How do you rank individual games against one another when the stakes are impossibly inequitable?
It’s hard.
But someone had to do it so that everyone else could yell about what’s wrong.
So here we are. The College Football Playoff era (since 2014) has revolutionized college football. The sport looks almost unrecognizable now compared to the way it looked during the BCS system. But one thing has yet to change: Any given college football Saturday can produce magic. And the list you’ll see below feels pretty balanced between games that meant everything and games that meant absolutely nothing.
Below, you’ll see the 12 best games of the College Football Playoff era. Playoff games were not eligible for selection (otherwise that would have been the overwhelming majority of the list) but everything else was fair game.
Enjoy. Or don’t. Whatever.
Honorable Mentions
Alabama’s 27-24 win over Auburn in 2023Ohio State’s 48-45 win over Utah in 2022Oklahoma State’s 37-33 win over Oklahoma in 2021Mississippi State’s 21-20 win over Ole Miss in 2019Ohio State’s 30-27 win over Michigan in 2016Arkansas’s 53-52 win over Ole Miss in 2015
12. The day defense in the Big 12 ceased to exist
Oklahoma 66, Texas Tech 59 — Oct. 23, 2016; 2016 regular season
Does it feel a little icky to put a game that had virtually no impact on the rest of the college football season on this list? Not one bit. The Red Raiders would finish 5-7 while Oklahoma would play in the Sugar Bowl. But this game was a masterpiece. This game was the Big 12’s magnum opus. When they talk about the lack of defense that used to be played in the Big 12, they point to this game. Patrick Mahomes threw 88 times for a record-tying 734 yards and 5 touchdowns. Mahomes was also Tech’s leading rusher, with 85 yards and 2 scores on 12 carries. Baker Mayfield led the Sooners with 545 yards and 7 touchdowns through the air, completing 27 of his 36 pass attempts. OU’s Joe Mixon had 263 rushing yards, 114 receiving yards, and 5 total touchdowns. The game featured 74 second-half points and an NCAA record 1,708 yards of total offense.
11. They scored how many points in the fourth?
North Carolina 63, App State 61 — Sept. 3, 2022; 2022 regular season
Sometimes the stakes are what make games great. Sometimes the matchups make them great. Sometimes, the sheer stupidity of college football is all we need. This Week 2 matchup in Boone, North Carolina, was as stupid as it gets. The Tar Heels and the Mountaineers combined to score 62 points in the fourth quarter. Sixty-two in 15 minutes. Appalachian State had a 21-7 lead on the visiting Tar Heels just 42 seconds into the second quarter. North Carolina then scored 34 unanswered points and took a 41-21 lead into the fourth. Apparently, Mack Brown and his group thought that was good enough. App State tied the game at 49 all with its fourth touchdown of the frame in 11 minutes of game time. App State got within a point with 31 seconds to play but failed on a 2-point try that would have given it the lead. App State’s Chase Brice had a receiver wide open in the end zone and just overthrew him. North Carolina then returned the ensuing kickoff 43 yards for a touchdown and gave the ball right back to the Mountaineers. They scored in 10 seconds to get within 2. Brice was stopped at the 1-yard-line on the 2-point try and North Carolina escaped. With 9:21 to play in the game, North Carolina had a 98.9% chance to win, according to ESPN’s win probability model. The model then lost its mind over the final 9 minutes. App State produced 649 yards of total offense. North Carolina had 130 yards of penalties. Drake Maye went 24-for-36 for 352 yards and 4 scores. This North Carolina team went on to win 9 of its first 10 games. App State beat Texas A&M in College Station a week later and still finished 6-6. Sometimes, college football is just fun.
