heartbreaking losses to scandals to embarrassing occurrences, each team has its fair share.

No deaths or ultra-sensitive moments and occurrences will be included due to the serious nature of the moment and/or event.

SMU

This has to be an easy one here, as you know and I know that although SMU was once a proud program with many wins attached to its name, it's known for one thing: receiving the death penalty in 1986.

From the slush funds to recruiting violations to lying to NCAA officials and probation violations, the Mustangs had many detriments that led to this.

East Carolina

Coach John Thompson's tenure has to go down here for the Pirates. Fired in 2004, he only won three games in two years as head coach at East Carolina.

The only teams he beat were lowly Army and Tulane. That's not good and goes as the worst moment for the Pirates.

Marshall

Worst moment for Marshall has to be the four-year winless streak in the late 1960s. From 1965 to 1969, the Thundering Herd failed to win a game, going 0-26-1.

It's not a singular moment, but any moment from this time would be fitting here.

Memphis

Memphis has a strong nickname—the Tigers.

Only thing is, when the football team first started in 1912, the school paper often referred to them as the "Normals."

Not sure about you, but I would have a problem with someone calling my football team a bunch of "Normals." Only until the late 1920s did Memphis firmly begin to be known as the Tigers.

Southern Miss

Ol' No. 4 is a legend in the NFL, but he's a legend at Southern Miss as well. The program, team and fanbase wanted to send him out on top in 1990.

Instead, Southern Miss lost the All-American Bowl to N.C. State, 31-27. Losing Brett Favre's last game goes down as Southern Miss' worst moment.

UAB

The Blazers' worst moment comes off the field.

In 2006, UAB had a chance and pretty much had a done deal with Jimbo Fisher to be its next head coach, only to have Paul Bryant Jr. pull a few strings to cause the Blazers to drop the ball. Bryant knew what Fisher was capable of and did not want UAB to be in line for any success.

UCF

A black eye moment for the Knights really is a stretch of seasons. In 1982, UCF went 0-10 under head coach Sam Weir.

Things never really picked up for Weir, who left the team after the 1984 season with a lowly 7-25 record.

Ouch.

Houston

Another off-field moment.

Houston was a top-tier program in the 1950s and began to look around to head into a more challenging conference.

What better conference than the SEC, right?

Wrong.

After losing to two SEC teams in 1956, the Cougars got rejected by the conference. Can you imagine where Houston would be today if it had been in the SEC?

Rice

The Owls haven't had much success on the field, and the gist of it correlates with them only having 3,000 undergraduates at their small school.

But they need to be included in this piece, so I'm going with the notion of them losing to rival Texas 28 straight times from 1966 to 1993.

Tulane

Another coaching blunder, yet again.

Say what you want, but Tulane choosing Chris Scelfo over Rich Rodriguez in 1998 has to go here.

I mean, Rich Rod was red-hot in the late 1990s, and his offense averaged more than 45 points per game as Tulane's offensive coordinator. I think Tulane would have had more success under Rodriguez than what it had with Scelfo: six losing seasons and a 37-57 record.

Tulsa

A lot of times in recruiting, academics do actually play a large role. Players want to get a solid (or likely easy) major where they can obtain a degree.

A popular degree at Tulsa within the football program is P.E./health, as more than 56 percent of the team had it as their listed major.

Well, Tulsa dropped the major in the early 1990s, and this cost it in recruiting, which cost it games and David Rader his job in 1999.

UTEP

When you go to your first bowl game, things are always on a high note. Sure, some people have a feeling of just being happy to get there, but winning the bowl game is huge.

Well, UTEP rode into the 1937 Sun Bowl on a super high note. It was the first bowl game in program history and, well, it lost—in a blowout, 34-6, to Hardin-Simmons.

North Carolina

UNC's worst moment is a recent one, as the Tar Heels got exposed with various violations ranging from illegal contact with an agent to academic fraud and more.

Several star players were suspended and simply removed from the team, and a season later head coach Butch Davis was fired.

Virginia

Sad one here, as Anthony Poindexter was on his way to being a first-round pick in the 1998 draft, an All-American and a future Pro Bowler.

