20. Freddie Owens (March 22, 2003)
Freddie Owens saved the day for Wisconsin in the second round of the 2003 NCAA Tournament with a threepointer just before the buzzer that gave the fifth-seeded Badgers a 61-60 win over upset-minded Tulsa. Badgers star Devin Harris brought the ball up court and fired into the corner to Owens, who rose and fired for the winner with 1 second left. The shot capped a 13-point rally in the final four minutes.
19. Brett Favre breaks the record (Sept. 30, 2007)
There were many records and notable moments in Brett Favre’s illustrious Packers career — so many that the individual record-setting moments may not pop as much as you’d expect. It was merely a formality that he eventually would eclipse Dan Marino’s record 420 career touchdown passes, and No. 421 happened in the Metrodome against the Vikings.
On a third-and-7 play from Minnesota’s 16-yard line, Favre took the shotgun snap and found Greg Jennings on a slant in the first quarter, setting off one of Favre’s trademarked youthful celebrations (in which he hoisted Jennings off the ground). Favre finished his career with 508 TD passes — now down to fourth all time behind Tom Brady (598), Drew Brees (571) and Peyton Manning (539).
18. Rodgers finds Jared Cook (Jan. 15, 2017)
The Packers took down the top seed in the NFC and wouldn’t have done it without a sensational pass that typifies the brilliance of quarterback Aaron Rodgers.
On third and 20 with 12 seconds left from the Packers’ 32-yard line, Rodgers somehow found Jared Cook along the sideline for a 36-yard pass, with Cook dragging both feet before crumpling out of bounds. Mason Crosby’s 51-yard field goal sealed the 34-31 win. Green Bay went on to fall to Atlanta in the NFC title game the next week.
17. Giannis over Hardaway (Feb. 6, 2018)
The star of Giannis Antetokounmpo was already rising, but it’s unclear if anyone thought it could rise as high as clearing a 6-foot-6 player en route to a dunk.
With John McEnroe looking on with a stunned expression destined for meme immortality, Giannis took an alley-oop from Khris Middleton and flushed the ball in the hallowed Madison Square Garden, jumping over Tim Hardaway Jr. of the Knicks in the process. The Bucks won, 103-89, and Giannis had just registered the first of many plays that would appear on his Hall of Fame highlight reel.
16. Bronson Koenig (March 20, 2016)
Koenig’s shot from the corner as the buzzer sounded allowed the Badgers to upset No. 2-seeded Xavier, 66-63, and advance to the Sweet 16 in the NCAA Tournament. Koenig had also hit a three-pointer to tie the game with 11 seconds left, after which Wisconsin got the
Bucks forward Giannis Antetokounmpo blocks a shot by Suns center Deandre Ayton in Game 4 of the NBA Finals on July 14.
ball back thanks to Zak Showalter drawing a charge. It seems strange that this moment, from the run after the 2015 surge to the national title game or the 2014 Final Four, would make a list when those two tourney runs don’t, but there’s simply something inescapable about a true buzzer beater.
15. Miracle at the Metrodome (Oct. 15, 2005)
The absurdly wild ending to the annual battle for Paul Bunyan’s Axe gave Wisconsin a 38-34 victory at Minnesota. Gophers punter Justin Kucek dropped a snap with just more than a half-minute left in the game, then had his kick blocked by Jonathan Casillas. Ben Strickland hopped on the ball in the corner of the end zone, giving the Badgers a lead before a stunned crowd of 65,000. It was the second of 14 consecutive wins by Wisconsin in the series with its rival.
14. David Gilreath (Oct. 16, 2010)
Playing on national TV with a rabid Camp Randall Stadium fan base looking on, Gilreath took the opening kickoff of a battle with No. 1 Ohio State and burst
through a seam on the left side. Eight seconds later, he’d scored a 97-yard touchdown that may have brought the stadium to decibel levels it will never achieve again.
Wisconsin won the game, 31-18, buoyed by the best start imaginable.
13. Al Harris (Jan. 4, 2004)
“We’ll take the ball and we’re gonna score.” Everyone knows what it means. They’re the words of former Packers quarterback Matt Hasselbeck, who brashly suggested into the referee’s microphone after the overtime coin flip in the NFL playoffs that his Seahawks were going to make quick work of the Packers after earning the right to receive.
