Worst Losses in Sports History
We can learn from defeat, but not all losses are created equal. Sometimes, the result is an epic fail because of how it happened. Other times, the margin of defeat makes losing — already an awful feeling — even more terrible.
Opponents, especially those who have no right to win and still do, also can produce humiliating losses. And every once it a while, a loss gets seared in memory because one team snatches defeat from the jaws of victory after blowing a huge lead.
These are the 51 worst losses in sports history, with each loss categorized as a blowout, blown lead, blunder or big upset.
51. Saudi Arabia 2, Argentina 1
Sport: Soccer
Venue: Lusail Stadium
Location: Lusail, Qatar
Date: Nov. 22, 2022
Type of loss: Big upset
Argentina was one of the pre-tournament favorites to win the 2022 World Cup in Qatar. Saudi Arabia, a +2200 underdog, didn't get the memo and beat Argentina 2-1 in their opening game in one of the greatest upsets in World Cup history.
Saudi Arabia executed a great game plan from manager Herve Renard, and goals by Saleh Al-Shehri and Salem Al-Dawsari in the second half sealed the deal. Al-Dawari's decisive strike in the 53rd minute was one of the most beautiful shots you will ever see.
The loss left Lionel Messi with another World Cup disappointment. Asked how his team felt after the game, Messi said: "The truth? Dead. It's a very hard blow because we did not expect to start in this way. ... There are no excuses."
But the loss inspired Messi and the whole Argentina team. They didn't lose another game in the tournament, going on to win the world's biggest soccer prize. The World Cup championship was Messi's first and Argentina's third World Cup title.
50. England 903, Australia 324
Sport: Cricket
Venue: The Oval
Location: London, England
Date: Aug. 20, 22-24, 1938
Type of loss: Blowout
England’s Len Hutton set a world record with the highest individual score of 364, two Australian players got hurt, and Australia suffered the worst defeat in Test cricket history.
49. North Carolina State 54, Houston 52
Sport: Basketball
Venue: The Pit
Location: Albuquerque, N.M.
Date: April 4, 1983
Type of loss: Big upset
The No. 1-seeded Houston Cougars boasted Clyde Drexler and Hakeem Olajuwon and were known as Phi Slama Jama for their high-flying style.
Their 26-game winning streak ended when Jim Valvano’s North Carolina State, a six seed, upset Houston in the NCAA championship on Lorenzo Charles’ game-winning dunk.
48. Holly Holm Defeats Ronda Rousey
Sport: Mixed martial arts
Venue: Etihad Stadium
Location: Melbourne, Australia
Date: Nov. 14, 2015
Type of loss: Big upset
Before this UFC fight Ronda Rousey was being hyped as the greatest fighter of all time by some. In fact, she’d never even lost a round in her career.
But Holm dominated Rousey throughout the fight.
Rousey only fought once more in UFC, also a loss, and then retired and joined the WWE.
47. Steffi Graf Wins 6-0, 6-0 Over Natasha Zvereva
Sport: Tennis
Venue: Stade Roland Garros
Location: Paris, France
Date: June 4, 1988
Type of loss: Blowout
Poor Natasha Zvereva. She ran directly into the buzzsaw that was Steffi Graf in 1988.
Graf won all four Grand Slam singles titles that year, but none were as easy as her 32-minute victory in the French Open final at Roland Garros.
It’s the shortest Grand Slam final match ever.
46. Jordan Spieth Blows Five-Shot Lead in 2015 Masters
Sport: Golf
Venue: Augusta National Golf Club
Location: Augusta, Ga.
Date: April 10, 2016
Type of loss: Blown lead
It looked like Jordan Spieth was going to continue his dominating run. He already had won the Masters and U.S. Open in 2015, but Spieth collapsed at the 2016 Masters.
He led by five strokes after the front nine of the final round, but carded two straight bogeys and then a devastating quadruple-bogey that knocked him out of the lead for good.
