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AP upset archive

Biggest College Football Upsets of 1941

The season's 12 strongest AP-defined upsets, led by the quality of the ranked team defeated and the game-time ranking gap.

12

Upsets ranked

6

Unranked winners

0

Market-confirmed

Top 12 AP upsets

  1. Historic upsetPostseasonNeutral

    No. 18 Alabama 29, No. 2 Texas A&M 21

    AP evidence · primary

    Opponent strength 48/50 · Rank gap 32/50

    Market evidence · supporting

    No betting line · Pregame win chance

    80

    AP score

  2. Major upsetPostseasonNeutral

    No. 17 Oregon State 20, No. 3 Duke 16

    AP evidence · primary

    Opponent strength 46/50 · Rank gap 28/50

    Market evidence · supporting

    No betting line · Pregame win chance

    74

    AP score

  3. Major upsetWeek 4Home

    Unranked Oregon State 10, No. 9 Stanford 0

    AP evidence · primary

    Opponent strength 34/50 · Rank gap 34/50

    Market evidence · supporting

    No betting line · Pregame win chance

    68

    AP score

  4. Major upsetWeek 7Road

    Unranked Tulane 34, No. 12 Vanderbilt 14

    AP evidence · primary

    Opponent strength 28/50 · Rank gap 28/50

    Market evidence · supporting

    No betting line · Pregame win chance

    56

    AP score

  5. Major upsetWeek 4Home

    Unranked Rice 10, No. 14 Tulane 9

    AP evidence · primary

    Opponent strength 24/50 · Rank gap 24/50

    Market evidence · supporting

    No betting line · Pregame win chance

    48

    AP score

  6. UpsetPostseasonNeutral

    No. 8 Fordham 2, No. 7 Missouri 0

    AP evidence · primary

    Opponent strength 38/50 · Rank gap 2/50

    Market evidence · supporting

    No betting line · Pregame win chance

    40

    AP score

  7. UpsetWeek 6Home

    Unranked Washington State 7, No. 16 Oregon State 0

    AP evidence · primary

    Opponent strength 20/50 · Rank gap 20/50

    Market evidence · supporting

    No betting line · Pregame win chance

    40

    AP score

  8. UpsetWeek 2Home

    Unranked USC 13, No. 18 Oregon State 7

    AP evidence · primary

    Opponent strength 16/50 · Rank gap 16/50

    Market evidence · supporting

    No betting line · Pregame win chance

    32

    AP score

  9. UpsetWeek 6Home

    Unranked South Carolina 18, No. 18 Clemson 14

    AP evidence · primary

    Opponent strength 16/50 · Rank gap 16/50

    Market evidence · supporting

    No betting line · Pregame win chance

    32

    AP score

  10. UpsetWeek 3Road

    No. 17 Mississippi State 14, No. 15 Alabama 0

    AP evidence · primary

    Opponent strength 22/50 · Rank gap 4/50

    Market evidence · supporting

    No betting line · Pregame win chance

    26

    AP score

  11. UpsetWeek 2Home

    No. 19 Stanford 19, No. 16 Oregon 15

    AP evidence · primary

    Opponent strength 20/50 · Rank gap 6/50

    Market evidence · supporting

    No betting line · Pregame win chance

    26

    AP score

  12. UpsetPostseasonNeutral

    No. 20 Georgia 40, No. 19 TCU 26

    AP evidence · primary

    Opponent strength 14/50 · Rank gap 2/50

    Market evidence · supporting

    No betting line · Pregame win chance

    16

    AP score

How the ranking works

An upset qualifies only when the winner was unranked or ranked below an AP Top 25 opponent at kickoff. Regular-season games use that game's AP poll week; postseason games use the last regular-season AP poll before bowl and playoff results. The 100-point score splits evenly between defeated-opponent strength and ranking gap. Betting lines and pregame win probability are shown separately as supporting evidence and never change the AP score, so missing market data cannot lower a game.