AP upset archive
Biggest College Football Upsets of 1959
The season's 16 strongest AP-defined upsets, led by the quality of the ranked team defeated and the game-time ranking gap.
16
Upsets ranked
4
Unranked winners
0
Market-confirmed
Top 16 AP upsets
- Major upsetWeek 10Road
Unranked Illinois 9, No. 9 Wisconsin 6
AP evidence · primary
Opponent strength 34/50 · Rank gap 34/50
Market evidence · supporting
No betting line · Pregame win chance —
68
AP score
- Major upsetWeek 11Road
No. 20 UCLA 10, No. 7 USC 3
AP evidence · primary
Opponent strength 38/50 · Rank gap 26/50
Market evidence · supporting
No betting line · Pregame win chance —
64
AP score
- Major upsetWeek 9Home
No. 9 Tennessee 14, No. 3 LSU 13
AP evidence · primary
Opponent strength 46/50 · Rank gap 12/50
Market evidence · supporting
No betting line · Pregame win chance —
58
AP score
- Major upsetWeek 10Road
No. 10 TCU 14, No. 5 Texas 9
AP evidence · primary
Opponent strength 42/50 · Rank gap 10/50
Market evidence · supporting
No betting line · Pregame win chance —
52
AP score
- UpsetPostseasonNeutral
No. 8 Washington 44, No. 6 Wisconsin 8
AP evidence · primary
Opponent strength 40/50 · Rank gap 4/50
Market evidence · supporting
No betting line · Pregame win chance —
44
AP score
- UpsetPostseasonNeutral
No. 10 Clemson 23, No. 7 TCU 7
AP evidence · primary
Opponent strength 38/50 · Rank gap 6/50
Market evidence · supporting
No betting line · Pregame win chance —
44
AP score
- UpsetWeek 9Road
No. 7 Wisconsin 24, No. 6 Northwestern 19
AP evidence · primary
Opponent strength 40/50 · Rank gap 2/50
Market evidence · supporting
No betting line · Pregame win chance —
42
AP score
- UpsetWeek 10Home
No. 11 Michigan State 15, No. 8 Northwestern 10
AP evidence · primary
Opponent strength 36/50 · Rank gap 6/50
Market evidence · supporting
No betting line · Pregame win chance —
42
AP score
- UpsetPostseasonNeutral
Unranked New Mexico State 28, No. 16 North Texas 8
AP evidence · primary
Opponent strength 20/50 · Rank gap 20/50
Market evidence · supporting
No betting line · Pregame win chance —
40
AP score
- UpsetWeek 12Home
No. 19 Notre Dame 16, No. 13 USC 6
AP evidence · primary
Opponent strength 26/50 · Rank gap 12/50
Market evidence · supporting
No betting line · Pregame win chance —
38
AP score
- UpsetPostseasonNeutral
No. 14 Penn State 7, No. 11 Alabama 0
AP evidence · primary
Opponent strength 30/50 · Rank gap 6/50
Market evidence · supporting
No betting line · Pregame win chance —
36
AP score
- UpsetWeek 6Home
No. 20 Ohio State 15, No. 14 Purdue 0
AP evidence · primary
Opponent strength 24/50 · Rank gap 12/50
Market evidence · supporting
No betting line · Pregame win chance —
36
AP score
- UpsetWeek 8Road
Unranked Duke 10, No. 19 Georgia Tech 7
AP evidence · primary
Opponent strength 14/50 · Rank gap 14/50
Market evidence · supporting
No betting line · Pregame win chance —
28
AP score
- UpsetWeek 10Road
Unranked Maryland 28, No. 19 Clemson 25
AP evidence · primary
Opponent strength 14/50 · Rank gap 14/50
Market evidence · supporting
No betting line · Pregame win chance —
28
AP score
- UpsetWeek 11Home
No. 16 Pittsburgh 22, No. 15 Penn State 7
AP evidence · primary
Opponent strength 22/50 · Rank gap 2/50
Market evidence · supporting
No betting line · Pregame win chance —
24
AP score
- UpsetWeek 7Road
No. 17 Washington 13, No. 16 Oregon 12
AP evidence · primary
Opponent strength 20/50 · Rank gap 2/50
Market evidence · supporting
No betting line · Pregame win chance —
22
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.