10. The Caleb Williams Game
Oklahoma 55, Texas 48 — Oct. 9, 2021; 2021 regular season
Oklahoma fans were pining for him well before this game kicked off, but the annual meeting of Red River rivals in the Cotton Bowl was the rest of the world’s introduction to Caleb Williams. Two weeks prior, the Sooners scored 1 offensive touchdown and traded field goals in a 16-13 win over West Virginia at home. Spencer Rattler averaged 7.1 yards per attempt with an interception in the game. Fans were restless, even booing their own quarterback during the game. So, when the Sooners fell into a 28-7 hole at the end of the first quarter against Texas, Lincoln Riley was backed into a corner. Rattler’s final 5 plays of the first quarter were the following: interception, incomplete pass, complete pass for a loss of 3 yards, sack, incomplete pass. Facing a fourth-and-1 at their own 34 on the opening play of the second quarter, Riley replaced Rattler with Williams. The freshman ran 66 yards for a touchdown. Williams led a pair of field goal drives in the second and then helped produce 10 points in the third. In the fourth, Williams exploded. The Sooners scored 25 points to storm back and beat the Longhorns. Williams threw a 52-yard touchdown pass on third-and-19 with a little more than 7 minutes to play that tied the game. With 1:23 to go, Oklahoma took over at its own 25 and Williams engineered a 6-play, 75-yard game-winning drive. Kennedy Brooks ran for 217 yards and 2 scores, the last of which was a 33-yarder on a direct snap to win the game. The result was the highest-scoring OU-Texas game in series history. The 21-point deficit the Sooners overcame tied for the second-largest in program history.
9. The game that broke Sean McDonough
Michigan State 27, Michigan 23 — Oct. 17, 2015; 2015 regular season
The final moments of the 2015 Michigan-Michigan State game are some of the most absurd of any game in the history of college football. And the call from Sean McDonough, by the way, was spectacular. Michigan State was 6-0 and ranked No. 7 in the country. Michigan was 5-1 and ranked No. 12. With 10 seconds to play, Michigan called timeout and prepared to punt the football away from the MSU 47. No one was back from Michigan State to return the punt. ESPN’s game broadcast was rolling its credits. Michigan punter Blake O’Neill then fumbled the snap, the football bounced into Michigan State’s Jalen Watts-Jackson’s arms, and he ran it to the end zone for an improbable, inconceivable game-winner. The Michigan fan with his hands on his head became an instant meme. Watts-Jackson dislocated his hip in the ensuing celebration. University of Michigan police reported several small fires burning on off-campus streets after the ending. As McDonough calls the final moments, his voice cracks in a perfectly illustrative way, as if to show that his brain is buffering, trying to make sense of what his eyes are seeing in real time. “And he scores! On the last play of the game! Unbelievable!” Indeed.
8. They came back from what??
TCU 47, Oregon 41 (3OT) — Jan. 2, 2016; 2015 season Alamo Bowl
The Horned Frogs trailed the Ducks 21-0 at the end of the first quarter of the 2016 Alamo Bowl. They trailed the Ducks 31-0 at halftime. The game was over. The 11th-ranked Horned Frogs were also down to their second-string quarterback after Trevon Boykin, the starter all year, had been suspended because of a bar fight just days before the game. Boykin had been unbelievable for TCU in 2014, throwing for 3,901 yards, running for 707, and scoring 41 total touchdowns. In his place, walk-on Bram Kohlhausen started for TCU and led a comeback that tied a record for the largest in a bowl game ever. Oregon lost its own starting quarterback to an injury midway through the game and went scoreless in the second half. TCU scored on every single possession it had in the second half and overtime as Kohlhausen threw for 351 yards, ran for 45 yards, and scored 4 times.
7. The day ACC titans collided
Clemson 42, Louisville 36 — Oct. 2, 2016; 2016 regular season
Louisville was No. 3. Clemson was No. 5. Louisville had Lamar Jackson. Clemson had Deshaun Watson (when that was still something you were happy to tell people about). The 2 sides combined for 1,075 yards of offense. Louisville scored first, then Clemson ripped off a 28-3 run, then Louisville hit back with a 26-0 run, then Clemson closed the game on a 14-0 run. It was dizzying. Watson had 306 passing yards, 91 rushing yards, and 5 touchdown throws. Jackson had 295 passing yards, 162 rushing yards, and 3 total scores. Clemson turned it over 5 times and still won. Louisville had a second-and-7 from the Clemson 9 with 48 seconds to play and came away with nothing. The Tigers would go on to lose to Pitt but win a national championship. If Jackson finds a way into the end zone from 9 yards away, Clemson doesn’t even make the CFP.
