AP upset archive
Biggest College Football Upsets of 1951
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
5
Unranked winners
0
Market-confirmed
Top 11 AP upsets
- Major upsetWeek 6Home
Unranked Arkansas 16, No. 12 Texas 14
AP evidence · primary
Opponent strength 28/50 · Rank gap 28/50
Market evidence · supporting
No betting line · Pregame win chance —
56
AP score
- Major upsetPostseasonNeutral
No. 3 Maryland 28, No. 1 Tennessee 13
AP evidence · primary
Opponent strength 50/50 · Rank gap 4/50
Market evidence · supporting
No betting line · Pregame win chance —
54
AP score
- UpsetWeek 5Road
Unranked SMU 27, No. 15 Notre Dame 20
AP evidence · primary
Opponent strength 22/50 · Rank gap 22/50
Market evidence · supporting
No betting line · Pregame win chance —
44
AP score
- UpsetPostseasonNeutral
No. 17 Kentucky 20, No. 11 TCU 7
AP evidence · primary
Opponent strength 30/50 · Rank gap 12/50
Market evidence · supporting
No betting line · Pregame win chance —
42
AP score
- UpsetWeek 10Home
No. 16 Texas 32, No. 11 TCU 21
AP evidence · primary
Opponent strength 30/50 · Rank gap 10/50
Market evidence · supporting
No betting line · Pregame win chance —
40
AP score
- UpsetWeek 8Road
No. 13 TCU 20, No. 10 Baylor 7
AP evidence · primary
Opponent strength 32/50 · Rank gap 6/50
Market evidence · supporting
No betting line · Pregame win chance —
38
AP score
- UpsetWeek 6Home
Unranked TCU 20, No. 18 Texas A&M 14
AP evidence · primary
Opponent strength 16/50 · Rank gap 16/50
Market evidence · supporting
No betting line · Pregame win chance —
32
AP score
- UpsetPostseasonNeutral
Unranked Texas Tech 25, No. 19 Pacific 14
AP evidence · primary
Opponent strength 14/50 · Rank gap 14/50
Market evidence · supporting
No betting line · Pregame win chance —
28
AP score
- UpsetPostseasonNeutral
No. 19 Miami 14, No. 16 Clemson 0
AP evidence · primary
Opponent strength 20/50 · Rank gap 6/50
Market evidence · supporting
No betting line · Pregame win chance —
26
AP score
- UpsetWeek 8Home
No. 18 UCLA 21, No. 16 California 7
AP evidence · primary
Opponent strength 20/50 · Rank gap 4/50
Market evidence · supporting
No betting line · Pregame win chance —
24
AP score
- UpsetWeek 7Road
Unranked Santa Clara 21, No. 20 Arkansas 12
AP evidence · primary
Opponent strength 12/50 · Rank gap 12/50
Market evidence · supporting
No betting line · Pregame win chance —
24
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.