These college football games were pretty wild too

Bear Bryant’s sport took on Yogi Berra’s sport and knocked one out of the national park.

It was about time.

Commissioner Bud Selig bloviated a few weeks back that only baseball could produce the kind of drama displayed on one wild night in the wild-card race.

It was an absurd statement given that college football did this sort of stuff all the time. Remember the Friday after last Thanksgiving, when Auburn rallied from 24-0 down to beat Alabama on the same day/night Boise State lost a shocker at Nevada?

This season’s tepid early crawl, however, was starting to give credence to Selig’s claims (never a good thing).

Where was college football’s comeback answer?

It was like bragging about your kid and then watching him flub lines at the Christmas play.

Wisconsin, Stanford and Oklahoma seemed bent to be the first teams since Georgia Tech in 1916 to beat another team 222-0.

Pac 12 yuk-ball on Thursday nights featured California throwing passes to USC defenders one week followed the next by UCLA’s implosion in Tucson.

It changed Saturday, when dramatic endings jumbled Sunday’s second release of the Bowl Championship Series standings. Louisiana State and Alabama remained at 1-2, but there was reshuffling down below.

On a Saturday night when St. Louis and Albert Pujols were beating up on Texas in Game 3 of the World Series, college football stole baseball’s candy.

USC at Notre Dame was an entertaining game and a visual masterpiece as spectacular sounds and colors clashed at night, under flickering gold helmets and lights, on the Peacock Network.

And good luck trying to find anything that can top Wisconsin at Michigan State, a game decided on a Hail Mary pass that deflected off a player’s facemask into the hands of his teammate.

You want drama, Bud?

Officials first ruled Michigan State receiver Keith Nichol had not broken the end zone plane with the ball.

Wisconsin Coach Bret Bielema prepared his team for overtime while everyone held bated Badger breaths as the replay booth reviewed the angles before ruling Nichol had scored with no time remaining.

“I swear I thought I got the ball across,” Nichol, a fifth-year senior, said later. “I knew once they went to review it was going to be a touchdown. Incredible game. Incredible effort by both sides. Incredible moment, really.”

The 44-yard snare was Nichol’s only catch and his first touchdown of the season.

Michigan State rallied from a 14-0 deficit to severely damage Wisconsin’s national title hopes.

Nichol, a transfer from Oklahoma, made his grab as the undefeated Sooners furiously tried to rally from a 31-14 deficit against Texas Tech.

The game had been delayed almost two hours by lightning, with the Sooners taking another two hours to get started.

Oklahoma, No.1 in the USA Today coaches’ poll, had won 39 straight home games under Bob Stoops. Its last defeat in Norman was the 2005 opener against Texas Christian.

Just after midnight in Norman, Oklahoma cut the deficit to three before Texas Tech — a four-touchdown underdog — recovered an onside kick to clinch a shocking upset.

“When you go on the road and beat a No.1 team, it is really special, almost impossible to do,” Texas Tech Coach Tommy Tuberville said.

It was sweet for Tuberville, whose undefeated 2004 Auburn team was shut out of the BCS title game by USC and Oklahoma.

Tuberville was certain as he campaigned in the Orange Bowl press box that night that his Auburn team would have given USC a better game than 55-19.

Texas Tech badly exposed Oklahoma’s defense as quarterback Seth Doege passed for 441 yards and the Red Raiders avenged last year’s 45-7 loss in Norman.

The Wisconsin and Oklahoma losses leave eight unbeatens left and loosened the grip on this year’s national title race.

The contest appeared to be a three-team affair, with Alabama, LSU and Oklahoma controlling their own destinies.

Oklahoma’s loss opened BCS dance-card possibilities for undefeated Oklahoma State, Stanford, Kansas State, Clemson, or possibly Boise State.

LSU and Alabama remained ensconced on top with Oklahoma State moving to the No. 3 spot vacated by Oklahoma.

Boise State bumped up one position to No. 4 with Clemson at No. 5. Rounding out the top 10 were Stanford, Oregon, Kansas State, Oklahoma and Arkansas.

Oklahoma isn’t out of the title race but suddenly becomes more of a spoiler as it stares down remaining games at Kansas State (this week) and Oklahoma State (Dec. 3).

After a few weeks on “ho-hum” control, the season suddenly got interesting.

“Long ways to go, anything can happen,” Oklahoma receiver Ryan Broyles said after Saturday’s loss. “It’s a long season.”

Not as long, thankfully, as baseball’s.

chris.dufresne@latimes.com