Fox Sports put together a good list of the top sports stories that didn’t happen in 2008.

The 10th-seeded Wildcats should have toppled Kansas in the Midwest Regional Final. Down by two points, Davidson had the final possession. It was a good three-point shooting team. All the Wildcats had to do was get somebody free to knock down the decisive trey. With one more bucket, they would have furthered the legend of March Madness.

Alas, Davidson guard Jason Richards took the last shot and clanked it. The Jayhawks escaped, 59-57, then went on to win the national title. Had Davidson done the right thing, North Carolina coach Roy Williams would not have attended the championship game as a KU fan. That was uncomfortable for everybody.

“You dream about that type of stuff when you’re a little kid, having the opportunity to win the game, take your team to the Final Four,” Richards said of his last shot. But this dream didn’t come true. “I had a great look,” he said. “Maybe you could say we could have gotten a better shot. At that point, it seemed like the best shot for us. My team had confidence in me. Unfortunately, I just missed the shot and fell short.”

Click here to see the rest of the list.

At the end of the year, it’s always interesting to look back at all that has happened in the world of sports over the last 12 months. 2008 brought us a host of compelling sports stories, including the culmination of the Patriots’ (unsuccessful) quest for perfection, a Bejing Olympics that featured incredible accomplishments by the likes of Michael Phelps, Usain Bolt and the Redeem Team, and, of course, Brett Favre’s unretirement, which managed to hold the sports news cycle hostage for a solid month or more.

As is our tradition, we’ve once again broken our Year End Sports Review into three sections. The first is “What We Learned,� a list that’s packed with a number of impressive feats. And when there are feats, inevitably there are also failures.

Don’t miss the other two parts: “What We Already Knewâ€� and “What We Think Might Happen.â€�

The New England Patriots weren’t so perfect after all.

After rolling through the 2007 regular season unscathed, the Patriots entered the 2008 Super Bowl as overwhelming favorites to roll over the pesky, but seemingly inferior New York Giants. The Pats were just one win away from staking their claim as the best football team in NFL history. But thanks to a dominating Giants’ defensive line, an improbable catch by David Tyree, and a virtually mistake-free performance by Eli Manning, the unbeatable New England Patriots were beat. It’ll go down as one of the biggest upsets in Super Bowl history, and considering Tom Brady’s season-ending injury in 2008 cost the Pats a chance for redemption, it seems that many have forgotten how New England stood just one win away from perfection. – Anthony Stalter

Michael Phelps is part fish.

Eight gold medals in one Olympiad? No problem. Michael Phelps made the seemingly impossible look (relatively) easy en route to one of the most – if not the most – impressive Olympic performances ever. Phelps had to swim all four strokes, compete in both sprint and endurance races, and deal with the constant media attention and pressure that came along with his quest. Sure, NBC turned up the hype, but what Phelps accomplished is simply incredible. – John Paulsen

Usain Bolt is part cheetah.

First, Usain Bolt made Jamaica proud by setting a new world record (9.69) in the 100-meter sprint. Then, he broke the 12 year-old 200-meter world record with a time of 19.30 seconds. He showboated during the first race but cleaned up his act to win the second race in a professional manner. Some even say that Usain Bolt – not Michael Phelps – was the biggest story to come out of the Bejing Olympics. – JP

The Big 12 has the best quarterbacks in the nation.

The Big 12 housed some of the best quarterbacks in all of college football in 2008. Texas’s Colt McCoy, Oklahoma’s Sam Bradford, Missouri’s Chase Daniel and Texas Tech’s Graham Harrell were all considered Heisman candidates at least at one point during the season, while McCoy and Bradford are still in the running. Amazingly, Bradford and McCoy aren’t done; both will return in 2008. And although they don’t receive as much attention as the top signal callers in the conference, Kansas’s Todd Reesing and Baylor’s Robert Griffin certainly turned heads this year as well. In fact, the highly versatile Griffin is only a freshman and could make the Bears a very dangerous team for years to come. – AS

King-Mag.com released a list of the eight most TiVo-worthy moments of 2008, complete with YouTube video.

It’s a solid list, though there’s a certain swimmer and a certain clutch three-pointer that are curiously missing.

Ato Boldon answered a question from Bob Costas about Usain Bolt’s terrific 100m world record run at the beginning of NBC’s primetime coverage on Monday night.

Costas: “How in the world was he able to run 9.69?”

Boldon: “I haven’t had a chance to really wrap my mind around it yet, but a lot of people are just still awestruck by what he was able to do. We just didn’t think that someone that tall would be able to run that sort of time. And… uh… just a great performance, and so far the performance, by far, of these Games.“

By far? Mr. Boldon, I’d like to introduce you to Michael Phelps. Not sure if you’ve heard, but he had a pretty good week in the pool.

In one of the most awesome displays of raw athletic ability we’ve ever seen, Jamaica’s Usain Bolt blew away the field on his way to a gold medal and world record in the men’s 100 meter dash. He even had time to ease up and start his celebration as he was crossing the finish line. At 6′ 5″ he doesn’t look like your typical sprinter. With his long strides and his raw power, the rest of the field didn’t have a chance.