45. Man o' War Loses to Upset
Sport: Horse racking
Venue: Saratoga Race Course
Location: Saratoga Springs, N.Y.
Date: Aug. 12, 1919
Type of loss: Big upset
Many horse racing experts consider Man o' War to be the greatest racehorse of all time.
The only blemish on his record came against an aptly named horse called Upset.
The loss was the only time Man o' War finished out of first place in 21 lifetime starts.
44. Gaston Gaudio Wins 0–6, 3–6, 6–4, 6–4, 8–6 Over Guillermo Coria
Sport: Tennis
Venue: Roland Garros
Location: Paris, France
Date: June 6, 2004
Type of loss: Blown lead
Guillermo Coria cruised through the first two sets, faltered in the next two, and still had a chance to put 44th-ranked Gaston Gaudio away in the 2004 French Open final.
Coria, regarded as the best clay court player in the world at the time, had two match points and lost both of them, becoming the first player to blow two match points in a Grand Slam final and lose the match.
43. Australia 142, Namibia 0
Sport: Rugby
Venue: Adelaide Oval
Location: Adelaide, Australia
Date: Oct. 23, 2003
Type of loss: Blowout
Australia is known as a rugby power, but it took it to a whole new level in the 2003 Rugby World Cup against a hapless Namibia squad.
The 142-0 win set the record for the biggest blowout in World Cup history, and narrowly missed out on the record high margin of victory, 145, set by New Zealand against Japan.
To Japan's credit, at least its team scored 17 in defeat.
42. UCF 52, Baylor 42
Sport: Football
Venue: University of Phoenix Stadium
Location: Glendale, Ariz.
Date: Jan. 1, 2014
Type of loss: Big upset
Baylor had the best regular season in school history and felt like it should have made the College Football Playoff. Instead, the Bears played the UCF Golden Knights in the Fiesta Bowl.
Baylor was favored by 16.5 points, but ended up losing by 10 to a Golden Knights team that featured Blake Bortles at quarterback.
41. Aledo High School 91, Western Hills High School
Sport: Football
Venue: Aledo/Bearcat Stadium
Location: Aledo, Texas
Date: Oct. 22, 2013
Type of loss: Blowout
You know a game is a big blowout when you get accused of bullying.
Aledo's high school football team, ranked No. 1 in the state of Texas at the time, did not stop scoring against Western Hills.
One Western Hills parent had enough and filed an official complaint of bullying on the school’s website, but the complaint was dismissed.
40. Indiana Pacers 107, New York Knicks 105
Sport: Basketball
Venue: Madison Square Garden
Location: New York, New York
Date: May 7, 1995
Type of loss: Blown lead
The Knicks-Pacers rivalry in the 1990s was one of the fiercest in NBA history.
This game produced a legendary moment when Reggie Miller scored eight points in 18.7 seconds to stun the Knicks in Game 1 of the Eastern Conference semifinals.
39. AS Adema 149, SO l’Emyrne 0
Sport: Soccer
Venue: Mahamasina Municipal Stadium
Location: Antananarivo, Madagascar
Date: Oct. 31, 2002
Type of loss: Blowout
SOE was upset about some refereeing decisions in previous games, so to protest, the team scored 149 goals against themselves.
If they wanted to make a statement that would be remembered, they succeeded. Their coach was suspended for three years as punishment.
38. Rulon Gardner Defeats Aleksandr Karelin
Sport: Wrestling
Venue: Sydney Convention and Exhibition Center
Location: Sydney, Australia
Date: Sept. 25, 2000
Type of loss: Big upset
Aleksandr Karelin is known as the greatest Greco-Roman wrestler of all time.
Before the gold-medal match at the 2000 Olympics, Karelin hadn’t lost in 13 years or dropped a point in six, but he was defeated by an unknown kid from Wyoming named Rulon Gardner.
