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AP upset archive

Biggest College Football Upsets of 1974

The season's 25 strongest AP-defined upsets, led by the quality of the ranked team defeated and the game-time ranking gap.

25

Upsets ranked

20

Unranked winners

0

Market-confirmed

Top 25 AP upsets

  1. Historic upsetWeek 10Home

    Unranked Michigan State 16, No. 1 Ohio State 13

    AP evidence · primary

    Opponent strength 50/50 · Rank gap 50/50

    Market evidence · supporting

    No betting line · Pregame win chance

    100

    AP score

  2. Historic upsetWeek 4Road

    Unranked Purdue 31, No. 2 Notre Dame 20

    AP evidence · primary

    Opponent strength 48/50 · Rank gap 48/50

    Market evidence · supporting

    No betting line · Pregame win chance

    96

    AP score

  3. Historic upsetWeek 3Home

    Unranked Wisconsin 21, No. 4 Nebraska 20

    AP evidence · primary

    Opponent strength 44/50 · Rank gap 44/50

    Market evidence · supporting

    No betting line · Pregame win chance

    88

    AP score

  4. Historic upsetWeek 5Home

    Unranked Kansas 28, No. 5 Texas A&M 10

    AP evidence · primary

    Opponent strength 42/50 · Rank gap 42/50

    Market evidence · supporting

    No betting line · Pregame win chance

    84

    AP score

  5. Historic upsetWeek 6Road

    Unranked Missouri 21, No. 5 Nebraska 10

    AP evidence · primary

    Opponent strength 42/50 · Rank gap 42/50

    Market evidence · supporting

    No betting line · Pregame win chance

    84

    AP score

  6. Historic upsetWeek 10Home

    Unranked SMU 18, No. 5 Texas A&M 14

    AP evidence · primary

    Opponent strength 42/50 · Rank gap 42/50

    Market evidence · supporting

    No betting line · Pregame win chance

    84

    AP score

  7. Historic upsetWeek 4Home

    Unranked Texas Tech 26, No. 6 Texas 3

    AP evidence · primary

    Opponent strength 40/50 · Rank gap 40/50

    Market evidence · supporting

    No betting line · Pregame win chance

    80

    AP score

  8. Historic upsetWeek 10Home

    Unranked Georgia 17, No. 6 Florida 16

    AP evidence · primary

    Opponent strength 40/50 · Rank gap 40/50

    Market evidence · supporting

    No betting line · Pregame win chance

    80

    AP score

  9. Historic upsetWeek 3Road

    Unranked Texas A&M 21, No. 7 LSU 14

    AP evidence · primary

    Opponent strength 38/50 · Rank gap 38/50

    Market evidence · supporting

    No betting line · Pregame win chance

    76

    AP score

  10. Historic upsetWeek 4Home

    Unranked Missouri 9, No. 7 Arizona State 0

    AP evidence · primary

    Opponent strength 38/50 · Rank gap 38/50

    Market evidence · supporting

    No betting line · Pregame win chance

    76

    AP score

  11. Historic upsetWeek 10Home

    Unranked NC State 12, No. 7 Penn State 7

    AP evidence · primary

    Opponent strength 38/50 · Rank gap 38/50

    Market evidence · supporting

    No betting line · Pregame win chance

    76

    AP score

  12. Major upsetWeek 2Home

    No. 20 Arkansas 22, No. 5 USC 7

    AP evidence · primary

    Opponent strength 42/50 · Rank gap 30/50

    Market evidence · supporting

    No betting line · Pregame win chance

    72

    AP score

  13. Major upsetWeek 3Road

    Unranked Navy 7, No. 8 Penn State 6

    AP evidence · primary

    Opponent strength 36/50 · Rank gap 36/50

    Market evidence · supporting

    No betting line · Pregame win chance

    72

    AP score

  14. Major upsetWeek 6Home

    Unranked Vanderbilt 24, No. 8 Florida 10

    AP evidence · primary

    Opponent strength 36/50 · Rank gap 36/50

    Market evidence · supporting

    No betting line · Pregame win chance

    72

    AP score

  15. Major upsetWeek 11Home

    Unranked Kentucky 41, No. 9 Florida 24

    AP evidence · primary

    Opponent strength 34/50 · Rank gap 34/50

    Market evidence · supporting

    No betting line · Pregame win chance

    68

    AP score

  16. Major upsetWeek 3Road

    Unranked Oklahoma State 26, No. 10 Arkansas 7

    AP evidence · primary

    Opponent strength 32/50 · Rank gap 32/50

    Market evidence · supporting

    No betting line · Pregame win chance

    64

    AP score

  17. Major upsetWeek 7Home

    Unranked North Carolina 33, No. 10 NC State 14

    AP evidence · primary

    Opponent strength 32/50 · Rank gap 32/50

    Market evidence · supporting

    No betting line · Pregame win chance

    64

    AP score

  18. Major upsetPostseasonNeutral

    No. 9 Notre Dame 13, No. 2 Alabama 11

    AP evidence · primary

    Opponent strength 48/50 · Rank gap 14/50

    Market evidence · supporting

    No betting line · Pregame win chance

    62

    AP score

  19. Major upsetWeek 4Home

    Unranked Colorado 24, No. 11 Wisconsin 21

    AP evidence · primary

    Opponent strength 30/50 · Rank gap 30/50

    Market evidence · supporting

    No betting line · Pregame win chance

    60

    AP score

  20. Major upsetWeek 4Road

    No. 18 USC 16, No. 8 Pittsburgh 7

    AP evidence · primary

    Opponent strength 36/50 · Rank gap 20/50

    Market evidence · supporting

    No betting line · Pregame win chance

    56

    AP score

  21. Major upsetWeek 3Home

    Unranked Iowa 21, No. 12 UCLA 10

    AP evidence · primary

    Opponent strength 28/50 · Rank gap 28/50

    Market evidence · supporting

    No betting line · Pregame win chance

    56

    AP score

  22. Major upsetWeek 4Home

    Unranked Baylor 31, No. 12 Oklahoma State 14

    AP evidence · primary

    Opponent strength 28/50 · Rank gap 28/50

    Market evidence · supporting

    No betting line · Pregame win chance

    56

    AP score

  23. Major upsetWeek 10Home

    Unranked Baylor 34, No. 12 Texas 24

    AP evidence · primary

    Opponent strength 28/50 · Rank gap 28/50

    Market evidence · supporting

    No betting line · Pregame win chance

    56

    AP score

  24. Major upsetWeek 9Home

    No. 11 Florida 25, No. 5 Auburn 14

    AP evidence · primary

    Opponent strength 42/50 · Rank gap 12/50

    Market evidence · supporting

    No betting line · Pregame win chance

    54

    AP score

  25. Major upsetWeek 13Home

    No. 17 Texas 32, No. 8 Texas A&M 3

    AP evidence · primary

    Opponent strength 36/50 · Rank gap 18/50

    Market evidence · supporting

    No betting line · Pregame win chance

    54

    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.