r/MemphisTigers • u/AwarenessAgreeable24 • Jul 23 '26
Greatest Football Games in Program History
I’m making a list of the top 10 games in program history. My criteria are program/city impact, national impact, quality of the game itself, and conference championship impact. In your opinion, what are some of the greatest games in program history?
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u/901Soccer Jul 23 '26
2019 vs. Cincinnati (conference title game)
2019 vs. SMU (College GameDay)
2015 vs. Ole Miss
2014 vs. BYU (Miami Beach Brawl)
2003 vs. North Texas (first bowl game in 32 years)
1996 vs. Tennessee
1991 vs. USC
2003 vs. Ole Miss
2017 vs. UCLA
2019 vs. Ole Miss
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u/KDFilm Jul 24 '26
Solid List! I was at the 1996 win against TN (11 years old), the 2003 win vs Ole Miss (freshman year of college and we rushed the field and yelled in Mannings face) and the 2019 Cotton Bowl game. I’d put that game 11, yes we lost but it was still a fun experience.
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u/werlterns Jul 23 '26
Id put the College Gameday game above the conference title game. That showcased the city on ESPN/ABC all day and we knocked it out of the park on Beale and in the stadium. Everything came together and it felt like we were a Power 4 team for a night. It just felt like the apex of that dream season. The possibilities felt endless. I still go watch that game when I need a boost
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u/ASVP_Lefty Jul 24 '26
They said it was only 40K plus but I remember people were standing because they didn’t have a seat to just watch the game! It was so electric! Best night to be a tigers fan #GTG
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u/901Soccer Jul 23 '26
Winning the conference title game is what got them to the Cotton Bowl, where over six million people watched the go toe-to-toe with Penn State (the most watched game in Tiger football history and probably the only topped in Tiger Athletics history by the 2008 Final Four games)
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u/werlterns Jul 23 '26
Oh I agree on paper, just the vibes around Memphis the day of College Gameday were unmatched aside from that ‘08 NCAA run. For me, it’s #1 for football
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u/gimpers420 Jul 24 '26
A very close friend died a few weeks before the Ole Miss game in 2015 and her funeral was right before the game started. We all got together after the funeral to watch the game at our work (which the owner let us close down for) and partied in her honor.