Gardner became a worldwide celebrity with the upset, one of the biggest in Olympic history. Karelin finished his career with 887 wins and two losses.
37. New York Giants 20, Buffalo Bills 19
Sport: Football
Venue: Tampa Stadium
Location: Tampa, Fla.
Date: Jan. 27, 1991
Type of loss: Blunder
Missing a 47-yard field goal isn’t the most unforgivable blunder in the world, but Scott Norwood’s famous "Wide Right" missed field goal at the end of Super Bowl 25 is frozen in Bills fans’ memories.
The miss began a string of four consecutive Super Bowl losses for the Bills, something the franchise has still never recovered from.
36. Oklahoma Sooners, 77, Texas A&M 0
Sport: Football
Venue: Gaylord Family Memorial Stadium
Location: Norman, Okla.
Date: Nov. 8, 2003
Type of loss: Blowout
On paper, this game wasn’t a huge mismatch. In fact, Texas A&M beat Oklahoma the season before.
But this game was over at kickoff. It was 49-0 at halftime and 77-0 after three quarters.
Bob Stoops eventually ordered his team not to score any more, a task that was more difficult to execute than one would think.
35. Nate Diaz Submits Conor McGregor
Sport: Mixed martial arts
Venue: MGM Grand Garden Arena
Location: Las Vegas, Nev.
Date: March 5, 2016
Type of loss: Big upset
Conor McGregor had become the most famous name in the MMA world with his brash attitude and penchant for self-promotion. And he was backing it up in the Octagon, too.
He appeared to have an easy route to another title when he faced Nate Diaz, who was only given 11 days to prepare for the UFC fight as an injury replacement.
But Diaz submitted McGregor in the second round, putting a serious dent in McGregor’s aura of invincibility.
34. Texas A&M 92, Northern Iowa 88
Sport: Basketball
Venue: Chesapeake Arena
Location: Oklahoma City, Okla.
Date: March 21, 2016
Type of loss: Blown lead
The NCAA tournament is called March Madness for a reason, but this second-round contest really hurt Northern Iowa.
By some calculations Northern Iowa had a 100-percent chance of winning this game. They were up by 12 points with 44 seconds to go, up by 10 with 30 seconds left, and tied at the end of regulation.
The Aggies won in double overtime, completing the biggest final-minute comeback in NCAA Division I history.
33. New York Jets 16, Baltimore Colts 7
Sport: Football
Venue: Orange Bowl
Location: Miami, Fla.
Date: Jan. 12, 1969
Type of loss: Big upset
The New York Jets' victory in Super Bowl III is considered one of the greatest upsets in sports history.
By defeating the Baltimore Colts, who were favored by 18 points, the Jets proved that the AFL belonged with the NFL.
Jets quarterback Joe Namath famously guaranteed the victory and then delivered it with an MVP-worthy performance.
32. USA 4, Soviet Union 3
Sport: Hockey
Venue: Olympic Center
Location: Lake Placid, N.Y.
Date: Feb. 22, 1980
Type of loss: Big upset
The "Miracle on Ice" was a seminal moment in U.S. sports history.
A team of amateur Americans defeated the mighty Soviet Union in the Olympic hockey semifinals. The Soviet Union was a team of professionals that were thought to be unbeatable.
The win was a great American moment, and a devastating result for the Soviets.
31. New York Giants 17, New England Patriots 14
Sport: Football
Venue: University of Phoenix Stadium
Location: Glendale, Ariz.
Date: Feb. 3, 2008
Type of loss: Big upset
The Patriots went undefeated in the NFL's 2007 regular season, becoming only the second team to ever accomplish that feat.
Meanwhile, the Giants barely squeaked into the playoffs.
The Patriots were favored by 12 points in Super Bowl 42, but Eli Manning, aided by a miracle catch from David Tyree, and the Giants shocked the world.
30. Indianapolis Colts 45, Kansas City Chiefs 44
Sport: Football
Venue: Lucas Oil Stadium
Location: Indianapolis, Ind.
