Biggest games in new GIA

Photo Attribution: US Presswire

This is the 13th season new GIA has been open and there haven’t been as many big games there as you might think.

After Slater tweeted this I wanted to go back and look at what the 10 biggest games (don’t confuse this with best games) of the new GIA era were.

Wednesday's #OKstate-Kansas game will be the first top-15 hoops matchup in Stillwater since March 1, 2004. Nearly nine years.

— Anthony Slater (@anthonyVslater) February 18, 2013

I was surprised to find that new GIA has only hosted 11 games between two ranked teams (I used this site to try and corroborate rankings — might have missed one here or there but this is basically the list).

Let’s rank them and talk about where tomorrow’s game against KU fits in.

Here’s my list from biggest to…uh…not biggest:

1. 2004 – #8 OSU vs. #10 Texas – This was, effectively, for the Big 12 title. You know the one…

2. 2004 – #10 OSU vs. #12 Kansas – The Big Monday game where OSU rolled by 20. Lucas had 21, Tony had 17-7. That night was as good as GIA has ever been.

3. 2002 – #6 OSU vs. #4 KU – Fred Jonzen had 21 but it wasn’t enough for Drew Gooden’s 17-7-3-2-1 line. Can’t rank this at the top because it was in January and didn’t really affect the Big 12 title that year. But it remains the only game between top eight teams in new GIA.

4. 2013 – #14 OSU vs. #9 Kansas – Probably the game that will decide who takes the Big 12 title. Yikes. Only falls behind the 2002 KU game because both of those teams were in the top 10. This is actually a bigger game in terms of who wins the Big 12.

5. 2005 – #10 OSU vs. #16 OU – Pokes won 79-67 but OU went on to share the Big 12 crown with KU. Joey had 22, IMac had 13-10.

6. 2002 – #16 OSU vs. #4 OU – IMac had 22, Andrew McGhee had 27, Pokes rolled 79-72. OU finished second in the Big 12 but it didn’t much matter because KU went 16-0 that season.

7. 2003 – #16 OSU vs. #3 Texas – OSU won 82-77 despite 32 from T.J. Ford. Pretty sure this was the pregnant lady front row fight game when 19 cops had to jump on James Thomas’ back. I hated those Texas teams. Kansas won the Big 12 title that year. Texas finished second, OSU fourth.

8. 2004 – #18 OSU vs. #13 Tech – Pokes won 70-66 and went on to win the Big 12. Tech finished fifth that year, behind Colorado.

9. 2007 – #12 OSU vs. #21 Texas – The Durant/Boggan game. The best game in the history of Gallagher-Iba, new or old. OSU would go on to lose nine of 13 and fall to Marist (!) in the first round of the NIT.

10. 2012 – #22 OSU vs #10 Gonzaga – Imagine if they re-played this one now.

11. 2003 – #24 OSU vs. #11 Mizzou – OSU won by 20, Vic had 24 points. Neither team finished in the top three of the Big 12.

12. 2002 – #14 OSU vs. #24 Tech – Nothing to do with the Big 12 title but OSU won a great 64-62 game. Andre Emmett had 29, Mo Baker had 19-6-2-1.