Then the N.C. State game came and saw Poindexter get hurt. He tore his ACL and several other ligaments, among other serious complications.

Poindexter never was the same star safety.

Virginia Tech

The Hokies came into the game undefeated and had big-time national title aspirations. It was Thursday night, and conference rival Boston College was coming.

BC also had an all-world QB named Matt Ryan. VA Tech had a lead and the game in hand, but Ryan tossed two TD passes in the final two minutes.

No undefeated season. No national title for the Hokies.

Iowa State

Iowa State went to the 2001 Independence Bowl against Alabama and hung tough with the Tide. It had a FG set up to win the game, but Tony Yelk missed the kick.

So say Alabama fans.

Many Cyclone fans are still adamant Yelk's kick actually sneaked inside the high right goalpost. But the officials ruled he missed the kick, and thus Iowa State lost the game.

Duke

Sigh.

The Dukies' football team is nowhere near as prolific as the basketball team, but they had a chance from 1987-1989 with Steve Spurrier as their coach.

However, Florida called Spurrier in 1989. He bolted for Gainesville and never looked back.

Good thing he didn't, as Spurrier might feel guilty for lack of success on the gridiron at Duke.

Kansas

Mark Mangino had a dark side worse than Anakin Skywalker.

From allegedly yelling at high school referees, getting various parking tickets and screaming at KU officials to allegedly grabbing his players and saying many inappropriate things to them, Mangino deserved to go.

He got fired in the late 2000s, and it served as an embarrassing moment for KU athletics and football.

Georgia Tech

John Heisman became the head coach at Georgia Tech, and against Cumberland in 1916, it seemed Heisman was hell-bent on embarrassing Cumberland like it owed him money.

After knocking out Cumberland's QB on the first play, it was 126-0 Tech at halftime.

Accounts say Heisman told his team not to let up during the break, and it eventually won 222-0.

Nice job, Heisman—you're cool.

Stanford

What else would it be for the Cardinal program?

This was a crazy way to lose a game, and for Stanford, what really hurts is that it was hated rival Cal that did it to the Cardinal.

We all know the story and the outcome...moving on.

Nebraska

The 1984 Orange Bowl still lives in ire in Lincoln.

Trailing 31-30 against almighty Miami, Tom Osborne went for two—and his clear-cut national title—with 48 seconds left.

But Miami safety Ken Calhoun tipped away Turner Gill's two-point pass to Jeff Smith, and Osborne missed out on his national title.

Kansas State

Don't salute.

Don't celebrate.

Don't breathe.

In fact, don't even play, because in today's world, the refs have no style or flair and want to keep all fun out of the game.

Oklahoma State

Jenni Carlson of The Oklahoman wrote an article on Bobby Reid, a QB on the Pokes squad. The article was mainly about Reid having a bad attitude.

OSU head coach Mike Gundy took a press conference to a 50 on a 1-10 scale. He just went off on Carlson and ranted, screamed, shouted, kicked and pouted.

Gundy went on to rant that Carlson should come after him, not Reid and said, "I'm a man, I'm 40!"

Best. Line. Ever.

Texas A&M

Bear Bryant was the head coach and AD at Texas A&M starting in 1954.

But in 1958, Alabama called the Bear home, and he went running, as he famously said.

Bryant went on to become a legend at Alabama and one of the greatest coaches ever: six national titles, 14 SEC titles, Hall of Fame.

Ouch, A&M.

Texas Tech

Easy pick for me here.

Really, we all know Mike Leach's quirkiness was cool sometimes and sometimes wasn't.

Leach's firing over his alleged mistreatment of Adam James was a black eye for him and TT, especially since it got ugly in the courts.

Cincinnati

In 2009, Brian Kelly pulled a mini-Nick Saban and kept saying he wasn't leaving for Notre Dame.

You knew and I knew that was a bunch of bologna.

Where is Kelly at now? Exactly.

The Notre Dame job was his dream job since he was a kid, and Kelly had gotten Cincy on the map. The Bearcats haven't been the same since.

UConn

Maybe Edsall knew before the Fiesta Bowl.

