25 Losses That Hurt Teams Most in College Football This Season

The 14 weekends of the 2011 college football regular season have marched by at a swift yet delicious pace.

Now that we’re suddenly faced with a Saturday without an alluring menu jam-packed with football games from noon till midnight, we can sit back in our collective easy chairs and consider the fascinating story of the 2011 season.

Yes, the tale of ’11 was written into the great tome of college football history while we watched, bearing witness to twists, turns, turnovers and titles that were expected, unanticipated and in the end fated.

Indeed, fine friend, hindsight is 20/20, and so it is even in football, where we can look backwards and literally identify the games that were, well...game-changers.

The following slideshow isolates 25 losses that cost specific squads the most in 2011 and in doing so rather painfully chronicles the squashing of the hopes and dreams of regional legions of faithful football fans.

“I wish I didn’t know now what I didn’t know then.”

—Bob Seger, “Against the Wind”

Oklahoma Falls to Texas Tech

Though you could make a solid argument for any of the Sooners' three losses being catastrophic to their 2011 campaign, their narrow Week 8 home loss to Texas Tech was probably the most harmful.

Oklahoma’s season should be viewed from the perspective of a team that was preseason ranked No. 1 whose realistic goals where winning another Big 12 crown and playing for the national championship.

Those aims mean nothing short of perfection, and the weather-delayed, defensively challenged home loss to Texas Tech effectively squashed those goals.

The other approach to take when gauging the damage the defeat to Tech caused is that this was not one of the games the Sooners could have lost and still come out looking pretty. 

This line of thought is intensified by the fact that this game was in Norman, where Oklahoma hadn’t lost since 2005.

Losses to Florida State, Oklahoma State or Kansas State would have looked a lot better on paper, especially if the Sooners could have managed to beat Baylor as well.

Oklahoma still would have enjoyed a fairly good ride if it could have come out of the regular season with one or two losses, but any way you slice it, the home loss to the Red Raiders came at a dear price for the disciples of the visor.

Boise State's "Wide Right" Loss to TCU

We know now that Boise State’s only shot at busting the BCS again in 2011 was perfection.

Yes, even a No. 7 ranking in the final BCS could not guarantee it an at-large spot because somehow No. 11 Virginia Tech and No. 13 Michigan were more savory candidates.

At the end of the day, Boise State was yet another 2011 team whose dreams came crashing down on a late missed field goal.

Yes, the Broncos' "wide right" vs. TCU was as costly as they come, and gone in a flash were a first-ever Mountain West title, a BCS berth and a shot at the BCS championship (and probably the Heisman Trophy as well).

So what's the sorry truth about being a member of a non-BCS conference with poor bowl connections?

The 11-1, No. 7 BCS-ranked Boise State Broncos will face 6-6 Arizona State in the Las Vegas Bowl on December 22.

Yikes.

Stanford Gets Drilled by Oregon

If only if the Cardinal could have whizzed by the Ducks at home in Week 11, they would have had a straight shot at the dance of the big enchilada.

Yes, a one-loss team’s best argument for jumping other one-loss teams into the title game is not having the one loss...

Stanford’s loss to Oregon cost it a shot at both the Pac-12 championship and the BCS title.

The way the Cardinal lost proved detrimental to any argument that they were the No. 2 team in the land and perhaps cost Andrew Luck his bid to become only the second man in history to win the Heisman from Stanford.

Oklahoma State Is Shocked by Iowa State

This just in from the Department of the Obvious...the Cowboys' loss to the Cyclones cost them a shot at the BCS title.

If we had been asked the question, “Which one loss could cost Oklahoma State a shot at the BCS championship?” in October, the correct answer would have been Iowa State, in overtime.

In reality it’s more difficult to gauge the true impact of the defeat to the Cyclones because Oklahoma State still walks away with two monumental firsts in program history.

First, it's going to a BCS game for the first time in school history, and second, it's captured its first-ever Big 12 title and its first conference championship since it won a share of the Big Eight crown in 1976.

