The 'what-if' games from recent sports history

The hypothetical question «what if» can give rise to soaring hope or crushing despair. Sports fans are very familiar with this line of thinking. An upset happens and derails a promising dynasty. A routine play is missed and a player's career never recovers, or an obscure call is made and a championship window closes. The games can't be replayed — except in the minds of fans, over and over again

Saturday's game between No. 1 Alabama and Texas brings back memories of the 2009 BCS title game and its looming question — what if Longhorns QB Colt McCoy hadn't been hurt early in the game? Would the Heisman finalist pilot Texas' potent offense and deny Nick Saban his first national title at Alabama? Would a Texas victory send Mack Brown out on top or prevent a decade of coaching hires and struggles to find a game-changing QB?

College football is especially made for these types of moments, but it's certainly not alone. Here are a few of the notable recent «what-if» games.

The «what-if» moment: The Tuck Rule

The game is part of the origin story of Tom Brady and the Patriots' dynasty. With 1:50 left in the game, on a snowy night in Foxborough, Massachusetts, Brady and the Patriots' offense were driving in Oakland territory trailing by three points. Brady was blitzed by Raiders DB Charles Woodson, who hit Brady and knocked the ball loose. Even though Brady's arm was moving back toward his body with the ball, referees ruled it a fumble and reviewed the play.

That's when we learned about NFL Rule 3, Section 22, Article 2, Note 2: «When [an offensive] player is holding the ball to pass it forward, any intentional forward movement of his arm starts a forward pass, even if the player loses possession of the ball as he is attempting to