Maybe he didn't.

Maybe he got a call before he got on the plane.

Maybe he didn't.

But after losing to Oklahoma in the 2011 Fiesta Bowl, UConn head coach Randy Edsall told his players on the plane he was leaving for Maryland.

UConn doesn't have a rich football tradition and has only been a full-time FBS squad since the 2000s, so Edsall was gold to the Huskies; him leaving and the way he bolted was a sour moment.

Louisville

2005 saw Louisville with huge aspirations. There was even some national title talk.

Nobody told West Virginia, though.

With Louisville up 24-7 in the fourth quarter, WVU scored 17 unanswered points and forced overtime.

The Mountaineers prevailed over the Cardinals and sent them to the Gator Bowl. No slight to the Gator Bowl, but a BCS bowl is better.

Pitt

Pittsburgh was the preseason No. 1-ranked team in the country in 1982 and went into the year with national title hopes. Led by Dan Marino, it fired out of the gates at 7-0.

Then it lost to Notre Dame at home.

Then Penn State, and then the Cotton Bowl to SMU.

No national title for the Panthers, and another disappointing season came the following year.

Rutgers

Rutgers was an independent juggernaut, and in the 1976 season, defeat was not in its plans.

The Scarlet Knights went 11-0 and were giddy about their potential bowl options.

But they had none. Zero. Nada!

Then they snubbed the Independence Bowl because they felt it wasn't good enough for them.

South Florida

Here's a great moment for Rutgers, but the worst one for USF.

2007 had USF at 6-0. It shot up to No. 2 in the country!

Can you believe that?

No, because it lost a heartbreaking game to Rutgers in Piscataway, 30-27, and dropped its next two games after that.

Syracuse

'Cuse went into the 1988 Sugar Bowl against Auburn a win away from a perfect season and maybe even a national title.

Then, at the very end of the game—with Syracuse leading, about to go 12-0 and win the Sugar Bowl—Auburn made a field goal as time expired to tie the game, resulting in a tie.

Ties aren't wins. Period.

Army

Army football is not what it used to be, which was an elite program. I searched long and hard to find a bad moment for Army, but I'm going back, way back.

Like to their first-ever game, back.

Navy challenged it to a football game, and Army accepted in 1890. Army lost, as it desperately hated Navy and wanted beat it.

A rivalry was born.

Notre Dame

Out of all their great historical moments through the years, up or down, firing Ty Willingham was a bad look for ND.

Then they thought it was a shoo-in for them to get Urban Meyer, but he chose to go to Florida over his alleged dream school.

This was clear evidence to Irish Nation that Notre Dame was no longer Notre Dame.

The waxing by Oregon State in the Fiesta Bowl is another standout.

Navy

1964. Navy. Texas.

The Cotton Bowl.

No. 1 vs. No. 2.

The Midshipmen came into the Cotton Bowl as the No. 2 team in the country but felt that a win over No. 1 Texas would give them a national title.

Texas could care less, beating Navy 28-6. No national title for the Midshipmen.

Mid-American Conference

Akron: Going 1-10 in Gerry Faust's last year in 1994.

Bowling Green: Losing 49-27 in MAC title game to Miami (OH) with GameDay on hand.

Buffalo: Student body stops funding the football team in 1970, forcing the school to drop the program for seven years.

Kent State: Winning its first game by forfeit, and its first real win didn't come until five years later in 1925 vs. West Liberty State College.

Miami (OH): Ben Roethlisberger announcing he was leaving for the NFL after his junior year.

Ohio: Don Peden retiring in 1946 (121-46-11, six BAA championships).

Temple: Getting dumped by the Big East in 2004 after an 0-11 season (14-80 vs. Big East opponents).

Ball State: No. 12 in the polls and losing in 2008—first in MAC title game to Buffalo 42-24 and then the GMAC Bowl vs. Tulsa, 45-13.

CMU: Losing its first bowl game in 1990 vs. SJSU in the California Bowl, 48-24.

EMU: From 1980-1982, EMU had a 27-game losing streak (average loss by 18 points).