Yes, these are amazing achievements, but it’s important not to let the jubilation overshadow the fact that Oklahoma State’s double overtime loss cost it what would have been its first shot at a National championship.

The way the system is set up now, that’s a feat that’s near impossible for any team to do, especially one like Oklahoma State, which is a very solid program but doesn’t ooze with promise and cash like Alabama, USC, Texas, Oklahoma and Ohio State.

Lightning Strikes Twice for Wisconsin

Regardless of any emotional implications, the loss to Michigan State didn’t have the impact on the Badgers' season that the loss to Ohio State did.

To begin with, Michigan State is in a different division, and second, the Spartans were ranked No. 16 at the time, and with one-loss teams in vogue in 2011, the Badgers could have lived with the single loss to a ranked team and possibly still made its way to the BCS title game.

But all such hopes were flattened just one week after Michigan State stunned Wisconsin with a deflection-ridden Hail Mary victory when Ohio State’s Devin Smith got behind the entire Badger defense and caught a 40-yard TD pass from Braxton Miller.

Yes, the stunning Miller to Smith scoring connection effectively iced Wisconsin’s fantasies of a crystal football.

Virginia Tech’s First Loss to Clemson

Frankly, things worked out pretty well for Virginia Tech regardless of any losing, but the one defeat that hurt the Hokies the most in 2011 was the first loss to Clemson because it took them out of the national championship conversation early.

If you turn Virginia Tech’s Week 5 “L” at home to Clemson into a “W,” then suddenly you’ve got an undefeated Hokie team riding into the ACC championship with a win there equaling ascendancy to the title game against LSU.

Yes, Virginia Tech lost to the same team twice in one season and is still in the Sugar Bowl vs. Michigan (which didn’t even win its division), but oh what could have been if it had beaten Clemson on the first day of October...

Notre Dame Fumbles to USF

Notre Dame definitely got off on the wrong foot in 2011.

Yes, there was no shortage of ballyhoo coming into the season for the Irish, who were touted as the best thing in college football since the advent of the party ball and its direct descendant the mini keg.

Rarely have we seen a season’s tone set earlier and more foretelling than in the case of Notre Dame’s disastrous five-turnover loss to USF in Week 1.

Despite managing eight wins in 2011, the Irish never seemed to be able to play at the level of their expectations and finished the campaign ranked No. 116 in the nation in turnover margin (13 takeaways vs. 26 turnovers).

Georgia Drops the Opener to Boise State

It was just too early in the season when the Bulldogs met the Broncos...

Georgia was far from jelling, and Boise State was playing the only signature, statement-type game on its schedule other than the one it lost to TCU at home in Week 11.

The Bulldogs are another team that arguably came out as well in 2011 with two losses as they would have with only one loss due to the fact that they still won the SEC East and made the conference championship.

But what if Georgia had beaten Boise State and used the momentum to avoid just one mistake in its error-ridden 45-42 loss to South Carolina the next weekend?

Then the Bulldogs have a chance to run the tables, and even if the Gamecocks game is still a loss, an 11-1 team at the end of the regular season is in a much different position than one that is 10-2, especially given the BCS confusion of 2011.

Yes, Georgia certainly saved its season after starting 0-2, but what if it had started off 1-0 instead?

Florida Can’t Hold Off Auburn

When you look back at Florida’s 2011 schedule, you begin to appreciate the kind of uphill battle it faced this season.

The young Gators (Phil Steele ranked their experience level No. 97 nationally) bolted out of the gates with a 4-0 start and then faced a murderers' row of foes that included Alabama, LSU, Auburn, Georgia and South Carolina.

Yes, Florida fans could have lived with the consecutive losses to Alabama and LSU in Weeks 5-6 (I mean, these are the best two teams in the country, right?), but the turnover-ridden, QB-swapping debacle at Auburn foretold of a historic low, season-ending run for Gator Nation.

