College Football Rewind: 5 most important games from 2001 season

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COLUMBUS, OHIO – MARCH 24: Former Tennessee Volunteers football coach Phillip Fulmer looks on during the game between the Tennessee Volunteers and the Iowa Hawkeyes in the Second Round of the NCAA Basketball Tournament at Nationwide Arena on March 24, 2019 in Columbus, Ohio. (Photo by Elsa/Getty Images) /

1. (21) LSU 31, (2) Tennessee 20

Back in the day, the major conferences in college football only had two league titles: the Big 12 and the SEC. Both wound up being what I consider the most important games of the season and both games were very similar.

Tennessee had blown out LSU earlier in the season and was a win away from the national championship because they were coming into championship week ranked No. 2 in the BCS and had just gotten a big victory over Florida.

The Volunteers took a 17-16 lead into the fourth quarter and quarterback Casey Clausen was having a good game but the Tigers used a big final frame to propel themselves to the SEC title and a Sugar Bowl berth.

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Tennessee has not been this close to a national championship since and it could have been a chance to win their second national championship in four years. That’s why I think that this game was the most important of the 2001 season.

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