NIU: As high as 10th in the BCS standings in 2003, NIU finished with a 10-2 record, still unranked and univited to a bowl.

Toledo: Losing 145-0 in its first game vs. University of Detroit.

WMU: 1-10 in 2004. No wins vs. a Division I-A team. Gary Darnell fired.

Miami (FL)

Ohio State was an underdog to what basically was an NFL team in Miami in the Fiesta Bowl.

However, the Buckeyes stuck tough with the Canes and battled all night long. The pivotal moment was when Miami was up in overtime and Ohio State was playing its final down of 4th-and-3.

Craig Krenzel threw a pass that went off Chris Gamble's hands, and Miami thought it had won the game.

Nope—official Terry Porter cited Miami DB Glen Sharpe for pass interference on Gamble, which eventually led to Ohio State upsetting Miami for the BCS national title.

Florida State

I'm going with Wide Right II here.

Just the irony of losing a huge game, in the very same way you lost the year before, to the same exact team with national title implications, is nuts.

Dan Mowrey missed the kick this time, in 1992, and Miami beat FSU 19-16. If Florida State had won, the 'Noles might have gotten a shot against Alabama for the national championship.

Big-time ouch.

Clemson

It has to be the 2004 brawl with the Gamecocks.

See the write-up for South Carolina...

Oklahoma

The Oklahoma teams in the 1950s were dominant and had a 47-game winning streak that dated from 1953 to 1957.

In a game vs. Notre Dame, Dick Lynch scored a touchdown to give the Irish the lead with four minutes left that proved to be the game-winner.

Sooner fans were so heartbroken they sat in the stands for 30 minutes after the end of the game, crying in disbelief.

Alabama

Alabama, No. 2 in the country, led Auburn 16-3 late when two—count 'em, two—flukes occurred.

The Tigers' Bill Newton blocked Greg Gantt's punt, and the ball bounced directly to David Langner, who returned it 25 yards for a touchdown.

On the next possession, Auburn forced another punt. Newton and Langner did it again, this time from 20 yards, and the Tigers won, 17-16.

Illinois

In 2008, the Illini made it to Pasadena to play in the Rose Bowl.

Only thing was, waiting for them was a mega-talented USC team that proceeded to give Illinois some medicine in a 49-17 fashion.

It was a bad moment since it showed that while Illinois had been solid that season, it was nowhere near close to playing with the big boys.

Indiana

B/R alum Collin McCollough chipped in with this one.

The Hoosiers aren't exactly the class of college football. Recently, the Halloween loss to Iowa in 2009 sticks out as a pretty bad moment.

Winning in the third quarter after two iffy calls on TDs, the Hoosiers were up by 14. Then Iowa picked off a pass that somehow got returned 90 yards for a TD. 

Then, after that, all Iowa did was score 28 points in the fourth quarter to win the game.

Purdue

Big ups to Keith Thomas of B/R.

In the 2000 Outback Bowl, Purdue was up 25-0 at halftime over Georgia. Then UGA came out from halftime and scored 25 straight points, capped by a 13-play, 94-yard TD drive to force overtime.

During Georgia's rally, Purdue kicker Travis Dorsch missed two FGs and an extra point. Then came a missed FG in overtime.

Winner: Georgia.

Loser: Boilermakers.

Wisconsin

The Badgers weren't too good back in the day (for the most part), but in 1942, they rose up.

It was a special year for the Badgers, as they had ascended to No. 2 in the country after beating No. 1 Ohio State.

Then they played Iowa the next week, who beat Wisconsin 6-0 to destroy the Badgers' title hopes in what is the worst moment for Wisconsin football in history.

Iowa

Iowa thought Howard Jones would be there 20 more years.

But his wife grew increasingly unhappy in Iowa City, so Jones asked for a contract that said he only had to live in Iowa City during the season.

Iowa refused.

Jones left to go coach at Trinity College (now Duke) and then went on to make more history at USC. Bad moment for the Hawkeyes.

Minnesota

Talk about a collapse.

Wow, Minnesota was waxing Texas Tech in this one.

It was up 38-7 in the third quarter. Everyone thought this was over and was already thinking about the next bowl game to watch.