Simply put, the Gators' nasty 17-6 loss to Auburn started off a 2-4 stretch against teams that weren’t the best two teams in America, and the ugliness only ended when the season finally did.

Yes, you could have seen LSU and Alabama coming, but from that point onwards it was decidedly downhill for a group with very, very high expectations.

And it all began the night of October 15 in Auburn, Alabama.

Baylor Gets Picked by Kansas State

It’s easy to let Baylor’s historic achievements mask the fact that 2011 could have even been MORE for the Bears.

Baylor finished the season 9-3 overall and 6-3 in the conference, marking its best performance since 1985 and its best Big 12 mark ever, and if Robert Griffin III captures the Heisman, Katy bar the door...this is IT!

But despite the era of good feelings, if Griffin doesn’t throw an interception to Kansas State LB Arthur Brown, setting up a game-winning Wildcat field goal in Week 5, then suddenly everything gets even better.

Yes, now Baylor wins 10 games for the first time in 30 years and, at the very worst, goes to the Cotton Bowl for the first time since 1981.

And if the Bears can avoid taking the screw that 10-win Kansas State did in the real world, then suddenly they are in the Sugar Bowl instead of Virginia Tech.

Baylor in the BCS! Baylor in the BCS!

If only...

Southern Miss Loses to Marshall in Week 2

Houston definitely became the C-USA team to watch as the season progressed, but many preseason prognosticators had Southern Miss edging the Cougars as one of the top non-BCS teams in the land.

The Golden Eagles were blessed with the perfect combination of returning talent and ease of schedule to, in reality, make a run more probable than the situation Houston faced.

We all know what happened next, and perhaps predictors like Phil Steele were correct when they ranked Southern Miss at No. 20 and Houston at No. 21, but the Eagles lost two important games before the conference championship game was even on their radar.

Southern Miss had begun to gain some momentum and was ranked when it rode its 9-1 record and Top 25 ranking into Birmingham to play a struggling UAB team in Week 12, but even what resulted in an embarrassing loss to the Blazers wasn’t as costly as the defeat in Week 2 to Marshall.

Yes, while everyone was busily penciling in Houston as the first-ever C-USA team to make the BCS, Southern Miss blew the equally intriguing chance it had coming into 2011, an opportunity it watched fade away in a six-point road loss to Marshall that was low-lighted by six Eagle turnovers.

If Southern Miss could have eliminated even one turnover in its epic defeat to Marshall, then it could be Golden Eagles vs. Wolverines in a less than compelling, though well-deserved, Sugar Bowl clash.

Illinois Falls to Ohio State

Never before in the history of the FBS has a team charged out of the gates with a 6-0 start only to lose six straight and finish the season at a devastating mark of 6-6.

That’s exactly what Illinois did in 2011.

Wins over Arkansas State, FCS South Dakota State, No. 22 Arizona State, Western Michigan, Northwestern and Indiana were soon forgotten after consecutive losses to Ohio State, Purdue, Penn State, Michigan, Wisconsin and even Minnesota.

What’s even sicker is the fact that four of the losses came by a margin of less than 10 points.

In reality, it’s difficult to pinpoint which loss hurt Illinois the worst in 2011, but we’re going with loss No. 1, which came at home in Week 7 against Ohio State.

Illinois was No. 16, undefeated and hosting a struggling unranked Ohio State team that was definitely “beatable.”

The Illini win and they are 7-0 and staring down the barrel at Purdue to go 8-0.

But three turnovers, 211 yards of rushing allowed and a 17-point deficit later, Illinois was 6-1 and suddenly at the beginning of the end of a tragic season of football.

Clemson Drops One to Georgia Tech

Clemson was a mighty 8-0 coming into its Week 9 clash with Georgia Tech, and though the Tigers were far from unbeatable, they looked like they had the luck and swagger necessary to knock out a team that was reeling from upset losses to Virginia and Miami FL.

But that was not to be, as the two offensive opposites combined for what became Georgia Tech’s option and Clemson’s four turnovers, resulting in a 31-17 decision in favor of the revived Yellow Jackets.

