Dec. 29

1926 — Merlyn Phillips of the Montreal Maroons scores five seconds into the game, setting the NHL record for the fastest goal from the start of a game. The Chicago Black Hawks win 5-4 in overtime at home.

1934 — The first college basketball doubleheader is played at New York’s Madison Square Garden. NYU beats Notre Dame 25-18 and Westminster defeats St. John’s 37-33.

1957 — Tobin Rote passes for four touchdowns and scores another to give the Detroit Lions a 59-14 victory over the Cleveland Browns in the NFL championship game.

1963 — The Chicago Bears defeat the New York Giants 14-10 for the NFL title at Wrigley Field.

1968 — The Baltimore Colts shut out the Cleveland Browns 34-0 to win the NFL championship at Cleveland Municipal Stadium. The Colts (15-1) avenge their only loss of the season holding the Browns scoreless for only the second time in their history.

1968 — The New York Jets beat the Oakland Raiders 27-23 in the AFL championship game. Joe Namath leads the Jets 68 yards in 55 seconds to score a go-ahead touchdown pass to Don Maynard with 7:24 left.

1979 — Safety Vernon Perry sets an NFL playoff record with four interceptions to lead the Houston Oilers to a 17-14 victory over the San Diego Chargers.

1982 — Alabama’s Jeremiah Castille intercepts three passes to help beat Illinois 21-15 in the Liberty Bowl and send coach Paul “Bear” Bryant out as a winner. Bryant finishes his coaching career with a record of 323-85-17.

2002 — Marvin Harrison catches six passes for a season-low 28 yards in a 20-13 win over Jacksonville, finishing his record-breaking year with 143 receptions and 1,722 yards — the fourth most in league history.

2006 — Texas Tech spots Minnesota a 31-point, third-quarter lead, then rallies for a 44-41 overtime victory in the Insight Bowl, the largest comeback in Division I-A bowl history. The previous record was 30 points, set by Marshall against East Carolina in the 2001 GMAC Bowl.

2007 — In Joe Paterno’s 500th game as Penn State coach, the Nittany Lions erase an early 14-point deficit to beat Texas A&M 24-17 at the Alamo Bowl. Paterno, 372-125-3, is the college football leader in bowl appearances (34) and bowl wins (23).

2007 — The New England Patriots complete a perfect regular season, finishing 16-0 following a 38-35 comeback victory over the New York Giants. New England is the first NFL team since the 1972 Dolphins went 14-0 to win every game on the schedule.

2011 — In the highest-scoring regulation bowl game in history, Baylor tops Washington 67-56 in a wild Alamo Bowl shootout.

2012 — The No. 2 UConn women end No. 1 Stanford’s nation-leading 82-game home unbeaten run with a 61-35 rout. Stanford loses at Maples Pavilion for the first time since March 2007.

2016 — Jerod Evans throws for 243 yards and two touchdowns and runs for two scores and No. 18 Virginia Tech pulls off the largest comeback in its 124-year history. The Hokies erase a 24-0 halftime deficit to beat Arkansas 35-24 in the Belk Bowl.

2018 — Mikaela Shiffrin becomes the most successful female slalom skier in the 52-year history of the World Cup. In the last race of 2018, the American adds her 36th victory. Shiffrin previously shared the record with Austria’s Marlies Raich, who competed as Marlies Schild.

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