But the Red Raiders just went nuts, and Minnesota collapsed.

Like, say, a 44-41—overtime—loss collapse.

Glen Mason lost his job because of this.

Northwestern

This moment was so bad for NU that the student body rushed the field and chanted, "We're the worst, we're the worst!"

In 1981, Northwestern lost its 29th straight game to Michigan State, breaking the record also held by Kansas State and Virginia. That's when the students rushed the field.

TCU

Slingin' Sammy Baugh got robbed is what folks in Fort Worth will tell you. He deserved a title, and it was lost on a fake punt by arch nemesis SMU.

Set to punt and give the ball back to the Horned Frogs and their star gunslinger Baugh, the Mustangs tricked TCU and ran a fake punt that led to their upset victory. 

Cal

2007 marked a great start for Cal. It opened the year at No. 12 in the country and rose to as high as No. 2 in a bye week.

With the help of some upsets around the country, including Stanford beating USC, the Bears were looking like the No. 1 team if they beat Oregon State since No. 1 LSU was also upset by Kentucky.

Nope.

The Bears got upset by the Beavers and then went on to win only one more game the rest of the year, falling out of the Top 25.

Oregon State

In 2001, the Civil War game was just another Civil War game—as in huge. The Beavers were up 6-3 in the fourth quarter but then were forced to punt.

Keenan Howry went to field the punt. OSU player Kyle Roselle went to make the tackle, but Ty Tomlin pushed him in the back. Beaver fans relaxed because they figured a clip would be called.

It never came, and Howry raced up the field 76 yards for a TD. Oregon won.

Washington State

Wazzu came into the 2003 Rose Bowl versus Oklahoma with big-time hopes, dreams and desires.

The Cougars were also looking to win the Rose Bowl for the first time since 1916, as they had lost their last two Rose Bowls, so this was a huge game because of that and because they were also playing big-time Oklahoma.

34-14 Sooners. Worst moment in Cougar history.

Arizona and UCLA

Going with a "2-for-1" special here.

Arizona watched as UCLA traveled to Miami to take on the Hurricanes in 1998. A win for the Bruins would send them to the national title game, and thus 'Zona would take the Pac-10 Rose Bowl slot.

ESPN placed cameras on the Wildcats team as they watched the game. They also watched Edgerrin James go off on UCLA, shredding the Bruins while leading Miami to a win.

No Rose Bowl for the program in Tucson, and no championship for the program in Westwood.

Arizona State

The Rose Bowl. The Granddaddy of Them All.

It's a big deal to make it to this game, and ASU was stoked to be playing in it.

The Sun Devils took on Ohio State Jan. 1, 1997. They felt confident because ASU had star QB Jake "The Snake" Plummer, among several other talented players.

ASU lost a heartbreaker, 20-17.

Colorado

This has to be maybe the most hilarious, yet bad, moment on this list.

Hey Colorado, you basically cheated Missouri out of a game by being awarded an extra down, and instead of giving a diplomatic and noble answer, you instead complain the field was "lousy."

Yeah, that's what Bill McCartney did after he was asked if he thought about forfeiting the game versus Missouri in 1990.

McCartney complained about Missouri's field conditions and criticized the way the Tigers took care of preparing their home field.

USC

The moment that Yahoo! broke the story of Reggie Bush taking money from an agent and the day USC was sanctioned were twofold heartbreaking moments in college football.

You can even argue that Bush returning his Heisman was humiliating in itself.

Just knowing that the magical days and records of watching Bush, who I say is the greatest college player I have seen thus far, were negated was surreal.

Utah

Urban Meyer was a rising star in the coaching ranks and was destined for prime time.

So, you had to know if you were Utah that it was only a matter of time before Meyer left.

But it still hurt when he did.

Kyle Whittingham is an excellent head coach now, and even Meyer thinks Whittingham is great. 

But Meyer leaving was a blow.

Air Force

The year was 1985, and the Falcons had a rising star in head coach Fisher DeBerry. They had risen to No. 2 in the country and were on a 10-game winning streak. 

One more win and they were in line to play for the 'ship.

