Biggest Plays of 2011

The biggest sports plays of 2011 feature our favorite athletes from the NFL, NBA, MLB, NHL, NCAA Football and NCAA Basketball, among other sports, doing what they do best. These top sports plays are the best of the best from the year in sports. Whether they won the game, changed the momentum or were just so great that they made the highlight reel for a week, these were the best sports plays from 2011.

These fine moments remind us why we watch our favorite teams as the top athletes from the year accomplish unbelievable feats. From scoring hail Mary touchdowns late in the game to contorting the body in odd ways to make a play to milestone and record-breaking accomplishments, these moments from are why we watch sports.

Football fans saw plenty of nail-biters, such as when the Michigan Wolverines and Notre Dame Fighting Irish played one for the ages under the lights or when Marshawn Lynch helped the Seattle Seahawks shock the New Orleans Saints in the NFC Wild Card Game when his touchdown run proved to be the game-winner in the upset.

Though the first part of the 2011-12 NBA season was lost to the labor dispute, basketball fans still had plenty of notable moments from earlier in 2011 to keep them entertained. Be it Blake Griffin's aerial acrobatics en route to a basket or a buzzer-beater in a March Madness game such as one scored by Kemba Walker in the Big East Tournament, there was certainly no shortage of highlights.

The biggest sports plays of the year were far from limited to just football and basketball with hockey, baseball, soccer and even mixed martial arts each making it onto this list. Did we miss a favorite moment from your favorite athlete? Add that moment below and vote for which play you think was the absolute best of the year.