Instead, Hasselbeck threw an interception to Al Harris, who took it 52 yards for a touchdown and gave Green Bay a 33-27 win. Unfortunately, Green Bay fell to Philadelphia in the infamous “4th and 26” game a week later.
12. Antonio Freeman on Monday night (Nov. 6, 2000)
In the rain at Lambeau Field on “Monday Night Football,” Freeman went to the ground on a third-and-4 pass, and Brett Favre’s pass appeared to fall incomplete as Vikings defensive back Cris Dishman celebrated. But the ball never hit the ground, bouncing off Freeman’s shoulder.
The receiver got to his feet and ran to the end zone for a 26-20 victory, prompting announcer Al Michaels to scream, “He did WHAT?”
11. Randall Cobb (Dec. 29, 2013)
Cobb’s return to the Packers this season has been an interesting development; perhaps he and Aaron Rodgers can re-create this iconic moment. In a winner-take-all battle for the NFC North title at Soldier Field on the last night of the season, Cobb leaked behind the defense on fourth and 8, and Rodgers found him for a 48-yard touchdown that gave Green Bay a 33-28 win and spot in the playoffs.
10. ‘It’s time’ (Feb. 6, 2011)
The Packers were nursing a 21-17 lead in the fourth quarter of Super Bowl XLV, when Clay Matthews broke free and, along with Ryan Pickett, collided with Steelers running back Rashard Mendenhall and forced a fumble that Desmond Bishop recovered. Eight plays later, Aaron Rodgers found Greg Jennings for an 8-yard touchdown and a twoscore lead. It was a moment that truly sealed the Super Bowl title (Green Bay won, 31-25), and it became immortalized even further by the sideline audio catching assistant coach Kevin Greene telling Matthews, “It’s time.”
9. Woodruff vs. Kershaw (Oct. 12, 2018)
In Game 1 of the National League Championship Series, the Brewers were tasked with facing Dodgers ace lefty Clayton Kershaw. Not only did Brandon Woodruff retire all six men he faced in early relief of Gio Gonzalez, he also clubbed a thrilling, improbable homer — batting lefty/lefty, no less — in the bottom of the third against Kershaw. That tied the score at 1-1 in a game the Brewers would eventually win for a 12th consecutive victory, although they lost the series in seven games.
8. Hail Mary (Dec. 3, 2015)
Aaron Rodgers uncorked a 61-yard heave on an untimed down, and tight end Richard Rodgers elevated in front of a pack to bring it down for a touchdown and stunning 27-23 win over the Detroit Lions.
One play earlier, the game seemed over after a series of laterals, but the Packers were given an extra shot when Lions defensive end Devin Taylor was flagged for a facemask.
7. Arike Ogunbowale (April 1, 2018)
Sure, we’re cheating. The graduate of Divine Savior Holy Angels in Milwaukee was playing for Notre Dame — not exactly a Wisconsin team, of course — when she provided one of the most clutch performances in sports history. But how many times does a player hit a shot just before the buzzer to win an NCAA championship ... right after doing the same thing in the semifinal?
Ogunbowale hit the winner against powerhouse Connecticut for the 91-89 win in overtime, then again against Mississippi State for the 61-58 triumph.
6. Tony Plush (Oct. 7, 2011)
Demonstrative character Nyjer Morgan, who had won the hearts of Milwaukeeans during the Brewers’ 2011 run to the NL Central title, singled up the middle in Game 5 of the NL Division Series against the Diamondbacks, scoring Carlos Gomez in the 10th inning and igniting a wild celebration at Miller Park. Morgan, self-dubbed “Tony Plush,” had enjoyed a breakout season and capped it with a play that sent the Brewers to their first league championship series since 1982 in a winner-take-all NLDS game.
5. Nick Collins (Feb. 6, 2011)
Packers Pro Bowl safety Nick Collins intercepted Pittsburgh’s Ben Roethlis
berger and returned the ball 37 yards for a touchdown, giving the Packers a 14-0 lead in a Super Bowl XLV — a game that would eventually go to the Packers.
