The 25 best games and matches of 2025

Notre Dame is still smarting over its exclusion from the 2025 College Football Playoff, but at the beginning of the year, it found a way to beat Penn State and reach the national championship game. Against the Nittany Lions, the Irish had their collective hands full in the Orange Bowl semi. Penn State led 10-0 early and 24-17 late. Riley Leonard connected with Jaden Greathouse for a memorable 54-yard touchdown pass that ultimately tied the contest with 4:38 left in the fourth quarter. Then, with less than a minute remaining, Notre Dame's Christian Gray picked off Drew Allar, setting up Mitch Jeter's tiebreaking, 41-yard field goal with 12 seconds left on the clock.

Another playoff matchup between the Bills and Chiefs, and another victory for the latter. Patrick Mahomes threw a touchdown pass and ran for two scores, while the Kansas City defense proved stout when needed. Harrison Butker's 35-yard field goal with 3:33 remaining in the fourth quarter proved to be the difference and sent the Chiefs to the Super Bowl for a third consecutive season.

Trump-fueled tension between the U.S. and Canada added to the intrigue of this in-season competition that featured some of the NHL's best players. In fitting fashion, this U.S.-Canada final in Boston delivered as hoped. After losing 3-1 to the Americans during the round-robin portion of the event, the Canadiens exacted their revenge when it mattered most. Jordan Binnington made 31 saves, and Connor McDavid scored 8:18 into overtime to cap a highly entertaining tournament.

Paced by freshman phenom Cooper Flagg, Duke was 35-3, favored to win its first national title since 2015 and led Houston in this Final Four matchup by 14 with roughly eight minutes to play. But, the Cougars' air-tight defense held the top-ranked Blue Devils to one field goal over the final 10 1/2 minutes of the contest, erased the deficit and pulled off the upset. L.J. Cryer had 26 points, J'Wan Roberts finished with 11 points and 12 rebounds, while Joseph Tugler recorded four blocks as fellow No. 1 seed Houston reached the national championship game for the first time since 1984. Flagg's one-season college career ended with 27 points.

In the end, Houston was beaten at its own game. Owners of the nation's top defense, the Cougars could smell the program's first national title, but blew a 12-point lead to the Gators, who led for only 64 seconds in the game, including the final 46. Houston had one last chance, but Walter Clayton Jr. pressured the Cougars' Emanuel Sharp into losing the ball while going up for a potential game-winning 3-pointer, and his Gator teammate Alex Condon pounced on it, then got it back to Clayton to secure that program's third national championship.

Rory McIlroy's long, arduous journey to becoming the sixth golfer to complete a career grand slam finally ended at Augusta National. And, as was fitting, it wasn't easy. Justin Rose made up a 6-stroke deficit to McIlroy over the final eight holes to force a playoff. McIlroy, who finished one under on Sunday's final round, missed a Masters' clinching putt on 18. But he redeemed himself by making a 4-footer for birdie on the opening playoff hole after Rose failed on his chance. McIlroy joyfully and exhaustingly tossed his putter in the air to finally claim this elusive achievement. 

The East finals between the Pacers and Knicks featured some highly entertaining hoops right from the opening tip of the series. Indiana star Tyrese Haliburton made a tying jumper, where the ball bounced high off the iron and eventually dropped in, to force overtime. Followed by his best Reggie Miller taunting Knicks' fans impersonation. Then, the Pacers bested the Knicks, who led by 14 with less than three minutes remaining in regulation, during the extra session to open a series Indiana would eventually win in six games. Haliburton had 31 points and 11 assists.

After leading the Pacers to the NBA Finals for the first time since 2000, Haliburton was at it again in Game 1 of the Finals versus Oklahoma City. Again, the underdogs, Indiana shot 47 percent, held the Thunder to just under 40 percent from the field, and Haliburton's 21-foot jumper with 0.3 seconds left in regulation gave the visitors their first and only lead of the night. But, it was enough to pull out the victory to open a series. The Pacers, who overcame 25 turnovers and a 15-point fourth-quarter deficit, eventually lost in seven. Haliburton finished with 38 points.

In what will go down as one of the great finals in the storied history of the French Open, top-ranked Jannik Sinner won the first two sets over second-ranked and defending champion Carlos Alcaraz. However, when the dust from the clay settled some 5 hours, 53 minutes later, Alcaraz had stormed back to the top and successfully defended his title in the first-ever finals matchup between these two stars. Alcaraz, who recorded a record three straight championship points, won the final two sets in a tiebreaker, highlighted by the event's first-ever 10-point super tiebreaker. 

