2021 is the 50th anniversary of what was dubbed the Game of the Century between #1 Nebraska and #2 Oklahoma. It is now notable since Nebraska tried to duck out of this year's game scheduled because of that anniversary.

But this wasn't the only 20th Century game dubbed (in advance) the Game of The Century. It was only one of ten. So which one truly was the one and only Game of the 20th Century?

Vote in this poll to once and for all answer that question.

(03-13-2021 12:55 PM)ken d Wrote:  2021 is the 50th anniversary of what was dubbed the Game of the Century between #1 Nebraska and #2 Oklahoma. It is now notable since Nebraska tried to duck out of this year's game scheduled because of that anniversary.

But this wasn't the only 20th Century game dubbed (in advance) the Game of The Century. It was only one of ten. So which one truly was the one and only Game of the 20th Century?

Vote in this poll to once and for all answer that question.

First, I do not see a poll.

Second, IMO, and I can only speak as someone having watching college football since 1969, the 1971 OU vs UNL game is the true Game of the Century.

(03-13-2021 12:58 PM)quo vadis Wrote:  

(03-13-2021 12:55 PM)ken d Wrote:  2021 is the 50th anniversary of what was dubbed the Game of the Century between #1 Nebraska and #2 Oklahoma. It is now notable since Nebraska tried to duck out of this year's game scheduled because of that anniversary.

But this wasn't the only 20th Century game dubbed (in advance) the Game of The Century. It was only one of ten. So which one truly was the one and only Game of the 20th Century?

Vote in this poll to once and for all answer that question.

First, I do not see a poll.

Second, IMO, and I can only speak as someone having watching college football since 1969, the 1971 OU vs UNL game is the true Game of the Century.

It should be there now.

The 1935 game was played the year before the AP started ranking teams. It was hyped because this was the first ever meeting between two storied programs (neither of whom were retroactively recognized as a national champion. All the others were played during my lifetime, though I wasn't paying attention for the first two.

(03-13-2021 12:58 PM)quo vadis Wrote:  

(03-13-2021 12:55 PM)ken d Wrote:  2021 is the 50th anniversary of what was dubbed the Game of the Century between #1 Nebraska and #2 Oklahoma. It is now notable since Nebraska tried to duck out of this year's game scheduled because of that anniversary.

But this wasn't the only 20th Century game dubbed (in advance) the Game of The Century. It was only one of ten. So which one truly was the one and only Game of the 20th Century?

Vote in this poll to once and for all answer that question.

First, I do not see a poll.

Second, IMO, and I can only speak as someone having watching college football since 1969, the 1971 OU vs UNL game is the true Game of the Century.

The poll usually has to be added after the person posts the thread, so there will be a few minute lag as the person puts the poll together.

ND/MSU and OU/NU are the two that pop to my mind, without any research. When I see those games on tv or YouTube, they have a “the whole world is watching” feel.

Nixon dropping in via Marine 1 to hand the trophy to the Longhorns gives that Texas-Arkansas game a little extra mystique particularly back when national TV games were such a premium.

This is a tough list, but I have to go with Miami vs Penn State. Besides matching the top two teams, both unbeaten, in a season ending game, the hype leading up to the game was fun. Who can forget Miami's Jerome Brown's quote at dinner a few days before the game:

Brown: Did the Japanese go and sit down and have dinner with Pearl Harbor before they bombed 'em?
The other Hurricanes: (in chorus) No!!!
Brown: Fellas, lets go!

And with that, the Hurricanes left the dinner. Watching it on TV, that may have been the hardest hitting football game I have ever watched. Miami was the better team in my opinion, but Penn State played a great game that night. Texas vs Arkansas was a very close second and Michigan State vs Notre Dame might have been the choice, but Ara Parseghian decided to play for a tie at the end. A game that could have made the list was Notre Dame (#1) vs USC (#2) at the end of the 1988 season at the Coliseum in LA. Both were 10-0, but the game was not that close, with Notre Dame winning 27-10. I was at the game among the 93,000 plus fans and it was a great atmosphere, one you don't get too often at a college football game in Southern California.

I chose MichState vs ND

I would rank the top three as:

Mich St vs ND
Ok vs Neb
Tex vs Ark

I wasn't alive for any of the above so my vote and ranking is from what I read and watched along with some ND bias.