Collins, whose career was cut short by injury, became one of the heroes of the night, a takeaway that benefited from lineman Howard Green pressuring Roethlisberger into his own end zone.
4. The Giannis block (July 14, 2021)
A grisly injury in the Eastern Conference semifinals made it unclear whether Giannis Antetokounmpo would even be available for the Finals series against the Suns, but he had already proven he was at (or close enough) to full strength. But with Phoenix ahead in the series, 2-1, he shredded through the last tendrils of doubt when he elevated for a legendary block against Deandre Ayton, preventing the Suns big man from tying the game at 101 with 1:14 to go.
Instead, P.J. Tucker came down with the ball, and the Bucks ultimately prevailed, 109-103, to tie the series that the Bucks would eventually win, 4-2.
3. B.J. Raji (Jan. 23, 2011)
It may not have been the Super Bowl triumph two weeks later, but never before had the storied Packers-Bears rivalry come attached with the stakes of an NFC Championship game.
And when 337-pound defensive tackle B.J. Raji dropped into coverage, picked off Caleb Hanie and ran 18 yards to the Solider Field end zone, the Packers had an improbable touchdown-scoring
Ryan Braun watches his game-winning home run against the Cubs at Miller Park on Sept. 28, 2008, the last day of the regular season.
hero and 21-7 lead. The Packers won, 21-14, to reach the Super Bowl for the first time since 1996.
2. Ryan Braun (Sept. 28, 2008)
For 26 years, Brewers fans had waited to get back to the Major League Baseball postseason. And then, Ryan Braun’s two-run homer off a Bob Howry firstpitch fastball gave the Brewers a 3-1 lead over the Cubs in the eighth inning on the final day of the regular season. CC Sabathia did the rest by working a scoreless ninth, and when the Mets eventually lost to the Marlins, the Brewers had won a dramatic NL wild-card berth by one game.
1. The Valley Oop (July 17, 2021)
With the Bucks and Suns tied at 2-2 in the NBA Finals, Milwaukee first clawed back from a 16-point deficit after the first quarter, then took a lead as healthy as 14 points in the fourth. But the Suns rallied and had a chance to take the lead with Milwaukee still nursing a 120-119 lead in the final 30 seconds.
But Jrue Holiday ripped the ball away from Devin Booker, then audaciously threw a long alley-oop to Giannis Antetokounmpo, who threw it down with 13 seconds left to give the Bucks a 122-119 edge. It was a massive road win that gave the Bucks a series lead; three nights later, they won their first NBA title
in 50 years.
Honorable mention
Lorenzo Cain steals potential game-tying home run for last out on opening day (March 28, 2019)
Sam Hauser hits game-tying three-pointer after comeback vs. Creighton in eventual Marquette win (Jan. 9, 2019)
Mike Moustakas hits walk-off single for Brewers in Game 1 of NLDS against Colorado Rockies (Oct. 4, 2018)
Khris Middleton’s deep three-pointer with 0.5 on the clock forces overtime in playoffs vs. Celtics (April 15, 2018)
Zak Showalter hits running threepointer to force overtime against Florida in Sweet 16 (March 24, 2017)
Jeff Janis hauls in Hail Mary heave as time expires to keep Packers alive in playoffs against Arizona Cardinals (Jan. 16, 2016)
Jerryd Bayless beats the buzzer as Bucks defeat Bulls in Game 4 of opening-round playoff series (April 25, 2015)
Sam Dekker hits step-back threepoint to break a tie with 1:40 to go in Wisconsin’s upset over undefeated Kentucky in NCAA semifinal (April 4, 2015)
Ben Brust hits halfcourt buzzer-beater to tie No. 3 Michigan, en route to Wisconsin win (Feb. 9, 2013)
Vander Blue saves Marquette with driving layup with 1 second left vs. Davidson in NCAA Tournament (March 21, 2013)
Jeff Duckworth catches woundedduck fourth-down pass from Russell Wilson for 36 yards to set up winning touchdown in inaugural Big Ten title game (Dec. 3, 2011)