Notre Dame

Biggest Underdogs of 2012

Notre Dame hasn’t been a national powerhouse in nearly three decades. The squad finished the previous two seasons with identical 8-5 records. Sub-par play was not in store for the Fighting Irish this season, however. In Brian Kelly's third year as head coach, the Irish finished the regular season a perfect 12-0 and will meet Alabama in the BCS National Championship game on Jan. 7. (AP Photo/Joe Raymond)

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Biggest Underdog... By John Butler, XFINITY Sports

Sports fans were shocked by superb performances from unusual sources in 2012. Check out the biggest and best underdogs of the year. (AP Photos)

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Norfolk State Un... The Norfolk State Spartans advanced to the NCAA tournament for the first time in school history in March. Seeded 15th in the West Region, the Spartans did the improbable, knocking off the heavily-favored No. 2 seed Missouri Tigers, 86-84, in the second round. (AP Photo/Lynn Hey)

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Jeremy Lin Jeremy Lin struggled to keep a job in the NBA in 2011. Then, out of nowhere, a two-week span of thrilling performances in 2012 gave birth to the phenomenon known as "Lin-sanity." Now a member of the Houston Rockets, the Harvard grad has morphed into a global icon. (AP Photo/Haraz N. Ghanbari)

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U.S. Men's Socce... The United States finally beat its top rival in Mexico. The 1-0 final was the first time that the U.S. had defeated El Tri on Mexican soil in 75 years. (AP Photo/Eduardo Verdugo)

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Los Angeles King... The Kings defied the natural order of the NHL postseason to become the first No. 8 seed to win the Stanley Cup. (AP Photo/Mark J. Terrill)

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Japan Women’s So... Brazil was predicted to leave London with a gold medal. Japan hadn’t won a medal in the previous three Olympic games. A 2-0 victory was far from expected for the Japanese team in the knockout phase. (AP Photo/Luca Bruno)
U.S. Teen Makes ... Katie Ledecky didn't perform like the youngest member of the U.S. swim team when the 15-year-old earned gold in the women's 800m freestyle final. Ledecky's time of eight minutes, 14.63 seconds was a half-second shy of the world record. (AP Photo/Lee Jin-man)

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Oscar Pistorius South African native Oscar Pistorius made history at the 2012 Summer Olympics when he became the first double-amputee sprinter to qualify for the men's 400m and 4x400m relay events. Pistorius also competed in the London Paralympics and won gold medals in both of his primary events. (AP Photo/Alik Keplicz)

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Claressa Shields Shields put an exclamation point on her two-year rise through the amateur boxing ranks in the London Olympics. The 17-year old defeated 33-year-old Nadezda Torlopova, becoming the first American woman to win boxing gold in the Summer Games. (AP Photo/Patrick Semansky)

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Juan Marquez Manny Pacquiao had already defeated Juan Marquez in two previous bouts. The other ended in a draw. In their fourth matchup, Marquez delivered a sixth-round blow to Pacquiao that resulted in arguably the best knockout punch of the year.(AP Photo/Eric Jamison)

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R.A. Dickey R.A. Dickey had been a major league baseball pitcher with limited success since 2001. Things changed when he picked up the knuckleball mid-career. No one would have expected him to earn his first All-Star selection and win the Cy Young Award in 2012, but he did. (AP Photo/Kathy Kmonicek)

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Baltimore Oriole... The Orioles hadn’t made the playoffs in over a decade. A franchise in desperate need of change shocked the baseball world by winning 93 games and advancing to the playoffs for the first time since 1997 using endless late-game heroics. (AP Photo/Patrick Semansky)

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Washington Natio... The Nationals finished above .500 for the first time since 2005. As if that wasn’t enough, they won the National League East Division crown and finished with the best record (98-64) in baseball. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)

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Johnny Manziel The Texas A&M star quarterback made headlines when he led his Aggies past the then top-ranked—and unbeaten Alabama Crimson Tide in Tuscaloosa on November 11. Manziel, colorfully known as "Johnny Football," then made history when he became the first freshman to win the Heisman Trophy — college football’s top individual honor. (AP Photo/Henny Ray Abrams)

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Notre Dame Notre Dame hasn’t been a national powerhouse in nearly three decades. The squad finished the previous two seasons with identical 8-5 records. Sub-par play was not in store for the Fighting Irish this season, however. In Brian Kelly's third year as head coach, the Irish finished the regular season a perfect 12-0 and will meet Alabama in the BCS National Championship game on Jan. 7. (AP Photo/Joe Raymond)

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New York Giants The Giants won six must-win games in a row to secure the Vince Lombardi trophy. The culmination of their resiliency was a 21-17 win over the Patriots in the Super Bowl.(AP Photo/David J. Phillip)
Indianapolis Col... From 2-14 in 2011 to the NFL playoffs in 2012, the Colts were far and away the biggest collective surprise of the NFL season. (AP Photo/Eric Gay)

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Adrian Peterson It's not often that a running back has a Pro Bowl season just one year removed from ACL and MCL tears. Then again, Adrian Peterson isn’t most running backs. With one game to play, the Vikings' workhorse is just shy of breaking Eric Dickerson’s single-season rushing record of 2,105 yards. (AP Photo/Seth Perlman)

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Seattle Seahawks The Seattle Seahawks finished third in their division in 2011 with a 7-9 record. They weren’t expected to do much better with rookie quarterback Russell Wilson at the helm in 2012. But Wilson made his case as one of the top rookie quarterbacks in leading the Seahawks back to the postseason. (AP Photo/Stephen Brashear)

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Peyton Manning Critics were skeptical when the legendary quarterback chose to sign with the Denver Broncos as a free agent. Manning missed all of 2011 after numerous neck surgeries, but defied medical odds and has looked as good as ever in leading the Broncos to another AFC West title. (AP Photo/Ben Margot)

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