Date: Jan. 4, 2014
Type of loss: Blown lead
The Chiefs have had their fair share of playoff disappointment, but this one takes the cake when it comes to devastating moments.
Kansas City led 38-10 in the third quarter, but everything went wrong after that.
The defense collapsed, the offense failed to manage the clock, and the Chiefs extended their playoff losing streak to eight games.
29. Villanova 66, Georgetown 64
Sport: Basketball
Venue: Rupp Arena
Location: Lexington, Ky.
Date: April 1, 1985
Type of loss: Big upset
Some call it "The Perfect Game."
In the 1985 NCAA men's basketball final, the No. 8-seeded Villanova Wildcats completed one of the greatest tournament runs in history by defeating the top-ranked Georgetown Hoyas.
Villanova still is the lowest seed to ever win the NCAA tournament.
28. Chicago Bears 73, Washington Redskins 0
Sport: Football
Venue: Griffith Stadium
Location: Washington, D.C.
Date: Dec. 8, 1940
Type of loss: Blowout
Not only is this loss the biggest defeat in an NFL championship game, but it's also the biggest defeat in any game in NFL history.
Entering the game, the Bears were slight favorites, but they scored 11 touchdowns to destroy the Redskins, who had beaten them 7-3 only three weeks before.
27. UMBC 74, Virginia 54
Sport: Basketball
Venue: Spectrum Center
Location: Charlotte, N.C.
Date: March 16, 2018
Type of loss: Big upset
The NCAA tournament is known for huge upsets, but never in the history of the tournament had a 16 seed beaten a 1 seed. Until 2018.
And University of Maryland, Baltimore County didn't just beat No. 1 overall seed Virginia. The Retrievers crushed them by 20 points.
It was one of the most shocking results ever.
26. Buster Douglas Knocks Out Mike Tyson
Sport: Boxing
Venue: Tokyo Dome
Location: Tokyo, Japan
Date: Feb. 11, 1990
Type of loss: Big upset
Mike Tyson was the baddest man on the planet, vanquishing foes with his devastating right hand. No one gave Buster Douglas any chance in this heavyweight title bout.
But Douglas, whose mother had passed away 23 days prior, dominated Tyson the whole fight before knocking him out in the 10th round.
It was the first time Tyson even had been knocked down in his career.
25. Slovakia 82, Bulgaria 0
Sport: Hockey
Venue: Liepaja Arena
Location: Liepaja, Latvia
Date: Sept. 10, 2008
Type of loss: Blowout
The Slovakian women’s hockey team had no mercy on the poor Bulgarians in this pre-qualifying tournament for the 2010 Vancouver Winter Olympics. The Bulgarians also lost 30-1 and 41-0 in the same tournament.
24. North Korea 1, Italy 0
Sport: Soccer
Venue: Ayresome Park
Location: Middlesborough, England
Date: July 19, 1966
Type of loss: Big upset
The proud Italians were eliminated from the 1966 World Cup by North Korea, which already had shocked the world by qualifying for the tournament.
English fans — who appreciated the North Korean team's style of play, and the fact that they beat one of their European rivals — embraced and loved this group of overachieving underdogs.
23. Morningside High 102, South Torrance 24
Sport: Basketball
Venue: Morningside Gym
Location: Inglewood, Calif.
Date: Feb. 7, 1990
Type of loss: Blowout
This game is most famous for future WNBA Hall of Famer Lisa Leslie, a 6-foot-5 center, scoring 101 points in one half for the Morningside High School girls basketball team.
South Torrance refused to play in the second half, robbing Leslie of her chance to break Cheryl Miller’s national record (at the time) of 105 points in a game.
22. Ned Jarrett Wins by 14 Laps Over Second Place
Sport: Auto racing
Venue: Darlington Raceway
Location: Darlington, S.C.
