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The original was posted on /r/cfb by /u/sweatpantscaleb on 2024-04-17 02:45:46.
This Purdue team has been living rent free in my head for 20 years lol.
- They were 5-0, and ranked #5 in the country heading into a top 10 showdown vs. #10 Wisconsin. They led in the 4th quarter, but a scoop & score late in the game by the Badgers gave Purdue a 3 point loss.
- The next week they lost by 2 to Michigan on a 4th quarter field goal.
- The week after that, they were outscored 6-0 in the fourth quarter by Northwestern for their third loss in a row, this time by 3.
- Finally, another 2 point loss, this time to Iowa, to fall to 5-4. Then they won their last 2 regular season games, only to lose another heartbreaker to Arizona State in the Sun Bowl, 27-23.
They finished 7-5. They lost those 5 games by a total of 14 points. They led all 5 games in the fourth quarter.
Sure, a lot of teams out there can play the “Man, we were so close!” or “Just one play goes the other way…” or “Yeah, but we’re really not as bad as our record!” cards, but this was something else. I can think of some similar kind of teams, but none quite as painful as this combination of meltdown/so close!/what if?
What other teams come to mind that have that heartbreaking of a stretch of losses?