In a CWS semifinal game for the ages, Justin Thomas' two-run single in the top of the ninth inning gave Arkansas a 5-3 lead. A victory for the Razorbacks would make for an elimination rematch with LSU, but the Tigers had other ideas. LSU put runners on first and second with one out in the bottom of the frame, when star Hogs shortstop Wehiwa Aloy  fielded a grounder and opted to get a force at third base instead of trying for the game-ending double play. Luis Hernandez then sent a liner to left field, where Arkansas' Charles Davalan slipped, and had the ball glance off his shoulder, allowing both runners to score and tie the contest. Hernandez then scored the winning run from second when Jared Jones' line drive up the middle bounced off second baseman Cam Kozeal's glove. LSU went on to beat Coastal Carolina in two games for its eighth national title.

The English women needed a shootout to defend their Euro title. Then again, comebacks and winning in extra play proved to be the norm for England during this tournament. It leveled the final versus Spain through Alessia Russo in the 57th minute. Then, when it came down to penalties, Chloe Kelly, the country's 2022 hero who set up Russo's goal, delivered the decisive score from the spot to send England to another grand triumph.

What a way to help kick off the 2025 season, which has been the campaign of the comeback. Baltimore's Derrick Henry rushed for 169 yards and put the visitors ahead 40-25 via a 46-yard touchdown run with 11:42 remaining in the fourth quarter. However, Josh Allen and the Bills scored 16 points in the final 4 minutes to stun the Ravens. Allen threw a touchdown pass and ran for one score during the comeback, which was capped by Matt Prater's 32-yard field goal as time expired. Baltimore is the first team to lose when scoring at least 40 points and rushing for 235 yards or more.

Texas A&M made an early exit in the College Football Playoff, but this seemingly historic victory at South Bend was one reason it got there. In an early-season matchup of ranked teams, the Aggies trailed six different times, including 40-34 in the final seconds. But Marcel Reed hit tight end Nate Boerkircher with an 11-yard touchdown pass on 4th-and-goal, and the extra point was good. The Irish fell to 0-2, and though they didn't lose another game in 2025, they were not included in the CFP field in one of the most controversial decisions in the event's history.

The 2025 Major League Baseball postseason featured plenty of drama that often lasted well into the middle of the night. Beginning with this marathon, instant classic in the decisive game of a thoroughly entertaining series between the Mariners and Tigers. While the game lasted 15 innings, it featured just 16 hits and 37 combined strikeouts. In the end, it was Jorge Polanco's walk-off single in what would be the longest winner-take-all game in MLB history.

When it comes to remarkable NFL comebacks, the Broncos have put themselves near the top of the list. Trailing 19-0 after three quarters, Denver did all its scoring in the fourth, where it set an NFL record for points scored in the final period for a team that was shutout in the first three. The Broncos' Bo Nix also became the first NFL player to throw two touchdowns and run for two in the fourth. Will Lutz won the game with his 39-yard field goal as time expired. 

The Mariners survived that winner-take-all contest in the AL Division Series, but were not as fortunate in the Championship Series. Seattle held a 3-1 lead in the seventh inning at Toronto, and could taste the collective joy of the franchise's first World Series appearance that seemed to be waiting in the wings. Then, with two men on, the Blue Jays' George Springer stepped to the plate and clubbed a 381-foot go-ahead homer over the left field wall off Eduard Bazardo that sent the home crowd into a frenzy, and eventually Toronto to its first World Series since 1993.

Los Angeles' Freddie Freeman knows a thing or two about clubbing walk-off home runs in the World Series. For the second straight season, Freeman ended the game with a long ball, this time in the 18th inning, via a solo shot (estimated to have traveled 406 feet) off Brendon Little. The long ball capped a 6-hour, 39-inning contest that put the Dodgers ahead 2-1 in the series. For good measure, Dodgers superstar Shohei Ohtani went deep twice, including a tying solo shot in the bottom of the seventh.

When it comes to World Series Game 7s, this wild gem between the Dodgers and Blue Jays might be the greatest of all time. That's not a stretch in saying. Toronto was two outs away from winning its third title, but light-hitting, low-lying Dodgers second baseman Miguel Rojas became an unlikely hero by hitting a tying solo homer in the top of the ninth. However, the Blue Jays loaded the bases in their half of the inning, but Rojas gloved a grounder and barely threw home in time to complete the force for the second out, then center fielder Andy Pages made a rather acrobatic grab for the final out of the frame. In the 11th, L.A.'s Will Smith sent a 2-0, Shane Bieber slider into the Toronto bullpen, and the Dodgers hung on to become the first repeat World Series champs since the Yankees of 1998-2000.