Date: Sept. 6, 1965
Type of loss: Blowout
Ned Jarrett set a NASCAR record that still stands to this day, winning the race by 14 laps over the second-place finisher and 19 laps over the third- and fourth-place finishers. He won by almost 20 miles.
21. Minnesota Vikings 29, New Orleans Saints 24
Sport: Football
Venue: U.S. Bank Stadium
Location: Minneapolis, Minn.
Date: Jan. 14, 2018
Type of loss: Blunder
The home team was headed for the offseason. With 10 seconds left and the ball on their own 30-yard line, the Vikings were down 24-23, desperately trying to get downfield to attempt a game-winning field goal.
Instead, on a deep pass to wide receiver Stefon Diggs, Saints safety Marcus Williams overran Diggs and allowed him to sprint down the sidelines into the end zone to win the game. The "Minneapolis Miracle" was born.
20. San Francisco 49ers 39, New York Giants 38
Sport: Football
Venue: Candlestick Park
Location: San Francisco, Calif.
Date: Jan. 5, 2003
Type of loss: Blunder/blown lead
This game had a bit of everything. The Giants blew a 38-14 second-half lead. That was bad enough, but the way they lost at the end lives long in the memory of New York fans.
With three minutes left, newly signed 41-year-old deep snapper Trey Junkin botched a snap, resulting in a missed field goal. Then, with six seconds left, Junkin missed with another snap, resulting in a wild pass play that ended in an incompletion. The Giants also were called for an illegal man downfield.
The NFL later admitted the 49ers should have been called for pass interference, which would have created offsetting penalties and a replay of the down.
19. Cleveland Cavaliers 148, Miami Heat 80
Sport: Basketball
Venue: Richfield Coliseum
Location: Cleveland, Ohio
Date: Dec. 17, 1991
Type of loss: Blowout
The biggest blowout in NBA history featured the Heat only scoring 27 points in the second half. Cleveland had eight players in double figures, while Miami had two.
18. Manchester City 6, Manchester United 1
Sport: Soccer
Venue: Old Trafford
Location: Manchester, England
Date: Oct. 23, 2011
Type of loss: Blowout
The result was not the biggest margin of victory ever, but it may have been the most important. The bitter rivals finished the season tied for the Premier League title on points. Manchester City was crowned champion based on goal differential.
17. USSR 51, USA 50
Sport: Basketball
Venue: Rudi-Sedlmayer-Halle
Location: Munich, Germany
Date: Sept. 9, 1972
Type of loss: Big upset
The United States men’s basketball team never had lost an Olympic game before this one — the gold-medal game of the 1972 Munich Summer Olympics — which they lost to their country’s most bitter rival.
The game was shrouded in numerous controversies that still are debated, while the U.S. team continues to protest the result and refuses to accept its silver medals to this day.
16. Seahawks 21, Cowboys 20
Sport: Football
Venue: Qwest Field
Location: Seattle, Wash.
Date: Jan. 6, 2007
Type of loss: Blunder
The Cowboys were one 19-yard field goal away from beating the Seahawks and advancing in the playoffs.
But Tony Romo, who had taken over the Cowboys’ starting quarterback job during the season, remained the holder for field goals and dropped the snap. He picked it up, tried running for the first down and was tackled.
It became an iconic play —albeit in a bad way — in Romo’s career.
15. Houston Rockets 120, Orlando Magic 118
Sport: Basketball
Venue: Orlando Arena
Location: Orlando, Fla.
Date: June 7, 1995
Type of loss: Blunder
Nick Anderson is one of the best players in Magic history, but he always will be remembered for missing four straight free throws at the end of Game 1 in the 1995 NBA Finals against the Houston Rockets.
If he had hit even one of those free throws, the Magic would have been up by four, and Kenny Smith’s 3-pointer with 1.6 seconds left would not have sent the game to overtime.
The Magic ended up getting swept in the series.
