AP upset archive
Biggest College Football Upsets of 1942
The season's 11 strongest AP-defined upsets, led by the quality of the ranked team defeated and the game-time ranking gap.
11
Upsets ranked
6
Unranked winners
0
Market-confirmed
Top 11 AP upsets
- Historic upsetPostseasonNeutral
No. 18 Texas 14, No. 2 Georgia Tech 7
AP evidence · primary
Opponent strength 48/50 · Rank gap 32/50
Market evidence · supporting
No betting line · Pregame win chance —
80
AP score
- Historic upsetWeek 5Road
Unranked Iowa Pre-Flight 26, No. 6 Michigan 14
AP evidence · primary
Opponent strength 40/50 · Rank gap 40/50
Market evidence · supporting
No betting line · Pregame win chance —
80
AP score
- Historic upsetWeek 4Road
Unranked Iowa Pre-Flight 7, No. 7 Minnesota 6
AP evidence · primary
Opponent strength 38/50 · Rank gap 38/50
Market evidence · supporting
No betting line · Pregame win chance —
76
AP score
- Major upsetWeek 4Road
Unranked Saint Mary's (CA) Pre-Flight 18, No. 10 UCLA 7
AP evidence · primary
Opponent strength 32/50 · Rank gap 32/50
Market evidence · supporting
No betting line · Pregame win chance —
64
AP score
- Major upsetPostseasonNeutral
No. 7 Alabama 37, No. 1 Boston College 21
AP evidence · primary
Opponent strength 50/50 · Rank gap 12/50
Market evidence · supporting
No betting line · Pregame win chance —
62
AP score
- Major upsetWeek 7Home
No. 20 Minnesota 16, No. 9 Michigan 14
AP evidence · primary
Opponent strength 34/50 · Rank gap 22/50
Market evidence · supporting
No betting line · Pregame win chance —
56
AP score
- Major upsetPostseasonNeutral
No. 10 Tennessee 14, No. 6 Tulsa 7
AP evidence · primary
Opponent strength 40/50 · Rank gap 8/50
Market evidence · supporting
No betting line · Pregame win chance —
48
AP score
- Major upsetWeek 3Road
Unranked Georgia Pre-Flight 14, No. 14 Pennsylvania 6
AP evidence · primary
Opponent strength 24/50 · Rank gap 24/50
Market evidence · supporting
No betting line · Pregame win chance —
48
AP score
- Major upsetWeek 4Home
Unranked Northwestern 3, No. 14 Texas 0
AP evidence · primary
Opponent strength 24/50 · Rank gap 24/50
Market evidence · supporting
No betting line · Pregame win chance —
48
AP score
- UpsetWeek 6Home
No. 16 USC 26, No. 12 Washington State 12
AP evidence · primary
Opponent strength 28/50 · Rank gap 8/50
Market evidence · supporting
No betting line · Pregame win chance —
36
AP score
- UpsetPostseasonNeutral
Unranked Second Air Force (Washington) 13, No. 17 Hardin-Simmons 7
AP evidence · primary
Opponent strength 18/50 · Rank gap 18/50
Market evidence · supporting
No betting line · Pregame win chance —
36
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.