My criteria for game of the century status is that the game be played in the regular season which ruled out Miami vs Penn St

(03-13-2021 03:26 PM)SoCalBobcat78 Wrote:  This is a tough list, but I have to go with Miami vs Penn State. Besides matching the top two teams, both unbeaten, in a season ending game, the hype leading up to the game was fun. Who can forget Miami's Jerome Brown's quote at dinner a few days before the game:

I think the one thing that knocks that game from consideration is that it was not viewed as a matchup of equals. Miami was a pretty big favorite, not many expected that Penn State could win. That's not really true of the other contenders on the list.

(03-13-2021 03:26 PM)SoCalBobcat78 Wrote:  A game that could have made the list was Notre Dame (#1) vs USC (#2) at the end of the 1988 season at the Coliseum in LA. Both were 10-0, but the game was not that close, with Notre Dame winning 27-10. I was at the game among the 93,000 plus fans and it was a great atmosphere, one you don't get too often at a college football game in Southern California.

Rodney Peete!

(03-13-2021 03:26 PM)SoCalBobcat78 Wrote:  A game that could have made the list was Notre Dame (#1) vs USC (#2) at the end of the 1988 season at the Coliseum in LA. Both were 10-0, but the game was not that close, with Notre Dame winning 27-10. I was at the game among the 93,000 plus fans and it was a great atmosphere, one you don't get too often at a college football game in Southern California.

I think one of the criteria was that the game be hyped as the Game of the Century before it was played. One of my favorite #1 vs #2 matchups was USC vs Wisconsin in the 1962 Rose Bowl (though I don't recall Wisconsin being unbeaten). USC was a heavy favorite, so not much hype, but the game itself was one of the most exciting I've ever watched.

(03-13-2021 05:25 PM)Arch Stanton Wrote:  I chose MichState vs ND

I would rank the top three as:

Mich St vs ND
Ok vs Neb
Tex vs Ark

I wasn't alive for any of the above so my vote and ranking is from what I read and watched along with some ND bias.

My criteria for game of the century status is that the game be played in the regular season which ruled out Miami vs Penn St

The Michigan State - Notre Dame game was the first GOTC I watched. While there was a lot of hype, the game itself wasn't all that exciting for me. And IMO it will always be tainted as the "Tie One For the Gipper" game.

(03-13-2021 06:09 PM)quo vadis Wrote:  

(03-13-2021 03:26 PM)SoCalBobcat78 Wrote:  This is a tough list, but I have to go with Miami vs Penn State. Besides matching the top two teams, both unbeaten, in a season ending game, the hype leading up to the game was fun. Who can forget Miami's Jerome Brown's quote at dinner a few days before the game:

I think the one thing that knocks that game from consideration is that it was not viewed as a matchup of equals. Miami was a pretty big favorite, not many expected that Penn State could win. That's not really true of the other contenders on the list.

You might be right about that. It is a tough list. A lot of great "Games of the Century" when I was a young kid. I was 11 years old living in Northern California (Bay Area) when Michigan State played Notre Dame. It was a great game with a bad finish. The UCLA vs USC game in 1967 was another great game, but as a 12 year old living in Northern California, I hated every team in Southern California. I would have preferred that they both lost.

As a 14 year old kid living in Texas, the Texas vs Arkansas game was huge and it was a great game. Everybody in our town was talking about that game, before and after. It felt like the whole state was watching the game. As a 16 year old living in Italy, I did not see the Nebraska vs OU game on TV, but I did listen to it on the Armed Forces Network. Not quite the same as watching it live on TV, but it sounded like a great game.

If I had to choose between those four games from 1966 to 1971, I would go with Texas vs Arkansas. The Miami-Penn State game was amazing because Penn State had to play as well as they possibly could and have everything go right to win the game. It was like catching lighting in a bottle.

(03-13-2021 01:51 PM)SlyFox Wrote:  Nixon dropping in via Marine 1 to hand the trophy to the Longhorns gives that Texas-Arkansas game a little extra mystique particularly back when national TV games were such a premium.

Yeah. And the game has a name-"The Big Shootout."
One thing I didn't learn until years afterwards--while Texas won in 1969 15-14 when they made a 2 point conversion (at 14-6), just 5 years earlier the national title was decided when Texas missed a 2 point conversion and lost 14-13 to Arkansas. Arkansas would later finish unbeaten and win a few of the post-season titles awarded. Alabama won the AP and Coaches poll but lost to Texas in the Orange Bowl.

