AP upset archive
Biggest College Football Upsets of 1977
The season's 14 strongest AP-defined upsets, led by the quality of the ranked team defeated and the game-time ranking gap.
14
Upsets ranked
5
Unranked winners
0
Market-confirmed
Top 14 AP upsets
- Major upsetWeek 8Home
No. 19 Minnesota 16, No. 6 Michigan 0
AP evidence · primary
Opponent strength 40/50 · Rank gap 26/50
Market evidence · supporting
No betting line · Pregame win chance —
66
AP score
- Major upsetPostseasonNeutral
No. 13 Washington 27, No. 4 Michigan 20
AP evidence · primary
Opponent strength 44/50 · Rank gap 18/50
Market evidence · supporting
No betting line · Pregame win chance —
62
AP score
- Major upsetWeek 3Home
Unranked Ole Miss 20, No. 11 Notre Dame 13
AP evidence · primary
Opponent strength 30/50 · Rank gap 30/50
Market evidence · supporting
No betting line · Pregame win chance —
60
AP score
- Major upsetPostseasonNeutral
No. 5 Notre Dame 38, No. 1 Texas 10
AP evidence · primary
Opponent strength 50/50 · Rank gap 8/50
Market evidence · supporting
No betting line · Pregame win chance —
58
AP score
- Major upsetPostseasonNeutral
No. 6 Arkansas 31, No. 2 Oklahoma 6
AP evidence · primary
Opponent strength 48/50 · Rank gap 8/50
Market evidence · supporting
No betting line · Pregame win chance —
56
AP score
- UpsetWeek 5Road
No. 16 Kentucky 24, No. 10 Penn State 20
AP evidence · primary
Opponent strength 32/50 · Rank gap 12/50
Market evidence · supporting
No betting line · Pregame win chance —
44
AP score
- UpsetWeek 3Home
No. 14 Nebraska 31, No. 10 Alabama 24
AP evidence · primary
Opponent strength 32/50 · Rank gap 8/50
Market evidence · supporting
No betting line · Pregame win chance —
40
AP score
- UpsetPostseasonNeutral
Unranked Stanford 24, No. 18 LSU 14
AP evidence · primary
Opponent strength 16/50 · Rank gap 16/50
Market evidence · supporting
No betting line · Pregame win chance —
32
AP score
- UpsetWeek 12Home
Unranked Colorado State 25, No. 19 Arizona State 14
AP evidence · primary
Opponent strength 14/50 · Rank gap 14/50
Market evidence · supporting
No betting line · Pregame win chance —
28
AP score
- UpsetPostseasonNeutral
Unranked NC State 24, No. 19 Iowa State 14
AP evidence · primary
Opponent strength 14/50 · Rank gap 14/50
Market evidence · supporting
No betting line · Pregame win chance —
28
AP score
- UpsetPostseasonNeutral
No. 19 Florida State 40, No. 16 Texas Tech 17
AP evidence · primary
Opponent strength 20/50 · Rank gap 6/50
Market evidence · supporting
No betting line · Pregame win chance —
26
AP score
- UpsetPostseasonNeutral
No. 20 USC 47, No. 17 Texas A&M 28
AP evidence · primary
Opponent strength 18/50 · Rank gap 6/50
Market evidence · supporting
No betting line · Pregame win chance —
24
AP score
- UpsetWeek 6Home
Unranked Washington State 17, No. 20 California 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 9Home
No. 17 California 17, No. 16 USC 14
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.