Indiana won a Big Ten championship, is undefeated, and the No. 1 seed in the College Football Playoff. And that success was essentially made possible if it weren't for Omar Cooper's remarkable toe-tapping 7-yard, go-ahead touchdown reception from Heisman Trophy winner Fernando Mendoza with 36 seconds left in the fourth quarter at Penn State. Arguably the play of the season in the college football season, it preserved the Hoosiers' perfect run, a special campaign, and added more disappointment to the Nittany Lions' troubling 2025.

Star Rose Lavelle scored in the 80th minute, and eighth-seeded Gotham stunned the No. 2 Spirit to win the NWSL title. The emotional victory capped a Cinderella run of sorts for Gotham, which won playoff road matches at Kansas City and defending champion Orlando just to reach the final. Gotham is the first eighth-seed squad to win the NWSL championship.

The Cowboys are not headed to the playoffs, but they did pull off one of the great upsets of the 2025 season. Down 21-0 in the first half to the visiting, rival Eagles, Dallas woke up to reel off 24 unanswered points and win the game on Brandon Aubrey's 42-yard field goal as time expired. The Cowboys' Dak Prescott threw two touchdown passes, and his 8-yard TD run early in the fourth quarter helped tie the contest. Dallas' often-maligned defense stepped up to stymie Philadelphia for nearly three quarters and held Eagles star Saquon Barkley to 22 yards on 10 carries. After scoring on its first three drives, Philadelphia went punt, half, punt, punt, punt, missed field goal, fumble, punt during one of the worst collapses in franchise history.

North Dakota State has won a record 10 FCS national championships and was favored to win No. 11 this season. In the second round of the FCS playoffs against unseeded Illinois State, undefeated NDSU led 28-14 with less than 3 minutes to play in the contest. But, Redbirds quarterback Tommy Rittenhouse, who was intercepted five times on the day, threw a pair of short touchdown passes to Daniel Sobkowicz, sandwiched between a recovery of a Bison fumble, to make it a one-point game with 1 minute to go. Not willing to settle for a tie score, ISU went for 2, and Rittenhouse connected with Scotty Presson for the successful conversion, then held on for the improbably shocking upset.

We touched on Indiana's special season, which includes the program's first Big Ten football title in 58 years. In the league championship game, the Hoosiers held the potent Buckeyes offense to 322 yards, including 58 on the ground, and a season low for points. Meanwhile, Indiana did just enough offensively to top Ohio State and pull off the minor upset that officially announced this traditional basketball power as a serious national championship contender.

With huge NFC West Division implications in the balance, Seattle trailed the visiting Rams 30-14 with less than 9 minutes left in the fourth quarter. However, the Seahawks were not about to roll over, as Rashid Shaheed returned a punt 58 yards for a score and a successful 2-point conversion made it an eight-point game. Then, Sam Darnold found AJ Barner for a 26-yard touchdown pass with a little more than 6 minutes to go, and another 2-point conversion knotted the contest at 30. After both teams traded touchdowns in overtime, the Seahawks got within a point on Jaxon Smith-Njigba's 4-yard touchdown catch. And, not wanting to settle for another tie score, Darnold hit a wide-open Eric Saubert for the winning conversion that ran Seattle's winning streak to five games and pushed it to the top spot in the conference -- at the time.

According to Next Gen Stats , the Bears had a 0.5-percent chance of winning after Cairo Santos' 43-yard field goal got the home team within 16-9 of their storied rival with 1:59 remaining in the fourth quarter. Then, Santos and the Bears executed an improbable onside kick to keep those comeback hopes alive. With 24 seconds left, on 4th-and-4, the "Iceman" Caleb Williams hit Jahdae Walker, who recorded his first NFL receptions earlier in the game, on a 6-yard TD pass, and Santos' extra-point forced overtime. After the Packers turned the ball over on downs near midfield in the extra session, Williams went deep to DJ Moore, who with Green Bay's Keisean Nixon draped all over him, made the over-the-shoulder catch for a 46-yard, game-winning touchdown to cap arguably the most memorable Bears victory in the history of the league's greatest rivalry.