Regardless of the fact Clemson went on to win the ACC and earn an Orange Bowl berth, the loss was devastating because it was literally the end of their hunt for the elusive crystal football.

Yes, the loss to NC State was painful, as was the rivalry defeat to the Gamecocks, but if Clemson would have beaten Georgia Tech in Week 9 and Wake Forest in Week 10, then all of a sudden you’ve got a 10-0 team.

Indeed, a 10-0 team rolls into Raleigh to face the Wolfpack, and my bet is they don’t lose that game...regardless of what happens next.

The only outcome of the 2011 season that would have trumped an ACC title and Orange Bowl berth for Clemson would have been a shot at the BCS title game, which could have happened if it’d taken care of business in Atlanta.

Oregon Falls to USC

The Ducks' bid for another shot at the BCS title fell short in the final seconds of their Week 9 meeting with USC, as Oregon’s Alejandro Maldonado’s 37-yard field-goal attempt sailed wide left.

Though Oregon still won the conference championship and is in the Rose Bowl, a win vs. the Trojans could have set up the "other" national championship rematch pitting LSU vs. the Ducks rather than Alabama.

Yes, if Oregon had beaten USC, then it would have been another one-loss team whose only loss was to LSU...only it got pounded by the Tigers in a neutral location...

Regardless of how the electorate and hard drives would have ruled, the Ducks' drive to the crystal football ended in Eugene on November 19.

FSU Falls to Clemson

The truth is, preseason AP-ranked No. 6 Florida State could have lived all season with its hard-fought 23-13 loss to then-No. 1 Oklahoma, but the defeat to Clemson the next week took it out of all the golden egg hunts.

Yes, in a season where “one loss” was the new “undefeated,” an early loss to the then-No. 1 team in the land could have been overcome, but an additional consecutive loss to divisional rival No. 21 Clemson stacked the deck against the ‘Noles.

Florida State entered the season as realistic contenders in the ACC and for the BCS, but unfortunately for dreams that lofty, a divisional title is required (unless you are Michigan, Alabama or Stanford).

Clemson 35, Florida State 30.

That’s not the ticket.

Oklahoma State Comes Back Against Texas A&M

The Aggies' first loss of 2011 was their worst, not because they were plucked from the ranks of the unbeaten ever so early in the season, but because it set the sad tone for the rest of the season.

Yes, Oklahoma State’s 17-point comeback victory against the Aggies foreshadowed a year pockmarked with gut-wrenching defeats that involved taking the lead and then watching it painfully dwindle away.

There is nothing worse than watching victory being snatched from your needy hands, especially when you start to see it coming.

Texas A&M had all the stars aligned for a magical run in 2011, and unfortunately the Week 4 loss to the Cowboys signaled the beginning of the end for the Aggies and the beginning of the beginning for Oklahoma State.

Aggie fans are among the most deserving of the “wish I didn’t know now what I didn’t know then” award in 2011.

Northwestern Welcomes Nebraska to the Big Ten

Nebraska could have weathered the storm of its ugly 48-17 loss to Wisconsin in its first-ever Big Ten opener, but the loss to Northwestern cost it far more than simple pride.

The win over Michigan State in Week 9 put the Huskers in the driver’s seat in the Legends Division, but the loss to the Wildcats the following weekend handed Nebraska its second league defeat and effectively took it out of the championship conversation.

Along with the exit of a potential trophy for the expansive prize case in Lincoln was the chance to play in the first-ever Big Ten title game (which would have created quite a stir for a team that just moved onto the block) and a BCS bowl.

South Carolina Gets Edged by Auburn

In the top-heavy SEC it’s easy to forget that South Carolina came into 2011 season with an AP No. 12 ranking and a realistic chance of repeating in the East division and finally making the BCS.

The game that effectively took the Gamecocks out of the championship picture (on all levels) was their narrow 16-13 loss to Auburn in Week 5.

