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AP upset archive

Biggest College Football Upsets of 1970

The season's 17 strongest AP-defined upsets, led by the quality of the ranked team defeated and the game-time ranking gap.

17

Upsets ranked

12

Unranked winners

0

Market-confirmed

Top 17 AP upsets

  1. Major upsetPostseasonNeutral

    No. 12 Stanford 27, No. 2 Ohio State 17

    AP evidence · primary

    Opponent strength 48/50 · Rank gap 20/50

    Market evidence · supporting

    No betting line · Pregame win chance

    68

    AP score

  2. Major upsetWeek 6Road

    Unranked Purdue 26, No. 9 Stanford 14

    AP evidence · primary

    Opponent strength 34/50 · Rank gap 34/50

    Market evidence · supporting

    No betting line · Pregame win chance

    68

    AP score

  3. Major upsetWeek 11Home

    Unranked Oregon 46, No. 10 Air Force 35

    AP evidence · primary

    Opponent strength 32/50 · Rank gap 32/50

    Market evidence · supporting

    No betting line · Pregame win chance

    64

    AP score

  4. Major upsetPostseasonNeutral

    No. 6 Notre Dame 24, No. 1 Texas 11

    AP evidence · primary

    Opponent strength 50/50 · Rank gap 10/50

    Market evidence · supporting

    No betting line · Pregame win chance

    60

    AP score

  5. Major upsetWeek 14Home

    No. 16 USC 38, No. 6 Notre Dame 28

    AP evidence · primary

    Opponent strength 40/50 · Rank gap 20/50

    Market evidence · supporting

    No betting line · Pregame win chance

    60

    AP score

  6. Major upsetWeek 12Road

    Unranked Georgia 31, No. 11 Auburn 17

    AP evidence · primary

    Opponent strength 30/50 · Rank gap 30/50

    Market evidence · supporting

    No betting line · Pregame win chance

    60

    AP score

  7. Major upsetWeek 13Road

    Unranked Colorado 49, No. 11 Air Force 19

    AP evidence · primary

    Opponent strength 30/50 · Rank gap 30/50

    Market evidence · supporting

    No betting line · Pregame win chance

    60

    AP score

  8. Major upsetWeek 13Home

    Unranked California 22, No. 12 Stanford 14

    AP evidence · primary

    Opponent strength 28/50 · Rank gap 28/50

    Market evidence · supporting

    No betting line · Pregame win chance

    56

    AP score

  9. Major upsetWeek 6Home

    Unranked Kansas State 21, No. 13 Colorado 20

    AP evidence · primary

    Opponent strength 26/50 · Rank gap 26/50

    Market evidence · supporting

    No betting line · Pregame win chance

    52

    AP score

  10. Major upsetWeek 8Road

    Unranked Southern Miss 30, No. 13 Ole Miss 14

    AP evidence · primary

    Opponent strength 26/50 · Rank gap 26/50

    Market evidence · supporting

    No betting line · Pregame win chance

    52

    AP score

  11. UpsetWeek 7Road

    Unranked Oregon 41, No. 16 UCLA 40

    AP evidence · primary

    Opponent strength 20/50 · Rank gap 20/50

    Market evidence · supporting

    No betting line · Pregame win chance

    40

    AP score

  12. UpsetWeek 13Home

    Unranked UCLA 45, No. 17 USC 20

    AP evidence · primary

    Opponent strength 18/50 · Rank gap 18/50

    Market evidence · supporting

    No betting line · Pregame win chance

    36

    AP score

  13. UpsetWeek 9Road

    No. 11 LSU 17, No. 10 Auburn 9

    AP evidence · primary

    Opponent strength 32/50 · Rank gap 2/50

    Market evidence · supporting

    No betting line · Pregame win chance

    34

    AP score

  14. UpsetWeek 10Road

    Unranked California 13, No. 18 USC 10

    AP evidence · primary

    Opponent strength 16/50 · Rank gap 16/50

    Market evidence · supporting

    No betting line · Pregame win chance

    32

    AP score

  15. UpsetWeek 10Home

    Unranked Washington 25, No. 19 Oregon 23

    AP evidence · primary

    Opponent strength 14/50 · Rank gap 14/50

    Market evidence · supporting

    No betting line · Pregame win chance

    28

    AP score

  16. UpsetPostseasonNeutral

    Unranked Tulane 17, No. 19 Colorado 3

    AP evidence · primary

    Opponent strength 14/50 · Rank gap 14/50

    Market evidence · supporting

    No betting line · Pregame win chance

    28

    AP score

  17. UpsetWeek 9Road

    No. 19 Alabama 30, No. 18 Houston 21

    AP evidence · primary

    Opponent strength 16/50 · Rank gap 2/50

    Market evidence · supporting

    No betting line · Pregame win chance

    18

    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.