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AP upset archive

Biggest College Football Upsets of 1952

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. Major upsetWeek 9Home

    No. 9 Notre Dame 27, No. 5 Oklahoma 21

    AP evidence · primary

    Opponent strength 42/50 · Rank gap 8/50

    Market evidence · supporting

    No betting line · Pregame win chance —

    50

    AP score

  2. Major upsetWeek 10Home

    Unranked Michigan 21, No. 14 Purdue 10

    AP evidence · primary

    Opponent strength 24/50 · Rank gap 24/50

    Market evidence · supporting

    No betting line · Pregame win chance —

    48

    AP score

  3. Major upsetWeek 6Road

    No. 13 Notre Dame 26, No. 8 Purdue 14

    AP evidence · primary

    Opponent strength 36/50 · Rank gap 10/50

    Market evidence · supporting

    No betting line · Pregame win chance —

    46

    AP score

  4. UpsetPostseasonNeutral

    No. 17 Florida 14, No. 11 Tulsa 13

    AP evidence · primary

    Opponent strength 30/50 · Rank gap 12/50

    Market evidence · supporting

    No betting line · Pregame win chance —

    42

    AP score

  5. UpsetWeek 5Home

    No. 14 Ohio State 23, No. 10 Wisconsin 14

    AP evidence · primary

    Opponent strength 32/50 · Rank gap 8/50

    Market evidence · supporting

    No betting line · Pregame win chance —

    40

    AP score

  6. UpsetPostseasonNeutral

    No. 10 Texas 16, No. 9 Tennessee 0

    AP evidence · primary

    Opponent strength 34/50 · Rank gap 2/50

    Market evidence · supporting

    No betting line · Pregame win chance —

    36

    AP score

  7. UpsetWeek 9Road

    Unranked Nebraska 14, No. 18 Kansas 13

    AP evidence · primary

    Opponent strength 16/50 · Rank gap 16/50

    Market evidence · supporting

    No betting line · Pregame win chance —

    32

    AP score

  8. UpsetWeek 5Road

    No. 18 Pittsburgh 22, No. 16 Notre Dame 19

    AP evidence · primary

    Opponent strength 20/50 · Rank gap 4/50

    Market evidence · supporting

    No betting line · Pregame win chance —

    24

    AP score

  9. UpsetWeek 6Home

    Unranked Vanderbilt 20, No. 20 Florida 13

    AP evidence · primary

    Opponent strength 12/50 · Rank gap 12/50

    Market evidence · supporting

    No betting line · Pregame win chance —

    24

    AP score

  10. UpsetWeek 7Home

    Unranked Syracuse 20, No. 20 Holy Cross 19

    AP evidence · primary

    Opponent strength 12/50 · Rank gap 12/50

    Market evidence · supporting

    No betting line · Pregame win chance —

    24

    AP score

  11. UpsetWeek 8Road

    Unranked Illinois 22, No. 20 Michigan 13

    AP evidence · primary

    Opponent strength 12/50 · Rank gap 12/50

    Market evidence · supporting

    No betting line · Pregame win chance —

    24

    AP score

  12. UpsetWeek 9Road

    Unranked Navy 16, No. 20 Duke 6

    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.