14. Germany 7, Brazil 1
Sport: Sport
Venue: Estadio Mineirão
Location: Belo Horizonte, Brazil
Date: July 8, 2014
Type of loss: Blowout
Brazil was supposed to win the World Cup when it hosted the event in 2014. The entire country expected and anticipated a celebration, and when the team advanced to the semifinals the dream seemed so close.
Then, Germany thrashed Brazil 7-1, sending the country into a depression known as the "Agony of Mineirão."
13. Seattle Seahawks 43, Denver Broncos 8
Sport: Football
Venue: MetLife Stadium
Location: East Rutherford, NJ
Date: Feb. 2, 2014
Type of loss: Blowout
The Broncos were favored to win Super Bowl XLVIII, but everything that could go wrong did. The first snap sailed over Peyton Manning’s head and was recovered by the Broncos in the end zone for a safety.
The rest of the night didn’t get any better for the Broncos as Seattle won its first Lombardi trophy.
12. San Francisco 49ers 55, Denver Broncos 10
Sport: Football
Venue: Superdome
Location: New Orleans, La.
Date: Jan. 28, 1990
Type of loss: Blowout
Super Bowl XXIV was a mismatch from the start. The heavily favored 49ers sported a roster of five future Hall of Famers, and they played like it.
Joe Montana threw for five touchdowns en route to his third Super Bowl MVP.
11. New England Patriots 34, Atlanta Falcons 28
Sport: Football
Venue: NRG Stadium
Location: Houston, Texas
Date: Feb. 5, 2017
Type of loss: Blown lead
The Falcons were up 28-3 in Super Bowl LI and somehow managed to lose. It’s become such a common joke that it’s easy to forget how bad the loss was for the Falcons.
The Patriots scored 25 unanswered points and then scored on their first possession in overtime to win the game.
10. Detroit Red Wings 15, New York Rangers 0
Sport: Hockey
Venue: Detroit Olympia Stadium
Location: Detroit, Mich.
Date: Jan. 23, 1944
Type of loss: Blowout
When a goalie makes 43 saves that usually marks an incredible night for the netminder, but not in the case of Rangers goalie Ken "Tubby" McAuley. He let in 15 goals this night en route to the worst loss in NHL history.
The 15 straight goals scored by the Red Wings also are a record.
9. Texas Rangers 30, Baltimore Orioles 3
Sport: Baseball
Venue: Camden Yards
Location: Baltimore Orioles
Date: Aug. 22, 2007
Type of loss: Blowout
The worst loss in the baseball history was made even worse because it was the first game of a doubleheader. The Rangers went on to win the second game 9-7.
And oddly enough, Rangers reliever Wes Littleton recorded a save in the opening rout after pitching the final three innings to qualify for a save.
8. Greg Norman Loses 1996 Masters by Five Strokes
Venue: Augusta National Golf Club
Location: Augusta, Ga.
Date: April 14, 1996
Type of loss: Blown lead
Greg Norman, or "The Shark" as he was known, got eaten up this time.
Norman took a six-stroke lead into the final day at Augusta and managed to lose by five strokes. He carded a final-day 78 to lose to Nick Faldo, who shot a 67.
7. New England Patriots 28, Seattle Seahawks 24
Sport: Football
Venue: University of Phoenix Stadium
Location: Glendale, Ariz.
Date: Feb. 1, 2015
Type of loss: Blunder
Seattle could have won two straight Super Bowls.
But for some inexplicable reason in Super Bowl XLIX, the Seahawks decided to throw a pass from the 1-yard line instead of handing the ball off to running back Marshawn Lynch, one of the premiere short-yardage backs in the NFL.
Malcolm Butler intercepted Russell Wilson’s short pass with less than a minute to play, securing victory for the New England Patriots.
6. Florida Marlins 8, Chicago Cubs 3
Sport: Baseball
Venue: Wrigley Field
Location: Chicago, Ill.