6. Central Florida goes from zero to hero
UCF 49, South Florida 42 — Nov. 24, 2017; 2017 regular season
Central Florida was 10-0. South Florida was 9-1. The winner in the War on I-4 was going to play for the American Conference championship. If the winner was UCF, the dream of making it to the College Football Playoff would be very much alive. UCF was also hosting the Bulls in a regular-season finale that offered the program a chance to go from winless in the 2015 regular season to unbeaten in the 2017 regular season. The Knights had a 21-7 lead after 1. The Bulls then scored 28 of the game’s next 35 points to take a 34-28 lead into the fourth. Over the final 8 minutes and 8 seconds of the fourth quarter, UCF scored 21 points. The game’s final 3 minutes featured 3 touchdowns. UCF took a 42-34 lead on a 23-yard pass from McKenzie Milton. South Florida scored 40 seconds later on an 83-yard touchdown pass from Quinton Flowers, who tied the game with a successful 2-point try on the next play. Then Mike Hughes ran the ensuing kickoff back 95 yards for a touchdown as the Bounce House exploded. Central Florida forced a fumble on the next possession and Milton kneeled out the clock on a perfect season. Flowers threw for 503 yards and 4 scores while rushing for 102 yards and another touchdown in the game. Milton threw for 373 and 4 scores while running for 56 yards and a touchdown of his own. It was as enthralling a quarterback duel as you’ll ever see. Central Florida wouldn’t make the CFP, but it did get a shot at Auburn in the Peach Bowl, which it won to cap a perfect 13-0 season. Scott Frost got his dream job as a result and the 2017 Knights became program heroes. Say what you want about Frost or his time after UCF, but he and his 2017 Knights were one of the best stories we’ve seen in modern college football.
5. The greatest game you forgot about
Baylor 61, TCU 58 — Oct. 11, 2014; 2014 regular season
The 2014 Ohio State Buckeyes owe at least a portion of their national championship to the Texas-based Big 12 schools. Both Baylor and TCU finished the regular season 11-1, but because the Big 12 didn’t play a conference title game at the end of the year, they split the league’s championship. Ohio State, which bludgeoned Wisconsin 59-0 in the Big Ten title game, slipped past both Big 12 teams and into the field. Baylor finished fifth in the selection committee’s rankings, TCU sixth. They were, in many ways, inseparable. That was true on the football field in October as well, when 2 of college football’s most prolific offenses combined for 119 points and 1,267 yards of offense. Baylor had almost 800 yards by itself, but 3 turnovers and 117 yards in penalties leveled the game. TCU had a 58-37 lead with 11:38 to play following a pick-6. Baylor scored the final 24 points and walked it off with a 28-yard field goal. Baylor’s Bryce Petty completed 28 of his 55 pass attempts for 510 yards and 6 touchdowns. Three different Baylor receivers topped 100 yards and Baylor running back Shock Linwood ran for 178. TCU self-destructed over the final dozen minutes and Waco exploded.
4. The game that changed overtime
Texas A&M 74, LSU 72 (7OT) — Nov. 24, 2018; 2018 regular season
Back when we were a proper country, overtime was unending. Texas A&M and LSU, in November of 2018, played one of the longest games ever. The game had 64 combined first downs. The 2 teams combined for 1,017 yards of offense. The 74 points LSU gave up to A&M were the most a ranked team ever allowed in a single game. The 146 combined points were the most in an FBS game in NCAA history. The 7 overtime periods tied for the most in a game ever. LSU coach Ed Orgeron was doused with Gatorade after the Tigers thought they had a game-clinching interception in the fourth quarter, but the play was reviewed, overturned, and the Aggies went on to score a game-tying touchdown on the final play of regulation. On the decisive 2-point play, A&M got 2 cracks at it after LSU was called for pass interference. Kellen Mond threw 6 touchdowns. Joe Burrow threw for 270 yards, ran for 100 yards, and scored 6 total touchdowns. In the end, A&M won its first game against LSU in more than 20 years. Before the 2019 season kicked off, the NCAA changed its overtime rules.
