1. Young leads Texas over USC (Jan. 4, 2006)
Vince Young threw for 267 yards and ran for another 200 yards and three touchdowns, including an 8-yard game winner with 19 seconds left. His virtuoso performance in the Rose Bowl capped off a dominant season for Texas football.
2. Super Mario shoots Kansas past Memphis (April 7, 2008)
In the 2008 national title game, Mario Chalmers’ Kansas Jayhawks squared up against Derrick Rose and Memphis in San Antonio. Kansas erased a nine-point deficit in the last two minutes of regulation as Chalmers knocked down a three-pointer to force overtime. The Jayhawks triumphed, 75-68, to win their first national title in 20 years.
3. Hunter Lawrence saves Texas’ season (2009)
In what looked like a game Nebraska had wrapped up with their stellar defense, Texas kicker Hunter Lawrence hit a dramatic, game-winning 46-yard field goal to end regulation. Texas nearly squandered the opportunity to even attempt the field goal as Colt McCoy barely threw the ball away to stop the clock.
4. Crabtree catches game-winning, season-changing touchdown (Nov. 1, 2008)
The No. 1 Texas Longhorns had eight seconds to protect a 33-32 lead over the Texas Tech Red Raiders in 2008. But in what was his most memorable collegiate play, Michael Crabtree caught an 18-yard pass near the sideline and ran past Earl Thomas and Curtis Brown to score, leaving the Longhorns heartbroken.
5. It’s a bird, it’s a plane, it’s Roy Williams (Oct. 6, 2001)
In what has been called the “Superman Blitz,” Oklahoma’s Roy Williams literally leaped over Texas’ offensive line like the superhero, forcing Texas quarterback Chris Simms to throw a game losing pick-six. The 14-3 loss marked the beginning of a five-year Red River Rivalry losing streak for Texas.
6. Texas A&M wins first basketball title (April 5, 2011)
Danielle Adams scored 22 of her 30 points in a dominating second half over Notre Dame to help the Aggies bring a title to the former all-male military academy. It was the Aggies’ first title.
7. Kansas beats Kevin Durant, Longhorns to win Big 12 title (March 11, 2007)
Of the many epic match-ups between the Texas Longhorn and Kansas Jayhawk basketball teams, this was likely the most memorable. Led by Mario Chalmers and Julian Wright, the Jayhawks stormed back from a huge halftime deficit to beat Kevin Durant’s Longhorns for the Big 12 title.
8. Texas A&M upsets Kansas State 36-33 in double OT in Big 12 title game (Dec. 5, 1998)
Common knowledge in 1998 said that the No. 10 Aggies were good, but the No. 1 Kansas State Wildcats were better. That wasn’t the case in the instant classic Big 12 title game that year. Down 27-12 in the fourth-quarter, Aggie running back Sirr Parker scored 14 points on a pair of touchdown catches and a two-point conversion, rallying the Aggies to a 24-point surge in the final 9 minutes and 20 seconds of regulation and the extra periods.
9. Durant drops 30 over Texas A&M in final home game (Feb. 28, 2007)
The 2007 Big 12 basketball season was full of thrillers, and the end of the season match-up between Texas and Texas A&M was no exception. The conference’s two best players, Kevin Durant and Acie Law, duked it out for four back-and-forth quarters and two overtimes before the Longhorn eeked out a 98-96 victory. It was also Kevin Durant’s last home game.
10. Cael Sanderson pins down wrestling record (1999-2002)
Cael Sanderson from Iowa State went undefeated all four years of college wrestling (159-0), making him the only wrestler in NCAA Division I history to go undefeated with more than 100 wins. He won four consecutive NCAA titles from 1999 to 2002.
11. Wheeless’ walk-off lifts Texas over Baylor in Omaha (June 23, 2005)
Tied 3-3 in the ninth, Texas head baseball coach Augie Garrido sent Chance Wheeless in the game to pinch-hit against Baylor with the game on the line in the College World Series. Despite sporting a hurt shoulder, Wheeless hit a home run to give Texas the 4-3 win in dramatic fashion. Texas would go on to beat Florida in the CWS Finals for the school's sixth national title.
12. Mike Gundy is the Man (Sept. 22, 2007)
On-field performances in the Big 12 weren’t the only lasting memories. In 2007, in his address to the media after a victory against Texas Tech, Oklahoma State football coach Mike Gundy launched a three-minute tirade against Jenni Carlson of the Oklahoman. He yelled at the reporter for allegedly belittling Cowboy quarterback Bobby Reid, and told her to get mad at him instead because he’s “a man.”
Printed on 06/30/2011 as: Best Big 12 moments
