Where does Pitt-Iowa rank among Kinnick’s most-memorable games?

Quantifying the most-important victories of one thing or another isn't hard.

It's what the wins meant in the context of a program's history. It's that simple. So Iowa's 27-24 win over Pittsburgh last Saturday night doesn't rank, unless the Hawkeyes go on to go to a College Football Playoff berth and Marshall Koehn's 57-yard field goal to win it at the last second takes on even more magnitude.

But when the question is what were the most-memorable games, that's another animal. What was at stake matters greatly, of course. But how the games were played and how they ended factor in to it, too, as well as the emotional impact from the importance of them.

So where does the Pitt-Iowa game rank in its most-memorable wins at Kinnick Stadium over the last half-century? Pretty high, that's where.

In my mind, the No. 1 game of that period of all-time in the 86-year-old stadium is clear-cut. It was top-ranked Iowa's 12-10 victory over No. 2 Michigan in 1985. For drama and importance, nothing touches it at Iowa. It's hard to fathom anything coming along to equal it.

Again, it was No. 1-vs.-No. 2. The nation was watching. It was as tight for 60 minutes as any rope a Wallenda ever used.

But after that? I have seven games I'm too wishy-washy to rank from No. 2 through No. 8. I would put Saturday night's game in that collection because of the emotion from Brett Greenwood's pregame appearance on the field, because it was a punishing, back-and-forth game with heroics on both sides, and obviously because of the ending, a 57-yard, final-second field goal by Marshall Koehn.

Here are the other six, in chronological order only:

1981 - Iowa 36, Michigan State 7

The game itself obviously was a rout. But it was the 11th and final game of the regular season, and it came about 90 minutes after Ohio State upset Michigan 14-9 to open the door for the Hawkeyes to go to the Rose Bowl after 11 straight losing seasons and 19 consecutive non-winning seasons.

This was well before cellphones, let alone smartphones. I believe a few people in the stands had battery-powered TVs and were watching Michigan-OSU while at the nontelevised Iowa game. Yes, there was a day when every game wasn't on the tube.

Once the Buckeyes' win was set in stone, it was like people in the stands were doing a slow Wave around the stadium in excitement. Meanwhile, the Hawkeyes were burying the Spartans. Phil Blatcher rushed 27 times for 247 yards, and Iowa's defense was merciless.

Thousands of people stormed the field after the game. Both goal posts were torn down.

Iowa fans simply couldn't believe it. They had gone from being a college football loser to a Rose Bowl team in one fell swoop.

This might be No. 2. But so might one or more of the following games.

1985 - Iowa 35, Michigan State 31

This was one of the best, most-entertaining games in Kinnick Stadium history. Iowa had ascended to No. 1 in the polls earlier in the week, but had to fight like crazy to retain that spot for what would be a 5-week stay at the top.

It ended with Chuck Long scoring on a 2-yard naked bootleg in the last minute

Ronnie Harmon faked getting the handoff and leapt into a pile of Spartans at the goal line. Long trotted to his right all by his lonesome, holding the ball in the air. And the place went berserk.

Iowa was still No. 1 in the nation.

2002 - Iowa 31, Purdue 28

Iowa had to go 87 yards in 2:16 with no timeouts left to beat the Boilermakers. It did just that, with Brad Banks firing a 7-yard touchdown pass to Dallas Clark for the game-winner on 4th-and-goal and 1:07 remaining.

That game established Banks and Clark as special players. It was the second win in Iowa's 8-0 Big Ten run.

2004 - Iowa 30, Wisconsin 7

The game itself was close for a half, which ended with the Hawkeyes up 14-7. They then blew the Badgers out, holding them to 41 rushing yards on 30 carries. Matt Roth may have swallowed a Wisconsin player or two whole.

Thanks to Ohio State beating Michigan 37-21 earlier in the afternoon, the winner of this game was going to share the Big Ten title with the Wolverines.

Iowa kept Wisconsin out of the Rose Bowl. The Hawkeyes ended up at the Capital One Bowl because it lost its head-to-head matchup against Michigan before peeling off seven straight Big Ten wins.

There were wall-to-wall fans on the field afterward, and Iowa got a championship trophy presentation on its own field. The Big Ten had the foresight to bring a trophy to Kinnick, and Commissioner Jim Delany was on hand to give it to the victor.

You don't have moments like that at home too often.

2008 - Iowa 24, Penn State 23

After a great run from 2002-2004 and a slight drop-off in ‘05, the Hawkeyes were in a dormant state for two years. They were 5-4 and coming off a road loss to Illinois before this game against the 9-0, third-ranked Nittany Lions.

On a cold, extremely windy day, the Hawkeyes were down 23-14 after three quarters. But they drove to make it 23-21, then Sash picked off a pass and returned it to the Iowa 29 with 3:46 left. Ricky Stanzi hit Derrell Johnson-Koulianos at the Penn State 15 with 18 seconds left to help set up Daniel Murray's 31-yard field goal with one second left.

When Murray made the kick, it felt like Iowa football was back. And it was, since it won its last two Big Ten games and then dominated South Carolina 31-10 in the Outback Bowl before an 11-win 2009 season.

2009 - Iowa 42, Indiana 24

Iowa improved to 9-0 with this win, doing so after trailing 21-7 at halftime and 24-14 after three quarters. But the Hawkeyes scored four touchdowns in the fourth quarter. They came after an 86-yard interception return for a TD by Tyler Sash in the third quarter after he reeled in a carom off several players from both teams. That was after the Hoosiers led 21-7 with the ball at Iowa 4.

The game was more wacky than great, though Stanzi fired TD bombs to Marvin McNutt (92 yards) and Johnson-Koulianos (66 yards) in the fourth quarter. But when it was over, Iowa was somehow 9-0.

So what's your pick for No. 2? And do I have a glaring omission? I have a nagging feeling I do.