i’d have to say the miami game though. i was there, it was beautiful, and i’ve never been madder than when the thugs from the U jumped on the bird.

Tough call, but I’m going with Miami in the upset. I think I have a bias towards home games that I attended because the experience is so much better, and I have a bias in favor of football games because they were so long in coming (and have disappeared so quickly).

But the real kicker for the Miami game for me was the overall experience. I remember walking into the stadium and having it filled ½ hour before kickoff and thinking, "So this is what big time college football feels like." And then when Miami jumped on the bird, well, I haven’t had more fun getting mad in my entire life, and likely never will. Seeing the scoreboard flash with a replay of Miami stomping on the bird in the 4th quarter with the lopsided score nearly equaled seeing the fans rush the field against FSU and WVU, even though the game wasn’t as close and the opponent wasn’t as good.

On the other hand, the Marquette game was really one of the closest, most exciting games we played this decade. If I remember correctly, I don’t think either team ever led by more than 5 points the whole game. That’s just something that almost never happens, and considering that it was a match up of ranked teams and Marquette had the home winning streak and chanted "NIT" the year before, it was pretty, pretty special too. But we are a little spoiled with the frequency with which we get to play in games like that on the hardwood, and our gridiron days are temporarily suspended.

Wasn’t the only loss before the St. Louis game at the hands of Purdue? I hate to concede a loss to Kentucky if we actually won.

http://sports.espn.go.com/ncb/teams/schedule?teamId=97&year=2003

I’d have to agree that the Miami game was by far more important for our program and put us on the map (until Krags of course). But the gametime experience made me pick Reece. Having to watch the Miami game on a 35inch TV surrounded by UK fans v. the extraordinary/embarrassing celebration that occured in Dan’s basement that day is something that I will never forget…. I also F’in hate damn Diener.

I <3 Reece

He reflects everything i hate about UK fans. Plus no one makes him dribble.

That was supposed to be a response to the villans post, but the reply link isn’t working apparently. My browser has gone rogue.

Besides the fact that the Miami win was great, of course.

1.) The 02-03 team self-destructed after that loss at St. Louis, where Luke Whitehead turned the ball over 5 times in the last minute, and this was a rare exception that February. Yes, we did rebound and win the CUSA tourney in Freedom Hall, but one bad loss was all this team needed to go into a tailspin. It may be impossible to separate that disappointing ending from this shot.

2.) Going along with that, the fact that we had two similar shots in forthcoming years in the same building didn’t help, either. In terms of the actual game, Jerry’s in 07 has to take the cake, as it came at the buzzer and we were trailing at the time, in need of a signature road win. As for 05, you may call me crazy, but I think Cisco’s shot at Marquette that year is the single biggest shot of the decade. We had tons of talent, but we were still in CUSA and had a lot of doubters and uneven competition. I remain convinced that if we lose that game, we potentially fall into a tailspin similar to 03, and do not go to the Final Four. There were several tough road games in that conference slate that were very close—UAB, Cincinnati, Memphis, Marquette—and we won every single time when it was absolutely crucial. Given that that Marquette game was only two games after we got thrashed at Memphis, losing 2 out of 3 could’ve been a disaster, but it wasn’t. I know I’ve managed to talk about a game that isn’t even in the matchup above, but I think Garcia’s shot and Jerry’s shot are part of the reason that Reece’s is somewhat forgotten.

because there may not be another Reece Gaines game on the list. And it was because of the Gaines shot that I thought we would beat Marquette in the Cisco game. The Miami game was better though.

Never would I have compared these two.

Con for Football game: at year’s end one team (opponent) doesn’t live up to preseason hype.
Con for Basketball game: at year’s end one team (our team) doesn’t live up to early season hype.
Pro for Basketball game: Amazing finish. Also in the middle of an ice storm locally so watching the game made up for all of that.
Pro for Football game: Several amazing moments (Mike’s summary of events)
Pro for Football game: It was at home. I was fortunate to be there. Fans were on the field. Because it was at home and I have fond memories of nearly the whole game (seats full of almost everyone standing the entire time) it gets the slight edge.

Everyone else is sharing personal reaction stories to the Reece game. For me, the Jerry Smith Marquette game was the single greatest reaction for me. And in that game we needed it to revive our season. This game too has the storyline of UofL player with the personal vendetta against his hometown opponent (Jerry returning home to Wisconsin, not getting state Mr. Basketball award etc).

No question. Not even a moment’s hesitation. That game was the signature game of the Petrino era, more so than the Orange Bowl. Miami was still good then, or everyone thought they were, and we whipped them despite Brohm and Bush being gone.

And the mario TD. My god, the mario TD.

When you do the 64-moment “top moment in cards sports of the decade”, the Mario TD has to be the #2 seed (Jenkins’s block from the WVU game #1 I would say).

The Marquette game was still awesome.

Great work on all this Mike.