AP upset archive
Biggest College Football Upsets of 1976
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
6
Unranked winners
0
Market-confirmed
Top 16 AP upsets
- Historic upsetWeek 10Home
Unranked Purdue 16, No. 4 Michigan 14
AP evidence · primary
Opponent strength 44/50 · Rank gap 44/50
Market evidence · supporting
No betting line · Pregame win chance —
88
AP score
- Major upsetPostseasonNeutral
No. 16 Alabama 36, No. 7 UCLA 6
AP evidence · primary
Opponent strength 38/50 · Rank gap 18/50
Market evidence · supporting
No betting line · Pregame win chance —
56
AP score
- Major upsetPostseasonNeutral
No. 3 USC 14, No. 2 Michigan 6
AP evidence · primary
Opponent strength 48/50 · Rank gap 2/50
Market evidence · supporting
No betting line · Pregame win chance —
50
AP score
- Major upsetPostseasonNeutral
No. 6 Houston 30, No. 4 Maryland 21
AP evidence · primary
Opponent strength 44/50 · Rank gap 4/50
Market evidence · supporting
No betting line · Pregame win chance —
48
AP score
- UpsetWeek 4Road
No. 12 Missouri 22, No. 8 Ohio State 21
AP evidence · primary
Opponent strength 36/50 · Rank gap 8/50
Market evidence · supporting
No betting line · Pregame win chance —
44
AP score
- UpsetWeek 6Home
Unranked Oklahoma State 21, No. 15 Kansas 14
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. 13 Nebraska 27, No. 9 Texas Tech 24
AP evidence · primary
Opponent strength 34/50 · Rank gap 8/50
Market evidence · supporting
No betting line · Pregame win chance —
42
AP score
- UpsetWeek 6Home
No. 16 Ole Miss 21, No. 11 Georgia 17
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. 10 Missouri 34, No. 9 Nebraska 24
AP evidence · primary
Opponent strength 34/50 · Rank gap 2/50
Market evidence · supporting
No betting line · Pregame win chance —
36
AP score
- UpsetWeek 2Home
No. 20 Ole Miss 10, No. 14 Alabama 7
AP evidence · primary
Opponent strength 24/50 · Rank gap 12/50
Market evidence · supporting
No betting line · Pregame win chance —
36
AP score
- UpsetWeek 11Home
No. 14 Iowa State 37, No. 12 Nebraska 28
AP evidence · primary
Opponent strength 28/50 · Rank gap 4/50
Market evidence · supporting
No betting line · Pregame win chance —
32
AP score
- UpsetWeek 8Road
No. 16 Oklahoma State 31, No. 13 Oklahoma 24
AP evidence · primary
Opponent strength 26/50 · Rank gap 6/50
Market evidence · supporting
No betting line · Pregame win chance —
32
AP score
- UpsetWeek 10Home
Unranked Georgia Tech 23, No. 18 Notre Dame 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 Kentucky 21, No. 19 North Carolina 0
AP evidence · primary
Opponent strength 14/50 · Rank gap 14/50
Market evidence · supporting
No betting line · Pregame win chance —
28
AP score
- UpsetWeek 1Home
Unranked North Carolina 14, No. 20 Miami (OH) 10
AP evidence · primary
Opponent strength 12/50 · Rank gap 12/50
Market evidence · supporting
No betting line · Pregame win chance —
24
AP score
- UpsetWeek 4Road
Unranked Iowa 7, No. 20 Penn State 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.