71 Nebraska-OU is a very close 2nd.

(03-13-2021 05:25 PM)Arch Stanton Wrote:  I chose MichState vs ND

I would rank the top three as:

Mich St vs ND
Ok vs Neb
Tex vs Ark

I wasn't alive for any of the above so my vote and ranking is from what I read and watched along with some ND bias.

My criteria for game of the century status is that the game be played in the regular season which ruled out Miami vs Penn St

What helps include the Miami-Penn State game, for me, is that neither team got there automatically (like in a CCG, playoff game, or contract bowl). The bidding war with the Citrus also built hype.

(03-13-2021 07:33 PM)SoCalBobcat78 Wrote:  The Miami-Penn State game was amazing because Penn State had to play as well as they possibly could and have everything go right to win the game. It was like catching lighting in a bottle.

That game was a demonstration of what an amazing coach peak Paterno was. Because Miami was clearly the better team and had an all-time great coach themselves and yet JP figured out a way to win it.

And his blueprint for beating a more-talented, high-flying offense has been followed by others ever since, e.g., the Patriots upset of the Rams in the 2001 Super Bowl, and the Giants upset of the Patriots in the 2007 Super Bowl, among many others.

(03-14-2021 01:36 AM)Crayton Wrote:  

(03-13-2021 05:25 PM)Arch Stanton Wrote:  I chose MichState vs ND

I would rank the top three as:

Mich St vs ND
Ok vs Neb
Tex vs Ark

I wasn't alive for any of the above so my vote and ranking is from what I read and watched along with some ND bias.

My criteria for game of the century status is that the game be played in the regular season which ruled out Miami vs Penn St

What helps include the Miami-Penn State game, for me, is that neither team got there automatically (like in a CCG, playoff game, or contract bowl). The bidding war with the Citrus also built hype.

I didn't recall the bidding war between the Citrus and Fiesta. The Fiesta was smart to outbid the Citrus, I think the Miami vs Penn State put the Fiesta on the same level as the Orange, Cotton and Sugar after that game and with the demise of the SWC took the Cottons place.

(03-13-2021 06:09 PM)quo vadis Wrote:  

(03-13-2021 03:26 PM)SoCalBobcat78 Wrote:  This is a tough list, but I have to go with Miami vs Penn State. Besides matching the top two teams, both unbeaten, in a season ending game, the hype leading up to the game was fun. Who can forget Miami's Jerome Brown's quote at dinner a few days before the game:

I think the one thing that knocks that game from consideration is that it was not viewed as a matchup of equals. Miami was a pretty big favorite, not many expected that Penn State could win. That's not really true of the other contenders on the list.

This is a good point the game was billed more as good vs evil and not two great football teams.

(03-14-2021 07:13 AM)quo vadis Wrote:  

(03-13-2021 07:33 PM)SoCalBobcat78 Wrote:  The Miami-Penn State game was amazing because Penn State had to play as well as they possibly could and have everything go right to win the game. It was like catching lighting in a bottle.

That game was a demonstration of what an amazing coach peak Paterno was. Because Miami was clearly the better team and had an all-time great coach themselves and yet JP figured out a way to win it.

And his blueprint for beating a more-talented, high-flying offense has been followed by others ever since, e.g., the Patriots upset of the Rams in the 2001 Super Bowl, and the Giants upset of the Patriots in the 2007 Super Bowl, among many others.

I think the 1991 Super Bowl Giants vs Bills had the most similar game plan keep everything in front of you and punish the receivers for making a catch

(03-14-2021 10:52 AM)Arch Stanton Wrote:  

(03-14-2021 07:13 AM)quo vadis Wrote:  

(03-13-2021 07:33 PM)SoCalBobcat78 Wrote:  The Miami-Penn State game was amazing because Penn State had to play as well as they possibly could and have everything go right to win the game. It was like catching lighting in a bottle.

That game was a demonstration of what an amazing coach peak Paterno was. Because Miami was clearly the better team and had an all-time great coach themselves and yet JP figured out a way to win it.

And his blueprint for beating a more-talented, high-flying offense has been followed by others ever since, e.g., the Patriots upset of the Rams in the 2001 Super Bowl, and the Giants upset of the Patriots in the 2007 Super Bowl, among many others.

I think the 1991 Super Bowl Giants vs Bills had the most similar game plan keep everything in front of you and punish the receivers for making a catch

Yep, that one too. Paterno set the blueprint.