ESPNTheMag.Com Presents: All-World Power Rankings

What's the biggest sporting event in Phoenix-area history?

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This play was a pretty big deal. It's probably because the air was arid.

WHEN IT COMES TO THE BEST PHOENIX-AREA SPORTING EVENT, WE'LL TAKE SUPER BOWL XLII

What is "All-World Power Rankings?"

The NBA All-Star game itself is a little weak (no one plays defense) but the weekend overall should be fun over in The Valley of the Sun. We decided to make a list of the best Phoenix-area sporting events over the years. While researching said list, we realized there have been some doozies of athletic contests played in dry heat. The Fiesta Bowl was hosted there from '71 to '06, and some of those were classics. 'Twas a tough list, although No. 1 wasn't too hard.

TOP 5
RANK (YESTERDAY)		WHAT	WHY
	1 (14)	SUPER BOWL XLII	We got a lot of e-mails about this whole Luke Russert column comparing Super Bowl XLII to Super Bowl XLIII, but honestly, Super Bowl XLII was a darn good game. And a Super Bowl. That elevates it to No. 1.
	2 (410)	MIAMI VS. OHIO STATE FOR THE NATIONAL TITLE	We think the game we're gonna put at No. 3 was overall better, but this sucka was for a national title. You want to get controversial right now? Sure. It was also Jim Tressel's last truly significant win. Ha, this'll end up on some OSU kid's Facebook page.
	3 (21)	OKLAHOMA VS. BOISE STATE IN THE FIESTA BOWL	Maybe the greatest ending sequence to a bowl game in history; if not, then definitely recent history.
	4 (127)	2001 WORLD SERIES, GAME 7	Honestly, this should be higher. Hey, Buster Olney wrote a book about it!
	5 (899)	2008 NFC CHAMPIONSHIP GAME	Just for what it represented to have the Cardinals hosting a NFC Title game, ya gotta have this here, don't you? Watch this.

HONORABLE MENTION
RANK (YESTERDAY)		WHAT	WHY
	18 (144)	1993 NBA FINALS, GAME 6	Sure, the Suns lost and gave MJ another ring. It was a good game, though. Really good. Question: how the heck did John Paxson end up with the ball at the end?
	28 (701)	2008 NFC WILD CARD GAME VS. FALCONS	Again, for what it represented. And for that ridic Larry Fitzgerald catch.

RISING AND FALLING
MOVEMENT		WHAT
		THE RISE OF THE COYOTES (Young team, Gretzky behind the bench. Something's gonna happen!)
		SUNS GAME 3 IN THE '08 PLAYOFFS AGAINST THE SPURS (How do you lose by 16 at home to go down 3-0?)

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