Unranked Auburn’s late TD drive gave South Carolina a loss that it could ill afford with highly ranked Arkansas still on the dance card and Georgia surging back from what seemed like an insurmountable early-season 0-2 hole.

If the Gamecocks could have held Auburn out of the end zone in Week 5, then they still could have lost to Arkansas and gone to the SEC championship by virtue of having the advantage over Georgia via a narrow 45-42 head-to-head victory over the Dawgs in Week 2.

SMU Confounds TCU

It’s hard to say which 2011 loss hurt TCU the most because non-BCS teams start to fade into obscurity after only one loss.

That said, TCU’s bizarre loss to Baylor in the opener looked like a young team that didn’t have enough time to come back, but its loss to SMU was unsettling and costly.

The Horned Frogs' 23-point fourth-quarter performance against the Ponies pushed the game to overtime, but a failed fourth-down conversion ended TCU’s 22-home game winning streak and its 46-week run in the AP poll and sealed a victory for the Mustangs.

It’s easy to assume in the case of non-BCS squads that two losses are pretty much the same thing as one loss (i.e. you need to go undefeated or you’re out), but don’t forget that two-loss TCU was being mentioned as a candidate for the BCS at-large bid that came available when Houston lost to Southern Miss.

Taking this is a step further, it’s fairly logical to assert that a one-loss Toad team would have gotten that extra bid by virtue of beating Boise State.

This means one thing: The Week 5 defeat to SMU became the difference between the Sugar Bowl vs. Michigan and the San Diego County Credit Union Poinsettia Bowl vs. Louisiana Tech.

Wow.

Sparty Falls in MSU vs. Wisconsin II

I think it’s safe to say that for a team that never has reached the BCS, a roughing-the-kicker call that ends the Big Ten championship game and equals no upper-tier postseason is...devastating.

Yes, Michigan State’s winnable loss at Notre Dame in Week 3 and its ugly demise at Nebraska in Week 9 were costly, but despite these defeats the Spartans still found their way to the Big Ten title game.

Winning that game meant their first outright, unshared Big Ten title since 1987 (they shared the crown in both 1990 and 2010) and finally, at long last, a trip to the money dance of the BCS.

Really, the way it happened was as devastating as the fact that it happened at all.

The guy really did run into the kicker, which is hard not to call, but it may have been the least malicious penalty that cost a team the most all season long. To heap on the insult, it had nothing to do with aiding the successful return that would have put MSU in position to at least tie it up with Wisconsin.

Ouch.

Mississippi State Can’t Cross the Line at Auburn

Though a season with six losses may seem hardly worth dissecting, Auburn’s game-winning goal-line stand against Mississippi State in Week 2 was a tone-setting moment.

The Bulldogs were standing on the verge of scoring their first SEC West win over a team other than Ole Miss in the Dan Mullen era, a hurdle that, if crossed, may have given MSU a better sense of self to more ably grapple with the ugly schedule that lay ahead.

Yes, Mississippi State couldn’t punch the ball in against the Tigers, and then it couldn’t close out the powerful opponents left on its slate.

The Bulldogs lost to LSU 19-6, Georgia 24-10, South Carolina 14-12 and Alabama 24-7.

Yes, they got blown out by Arkansas in Week 12, but by then the season was basically over with a .500 finish the only prize left on the radar.

You have to ask yourself what an early win over the defending national champs would have done for the momentum of a team that was in the games it played against the final BCS rankings No. 1, No. 2, No. 8 and No. 16 teams.

Kansas State Can’t Score Last Against Oklahoma State

If you want to pin the label “most screwed” on a team in 2011, think purple and walk slowly towards Manhattan, Kansas.

Yes, Kansas State is No. 8 in the BCS rankings and No. 2 in the Big 12, but even that isn’t enough for a full-fledged, 100 percent Grade AAA BCS team to make a BCS bowl.

Indeed, No. 13 Michigan (which didn’t even win its conference) and No. 11 Virginia Tech (which got drilled in the ACC title game) received at-large bids that apparently the Wildcats weren’t large enough for.