But BYU crashed their party by beating them and costing Air Force a title shot.

Boise State

The year was 2010. Boise State was en route to making a serious BCS national title game bid.

The Broncos were an elite team and playing as well as anyone in the nation.

Nevada didn't care, as it hung tough with BSU. Then placekicker Kyle Brotzman missed a field goal in regulation and then another one in overtime, and it led to Nevada winning the game and cost Boise State a title shot.

Fresno State

The Bulldogs rose to No. 8 in the polls after upsets of some stellar, higher-profile schools in 2001.

People were even talking national title in Central California.

Then Fresno State got upset by Boise State, which dismantled all title game hopes for Fresno State and sent it to the Silicon Valley Bowl—which it lost to Michigan State.

Mountain West Conference

Colorado State: Relieving Sonny Lubick of his coaching duties in 2007; Lubick had a 17-30 record over the past four years, bad attendance and a 3-9 record in 2007.

New Mexico: Brian Urlacher graduating in 2000.

SDSU: Losing a 39-38 heartbreaker to No. 19 Iowa in the 1986 Holiday Bowl after being up 38-36 with 47 seconds left.

UNLV: Going 4-7 in 2001 after being preseason No. 25 and promoting QB Jason Thomas for Heisman.

Wyoming: Beating a high school team in 1893 14-0 and continuously claiming it as its first victory.

Western Athletic Conference

Hawaii: Losing 48-10 to Georgia in the 2008 Sugar Bowl.

Idaho: Dennis Erickson leaving, again, in 2006.

Louisiana Tech: Snubbed for Delaware by the NCAA in 1972 for the D-II college title after going 12-0.

Nevada: Losing four bowl games in a row from 2006-2009.

New Mexico State: A 49-year bowl drought, to date, is the longest in D-I history.

San Jose State: Going 2-10 in 2009, only beating Cal Poly and New Mexico State.

Utah State: Losing to Baylor in the 1961 Gotham Bowl and dropping to 10th in the AP Poll.

Arkansas

This game was so big that President Richard Nixon came in person to attend.

The Hogs were winning in the fourth quarter when Texas coach Darrell Royal basically ran a rare deep pass that caught Arkansas off-guard.

On 4th-and-3, Royal sent tight end Randy Peschel on a go route, and James Street hit him for a 44-yard gain.

Texas won the game 15-14.

Colorado

What else would it be?

Colorado trailed 31-27.

On first down, Charles Johnson spiked the ball. Second down brought an Eric Bieniemy run, and third down saw the same play, but the marker read second down. 

With Bieniemy being stopped short again of the end zone, Johnson spiked the ball because he thought it was third down, but really, it was fourth. 

The officials gave Colorado another down since the marker read fourth, when in reality it should have been a turnover on downs.

Johnson used a QB sneak to score and win the game on the infamous "fifth" down.

Michigan State

Here's a "Game of Century" that resulted in a tie.

The Spartans wanted to win this game badly. Really badly.

They felt they were the better team and wanted to show the country that football existed outside the realm of Notre Dame.

The "Game of the Century" in 1966 saw Michigan State and Notre Dame come in on Nov. 19 as the two top-ranked teams in the country.

Notre Dame was No. 1 and 8-0, while Michigan State was No. 2 and 9-0. Speculation on who would win naturally was running wild all week, and the suspense and buildup were mythical.

It ended in a tie.

Ohio State

In 1968, Woody Hayes went for two in the final minute of the Michigan game, winning 50-14. When asked why he went for two, Hayes infamously responded, "Because I couldn't go for three."

That's hilarious.

Bo Schembechler somehow got Big Blue to rally for the 1969 game, and Michigan upset Ohio State 24-12. It was called the "Upset of the Century" since the Buckeyes were viewed by Hayes as his best ever.

Oregon

RB LeGarrette Blount told Sports Illustrated in the summer before the game that Oregon owed Boise State a "(butt) whuppin."

After the game, which was an Oregon defeat, BSU LB Byron Hout went up to Blount, slapped him on the shoulder and said, "How about that (butt) whuppin'?"

