2011’s Best CFB Games: Oregon Makes List Twice

ESPNU ran a marathon of the 25 best college football games of the 2011-2012 season, including all the regular season and bowl matchups. With the plethora of fantastic games in the new year, there was little doubt that the countdown would be dominated by a number of top bowl games.

Oregon made the list twice, both in the top 10. Right at 10th place was Oregon’s 45-38 victory over Wisconsin in the Rose Bowl on January 2nd.

The other game was the 38-35 regular season defeat against USC on November 19th. Kicker Alejandro Maldonado missed a 37-yard field goal in the final seconds that could have tied the game, and given the Ducks a potential shot at the national championship. This game received fifth place after a fan vote.

Games ranked 25th through sixth were decided by the “ESPN’s Stats & Info team, led by BCS guru Brad Edwards,” according to the ESPN Media Zone press release. The top five games were ranked by a SportsNation poll. Oregon vs USC received the lowest amount of overall points (81,946) and first-place votes (1,283), giving the game fifth place.

Interestingly, the Stanford vs USC overtime shootout received around 5,700 less first place votes than Michigan vs Notre Dame, but still edged it out for third place. The Michigan State vs Wisconsin game, which was highlighted by a hail mary catch by the Spartans at the goal line, was voted as the best game of the season.

Brian Spaen is the lead editor for Autzen Zoo, follow the site on Facebook and Twitter. Read his other work on the Iowa State blog, Clones Confidential, and Watson Talk Lacrosse.