The nearest miss that could have forced Kansas State into the conversation (because you can’t say no to 11-1, no matter how hard you try) was their 52-45 score-fest loss at then-No. 3 Oklahoma State.

It was the kind of game where the winner was going to taste from the sweet chalice of victory by scoring last and leaving the other team running out of time while trying to score again.

At the end of the day the Cowboys scored last, and KSU is left playing a very good Arkansas team in the Cotton Bowl.

Sure, the Cotton Bowl is as prestigious a destination as you will get outside of the BCS, but a win over Oklahoma State would have simply changed everything for the Wildcats.

Michigan State Rushes Michigan

Brady Hoke and Michigan didn’t receive a lot of preseason love, which has to make the Wolverines' 10-2 finish and Sugar Bowl berth pretty sweet for the Wolverine faithful.

Yes, a No. 13 final BCS ranking and some syrupy Sugar would have been a tempting offer going into a season when most of the college football brain trust had Michigan ranked outside of the Top 40.

But even all that logic can’t deny the fact that a win over Michigan State in Week 7 could have taken the season to an entirely unbelievable level.

Yes, if Michigan’s defense could have stopped the Spartans' running game and won in East Lansing, then the Wolverines finish with one loss (and we won’t talk about the loss at Iowa), go to the title game, perhaps win that too and then it’s the 11-1 Wolverines making a case for...

The BCS national championship.

You can refuse the Big 12 champion vs. the SEC champion (especially if it’s Oklahoma State) for the allure of the SEC Game of the Century Rematch, but can you, sir, snub the sexual appeal of the SEC champion vs. the Big Ten champion in what would be one of the biggest financial derbies in BCS history?

Oh yes, the Wolverines travel, and they travel well...and who wouldn’t watch that game?

Indeed, who wouldn’t want to advertise their fine wares in such a clash?

Voters vote! Computers spin your drives! Michigan is the No. 2 team, not Alabama!

Come on, man!

Southern Miss Shocks Houston

The 2011 edition of the Conference USA title game served as a reminder that nothing is a given in college football.

Kevin Sumlin, Case Keenum and the Houston Cougars were the BCS, Heisman and coaching carousel flavors of the month until they literally crashed and burned in their final test of the 2011 season.

It was their only clash with a ranked team, it was the conference championship and it held all the prizes a non-BSC, C-USA team could ever dream of.

And it ended with a thud heard 'round the BCS...and Houston was on its way to the TicketCity Bowl before you could whistle “fight for dear old U of H.”

It’s fairly obvious that the Cougars' defeat at the hands of the Golden Eagles was ever so costly, but when you really sit back and consider what it all means, it very well could be the most hurtful loss in the entire 2011 season.

You could compare it to the Boise State defeat to TCU, but Boise State had been to the BCS, and its conference had been there as well.

Not so for Houston or Conference USA…which comes out of 2011 with a true champion but woefully short on cash.

Georgia Tech Gets Run Over by Virginia

The Yellow Jackets are another team that stormed into the season with a 6-0 start and high ranking, and even though they didn’t lose every other game on their slate, they lost the one contest they couldn’t, shouldn’t and/or wouldn’t.

Georgia Tech’s later defeats to No. 10 Virginia Tech and No. 13 Georgia were at least digestible, but their Week 7 debacle at Virginia, followed by the hangover road loss to Miami FL the following week, wrought irreversible damage on their 2011 campaign.

If the Yellow Jackets could have stopped the Cavaliers' ground attack and reversed the narrow three-point decision, then continued momentum could have carried them past the Hurricanes and put their journey on better footing going into the tough home games with the Hokies and Bulldogs.

Would they have won the ACC Coastal if they had bested Virginia?

That’s a sketchy proposition at best, but it is an absolute certainty that a 7-0 record going to Miami would have produced a different aura than that of a shocking loss to what had been a struggling Virginia team (last season).