Blount's response was a cold right hook to the jaw—one of the worst heartbreaking moments to see in college football history.

Michigan

What is the best moment in Appalachian State history is the worst moment in Michigan history: a 34-32 upset by ASU over the Wolverines in Lloyd Carr's last year.

Michigan looked at the scoreboard in disbelief and just did not see this coming. Michigan just couldn't pull away from Appalachian State, and the Mountaineers blocked a field goal to win the game.

Awful moment for Big Blue.

Kentucky

The Wildcats thought the game was over.

Really, we all thought it was over.

They even had doused their coach, Guy Morris, in Gatorade.

But as Tiger QB Marcus Randall launched a strong throw into the air and Wildcat fans stormed the field, LSU receiver Michael Clayton deflected the ball into Devery Henderson's hands, and he got into the end zone for a 74-yard touchdown pass.

The "Bluegrass Miracle."

Tennessee

While other shocking, bad moments may have happened in Knoxville, it's just that I was really rooting for Tennessee when I turned this game on.

Derek Dooley was so close to an upset that he even thought he had done it.

Leading 14-10, Tennessee thought it had made a stop and saw time run out versus LSU in the fourth quarter to win the game. The Volunteers ran onto the field, only to get a penalty called on them and time put back on the clock.

LSU scored a touchdown and won the game.

Florida

Urban Meyer was on track to become the best coach in UF history and possibly an all-time SEC great—until he stepped down and announced his retirement.

Then he came back. 

Then, after the 2010 season, Meyer broke hearts and shocked the nation with a second announcement of retirement.

Georgia

In 1927, Georgia was a flawless team on paper. It had everything you wanted in a complete team.

But it didn't do anything.

Georgia Tech beat the Bulldogs the final game of the season in a rivalry game. Even though UGA got some No. 1 votes in the final polls, the Bulldogs ended the season with a super sour, bitter, nasty taste in their mouths.

It was more sour because it came from one of their arch-rivals.

Vanderbilt

I couldn't really find a pinpoint singular moment for Vandy.

It's just that the Commodores have been so bad for most of their history.

So, you tell me your worst moment for Vanderbilt...

Moving on.

Sun Belt Conference

Arkansas State: Losing 27-0 to Troy in 2007 and snapping the best win streak under Steve Roberts; it was considered the worst defeat by many fans.

FAU: Howard Schnellenberger announcing his final season.

FIU: Losing 31-27 to Duke in 2011.

Louisiana-Lafayette: The demolishing of McNaspy Stadium in 2000.

Louisiana-Monroe: Losing 13-7 to Lafayette in 1951.

Middle Tennessee State: Losing 31-14 to Central Michigan in the Motor City Bowl in 2006 when it wasn't even really supposed to be there.

UNT: Losing a heartbreaker to Kansas State 49-41 in its last game at Fouts Field.

Troy: Losing its first FBS bowl game 34-21 to NIU in the Silicon Valley Classic.

WKU: Rod Smart, aka "He Hate Me," outshining Willie Taggart's legacy as a player.

West Virginia

Yeah, there's the whole Rich Rod ordeal, and how that went down was pretty bad.

Yet Bill Stewart asking a local WVU reporter to get dirt on coach-in-waiting Dana Holgorsen is low—and embarrassing.

It's a black eye on the program in Morgantown. It embarrassed the school, the program, Stewart and Holgorsen, and it led to WVU eventually buying Stewart out.

Texas

It's called the "Route 66" game.

In 1997, UCLA came into Austin and just beat the brains out of the Longhorns, 66-3.

I mean, really bad.

Texas looked like a Pop Warner team playing an NFL team. It was a confusing and peculiar game that left Texas players, coaches and fans in shock.

Baylor

Baylor was in the middle of a historic, undefeated season, and even Sports Illustrated was primed to do an exclusive piece on the team after it beat the Spartans.

Baylor was so confident that it started setting up photo shoots and other various media sessions with Sports Illustrated.

Then it lost to San Jose State, 30-22. Oops.

South Carolina

Told you we'd get to South Carolina, so Clemson fans, here's your deal too...