3. The Rose Bowl delivers… like always
USC 52, Penn State 49 — Jan. 2, 2017; 2016 season Rose Bowl
In one of the greatest Rose Bowl games we’ve ever seen, stars were stars. Sam Darnold threw for 453 yards and 5 touchdowns for USC. Saquon Barkley had 194 rushing yards, 55 receiving yards, and 3 touchdowns. USC picked off Trace McSorley 3 times and put up nearly 600 yards of total offense in what was, at the time, the highest-scoring Rose Bowl ever. The Trojans had a 20-7 lead early in the second quarter. Penn State scored 21 points in the first 4:34 of the third quarter. USC then blanked the Nittany Lions with a 17-0 fourth and the game ended on a 46-yard walk-off field goal from Matt Boermeester. The Nittany Lions won the Big Ten title in 2016 but were excluded from the Playoff. USC ended the season with 9 straight victories after a 1-3 start.
2. The Hollywood ending for Hurts
Alabama 35, Georgia 28 — Dec. 1, 2018; 2018 season SEC Championship
Alabama and Georgia met on Jan. 8, 2018, for the national championship inside Mercedes-Benz Stadium. The Crimson Tide won the game by 3 points in overtime. Eleven months later, they met again for the SEC crown on the same field. And 11 months after Jalen Hurts watched from the sidelines as Tua Tagovailoa took his job, Hurts replaced an injured Tagovailoa and rallied the Crimson Tide to a win. Hurts threw a touchdown and ran for a touchdown in a 14-0 fourth quarter dominated by Alabama. “I’ve probably never been more proud of a player than Jalen,” coach Nick Saban said after the game. Alabama trailed 28-14 with 12:39 to play in the third quarter. With 3 minutes to play in the frame, Tagovailoa hit Jaylen Waddle for a 51-yard score to bring Alabama within 7. With just over 11 minutes remaining, Tagovailoa went down after one of his own linemen stepped on his right foot and Hurts took the reins of the offense once again. His first pass was a 13-yard completion on third-and-12. Hurts engineered a 16-play, 80-yard scoring march that bled more than 7 minutes off the clock and tied the game. Georgia turned it over on downs 2 minutes later. Hurts scored from 15 yards out with 1:04 to play to give the Tide the lead and the win.
1. Hendon Hooker Hysteria
Tennessee 52, Alabama 49 — Oct. 15, 2022; 2022 regular season
Where were you when Hendon Hooker shredded Nick Saban’s defense, 100,000 Tennessee fans partied on the field inside Neyland Stadium, and Dixieland Delight rained down over a 52-49 Volunteer victory? Alabama was an 8.5-point favorite against a team that hadn’t beaten it in 15 years. But in just the second season under Josh Heupel, Tennessee put more points on the Crimson Tide than any team had since 1907. Hooker threw for 385 yards and 5 touchdowns. A less-than-100% Bryce Young threw for 455 yards and 2 scores. Jalin Hyatt had 207 receiving yards and was on the receiving end of all of Hooker’s touchdown tosses. Tennessee had a 28-10 second-quarter lead. Alabama had a 35-34 lead going into the fourth quarter. The final period saw 3 lead changes, the last of which came when Chase McGrath booted through a 40-yard field goal at the buzzer. If not for an injury to Hooker later in the year, this might have been the moment that catapulted Tennessee to the Playoff. Instead, the 2022 Vols became one of the greatest “what if?” teams of the CFP era.
Ranking the 12 greatest games of the College Football Playoff era Saturday Down South.
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