Anything's possible, as these epic upsets show

UCLA is a 31-point underdog in Pac-12 title game Friday at Oregon,Belstaff but that doesn't mean it's hopeless. There's inspiration to be found in this list of eight of the biggest upsets in sports history.
Just because UCLA is a 31-point underdog to Oregon in Friday night's Pac-12 football championship game and has virtually no chance of winning Coach Rick Neuheisel's farewell game does not mean the Bruins are without hope.

They can draw inspiration from U.S. wrestler Rulon Gardner,Giacca moto who stunned Alexander Karelin for the Greco-Roman heavyweight gold medal in the 2000 Olympics, ending the Russian's string of three consecutive Olympic gold medals and seven straight world titles.

And tiny Chaminade University,Belstaff outlet which pulled off one of the most stunning upsets in college basketball history with a 77-72 victory over Ralph Sampson's top-ranked Virginia team in the 1982 Maui Invitational.

And the U.S. men's soccer team, which beat world power England, 1-0,Belstaff italia in the 1950 World Cup — it was called the "Miracle on Grass" — after losing its previous seven international matches by the combined score of 45-2.

Neuheisel can motivate his players by pointing to brash quarterback Joe Namath, who predicted and then willed his New York Jets past the heavily favored Baltimore Colts in Super Bowl III, and the New York Mets, who won the 1969 World Series just seven years after losing 120 games in their inaugural 1962 season.

The sports landscape is sprinkled with major upsets — the meaning of the word has popularly been attributed to the surprising defeat of the great horse Man O' War by a 100-to-1 longshot named Upset in the 1919 Sanford Stakes at Saratoga.

So why not UCLA over Oregon? The odds are just as long, but as Bruins wide receiver Taylor Embree said, "Why not go out and shock the world?"

If they did — if the Ducks come up lame against a lame-duck coach and UCLA sends Neuheisel out a winner — it would be one of the most shocking upsets in recent sports history and added to this list of Crazy Eights:

Miracle on ice

The Soviet hockey team was a world power in 1980, having won four straight Olympic gold medals in the Cold War era from 1964-76. The U.S. team, coached by Herb Brooks, was made up of little-known amateur and college players.

But with a flag-waving, patriotic song-singing crowd energizing the Field House in Lake Placid, N.Y., the U.S. scored two third-period goals, including Mike Eruzione's game-winner with 10 minutes left, and held off a furious Soviet rally for a dramatic 4-3 win in a medal-round game.

As time expired, sportscaster Al Michaels delivered his famous call: "Do you believe in miracles? Yes!" The U.S. went on to beat Finland for the gold medal, and in 1999, Sports Illustrated named the Miracle on Ice the top sports moment of the 20th century.

Far East beast

Mike Tyson won his first 19 professional bouts by knockout, 12 in the first round, and most fight fans figured the feared heavyweight champion would make quick work of James "Buster" Douglas, a 42-1 underdog, in Tokyo on Feb. 11, 1990.

A knockout by Tyson was such a foregone conclusion that the Mirage was the only Las Vegas casino to make odds on the fight.

Douglas, using his 12-inch reach advantage, dominated the fight with the exception of the eighth round, when Tyson landed a right uppercut that knocked him down.

But Douglas got to his feet and pummeled Tyson with a flurry of punches for a 10th-round knockout that produced the enduring image from the fight, a dazed Tyson on his knees, his mouthpiece dangling from his lips.

Wildcat strike

Few experts gave Villanova, seeded eighth and with a 19-10 record, a chance in the 1985 NCAA basketball title game against top-seeded defending national champion Georgetown, with a 35-2 record and a menacing presence in center Patrick Ewing.