The 2004 South Carolina-Clemson game was to be the last game for Lou Holtz in a great coaching career.

People were saying their goodbyes and well wishes—and then it turned nasty.

Well, it was a rivalry game anyway, but wow. The Gamecocks and Tigers brawled like a WWE Battle Royal.

It was so bad that after the game both schools announced their teams would not be allowed to go to bowl games.

Penn State

Joe Paterno was irate.

Leading 25-21 in the fourth quarter, Penn State had it all locked up.

But then Michigan QB Chad Henne delivered a ball to Carl Tabb, who got out of bounds with seemingly 28 seconds left.

For some reason, though, the refs huddled up and put two extra seconds on the clock.

JoePa only got more upset when Henne hit Mario Manningham for the game-winning touchdown thanks to the extra two seconds the Wolverines got.

Washington

In the fourth quarter of Washington vs. BYU in 2008, Jake Locker used his magically gifted happy feet and speed to scamper for a touchdown run with two seconds left.

Washington needed only a PAT to tie up the game, but the refs called Locker for a 15-yard unsportsmanlike penalty for flipping the ball over his head. That pushed the PAT kick back, and it was subsequently blocked. No win for U-Dub.

It's one of the worst calls I've seen and shows again that refs today want to be the star of the show.

Maryland

Ralph Friedgen had basically put Terp football back on the map during his tenure at Maryland, and the higher-ups thought he was getting too old, had plateaued the program and his time was up.

Luckily Maryland got a good coach in Randy Edsall, yet the way it forced out Friedgen was awful.

Wake Forest

The Demon Deacons have not had much success and are not a football power by any means, so anytime they feel they can make it to a bowl, that's a big thing. 

In 1980, the Demon Deacons took on South Carolina in a 1980 slugfest that went down to the wire.

They lost, 39-38, and gave up 177 yards and two scores to George Rogers.

Boston College

The No. 1 team in the country came to play on Chestnut Hill. The Eagles were down 12-7 with just 13 seconds left, but they had the ball on the Miami 9-yard line.

QB Brian St. Pierre dropped back and threw a pass that got tipped into the hands of Matt Walters for a pick.

Walters started trekking back down the field when out of nowhere Ed Reed scurried up and snatched the ball from him to ensure the football was in good hands.

BC watched Reed steal away its upset hopes.

North Carolina State

The Wolfpack do have a couple good excuses for this one, as most of the roster was gone to serve in WWI and hadn't practiced for five weeks. 

But 128-0? Come on, Wolfpack. Wow.

Auburn

After watching USC beat the brakes off Oklahoma, it was obvious Auburn deserved a title shot.

Plus one, hello?

Auburn went undefeated after beating Virginia Tech in the Sugar Bowl, and the Tigers were forced to accept an undefeated season and Sugar Bowl without a title shot, which was a crime.

Robbery.

LSU

It's one thing to see your beloved coach move on to the NFL.

Then you admire him because he keeps saying that he's not taking the job back at a hated conference rival, and you're fine with it.

Then he takes the job? Yeah, that's a punch in the stomach.

Now that coach has won a national title and turned your rival school into a juggernaut, one so powerful that you will be playing him in a No. 1 vs. No. 2 matchup this Saturday night.

Ole Miss

Losing to LSU in 1959 on Halloween was a heartbreaker. 

It's still talked about by both schools today. The Rebels and the Tigers were two Top 10 teams with national title and SEC title sights.

Billy Cannon returned a punt for LSU 89 yards to give the Tigers a 7-3 lead. Ole Miss charged back to the LSU goal line and was about to win this thing.

Then, on 4th-and-goal, out of all people on the LSU roster, Billy Cannon stopped Ole Miss at the goal line to win the game for LSU.

Mississippi State

You win 10 games. That's a benchmark season.

Plus, in your 10 wins, you beat Florida, Alabama and your arch-rival Ole Miss.

So that should garner me a high ranking, some No. 1 votes and more, right?

Wrong.

MSU only finished ninth in the polls for some reason, as it never got the respect it so deserved that year. Some fans and players were so miffed that they recognize that season as their own national title year.