Date: Oct. 14, 2003
Type of loss:Blunder
The Chicago Cubs were five outs away from going to their first World Series since 1945 when everything fell apart.
It started with the famous Steve Bartman incident, where a fan interfered with a foul ball that Cubs outfielder Moises Alou appeared in position to catch.
Things spiraled from there. Cubs shortstop Alex Gonzalez dropped an easy double-play groundball, and the Marlins scored eight runs in the inning to win the game.
They went on to win Game 7 of the NLCS and took the 2003 World Series.
5. North Carolina Tar heels 77, Michigan Wolverines 71
Sport: Basketball
Venue: Louisiana Superdome
Location: New Orleans, La.
Date: April 5, 1993
Type of loss:Blunder
The Fab Five for Michigan changed college basketball forever with their talent and swag, but they failed to win a national title despite making the championship game two years in a row.
The second of those games — this 1993 NCAA championship game — involved the infamous Chris Webber timeout when his team was out of their allotted amount. The result was a technical foul, icing the game for the Tar Heels.
4. Jean Van de Velde Blows British Open on Final Hole
Sports: Golf
Venue: Carnoustie Golf Links
Location: Angus, Scotland
Date: July 18, 1999
Type of loss: Blunder/blown lead
All Jean Van de Velde had to do to become the first Frenchman since 1907 to win a major golf tournament was double bogey the 18th hole at Carnoustie. What he did instead has gone down in golf history as the most embarrassing loss ever.
The comedy of errors started with an errant drive. Then, his second shot hit the railings of the grandstands and a stone wall and rolled 50 yards backward. His third shot flew into a shallow water hazard.
That’s when things got absurd as Van de Velde decided to hit the shot out of the hazard, removing his socks and shoes and wading into the water before deciding to take the drop.
His next shot went into the bunker, and when he finally got the ball into the hole, it was a triple bogey, sending him to a three-way playoff that he lost.
He never won a major tournament.
3. St. Louis Cardinals 10, Texas Rangers 9
Sport: Baseball
Venue: Busch Stadium
Location: St. Louis, Mo.
Date: Oct. 27, 2011
Type of loss: Blown lead
The Texas Rangers made history on this night, just not the kind of history anyone wants to be making. They became the first team in history to be one strike away from winning the World Series twice in the same game and lose.
St. Louis Cardinals third baseman David Freese delivered the crushing blow both times, hitting a game-tying triple in the bottom of the ninth inning and the walk-off home run in the bottom of the 11th.
The Cardinals went on to win the World Series in Game 7, and the Rangers still are waiting for their first World Series title.
2. New York Mets 6, Boston Red Sox 5
Sport: Baseball
Venue: Shea Stadium
Location: Queens, N.Y.
Date: October 25, 1986
Type of loss: Blunder
The Red Sox were so close to their first World Series since 1918 they could taste it. In fact, the champagne already was waiting for them in the locker room.
But a wild pitch in the 10th inning allowed the tying run to score. Then, a routine ground ball to first baseman Bill Buckner — a ball that should have been the final out of the inning and sent the game to the 11th — went right between Buckner’s legs.
The winning run scored for the Mets. They went on to win the World Series in seven. And Red Sox misery continued until 2004.
1. Georgia Tech 222, Cumberland 0
Sport: Football
Venue: Grant Field
Location: Atlanta, Ga.
Date: Oct. 7, 1916
Type of loss: Blowout
The very definition of a blowout. Cumberland College experienced a beatdown of epic proportions.
Cumberland actually had disbanded its football program before the 1916 season, but Georgia Tech coach John Heisman demanded they honor the contract and play the game, so Cumberland struck up a makeshift team and played the game.
Heisman, who also coached baseball, reportedly was angry about Cumberland’s baseball team beating Georgia Tech 22-0 the season before. How bad was the revenge? Every Georgia Tech first down was a touchdown, while Cumberland committed 15 turnovers and did not record one first down.