AP upset archive
Biggest College Football Upsets of 1978
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
- Major upsetWeek 7Road
Unranked Michigan State 24, No. 9 Michigan 15
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 13Home
Unranked Texas Tech 22, No. 9 Houston 21
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 12Road
No. 19 Missouri 35, No. 7 Nebraska 31
AP evidence · primary
Opponent strength 38/50 · Rank gap 24/50
Market evidence · supporting
No betting line · Pregame win chance —
62
AP score
- Major upsetPostseasonNeutral
No. 2 Alabama 14, No. 1 Penn State 7
AP evidence · primary
Opponent strength 50/50 · Rank gap 2/50
Market evidence · supporting
No betting line · Pregame win chance —
52
AP score
- Major upsetWeek 7Home
No. 14 Arizona State 20, No. 7 USC 7
AP evidence · primary
Opponent strength 38/50 · Rank gap 14/50
Market evidence · supporting
No betting line · Pregame win chance —
52
AP score
- Major upsetWeek 11Home
Unranked Oregon State 15, No. 14 UCLA 13
AP evidence · primary
Opponent strength 24/50 · Rank gap 24/50
Market evidence · supporting
No betting line · Pregame win chance —
48
AP score
- Major upsetWeek 13Home
Unranked Baylor 38, No. 14 Texas 14
AP evidence · primary
Opponent strength 24/50 · Rank gap 24/50
Market evidence · supporting
No betting line · Pregame win chance —
48
AP score
- UpsetPostseasonNeutral
No. 18 Stanford 25, No. 11 Georgia 22
AP evidence · primary
Opponent strength 30/50 · Rank gap 14/50
Market evidence · supporting
No betting line · Pregame win chance —
44
AP score
- UpsetPostseasonNeutral
No. 10 Notre Dame 35, No. 9 Houston 34
AP evidence · primary
Opponent strength 34/50 · Rank gap 2/50
Market evidence · supporting
No betting line · Pregame win chance —
36
AP score
- UpsetWeek 7Home
No. 20 Notre Dame 26, No. 15 Pittsburgh 17
AP evidence · primary
Opponent strength 22/50 · Rank gap 10/50
Market evidence · supporting
No betting line · Pregame win chance —
32
AP score
- UpsetWeek 4Home
Unranked Kansas 28, No. 18 UCLA 24
AP evidence · primary
Opponent strength 16/50 · Rank gap 16/50
Market evidence · supporting
No betting line · Pregame win chance —
32
AP score
- UpsetWeek 5Road
Unranked Houston 27, No. 18 Florida State 21
AP evidence · primary
Opponent strength 16/50 · Rank gap 16/50
Market evidence · supporting
No betting line · Pregame win chance —
32
AP score
- UpsetPostseasonNeutral
No. 14 Texas 42, No. 13 Maryland 0
AP evidence · primary
Opponent strength 26/50 · Rank gap 2/50
Market evidence · supporting
No betting line · Pregame win chance —
28
AP score
- UpsetPostseasonNeutral
No. 20 NC State 30, No. 16 Pittsburgh 17
AP evidence · primary
Opponent strength 20/50 · Rank gap 8/50
Market evidence · supporting
No betting line · Pregame win chance —
28
AP score
- UpsetWeek 7Road
No. 18 Georgia 24, No. 16 LSU 17
AP evidence · primary
Opponent strength 20/50 · Rank gap 4/50
Market evidence · supporting
No betting line · Pregame win chance —
24
AP score
- UpsetPostseasonNeutral
No. 18 Missouri 20, No. 17 LSU 15
AP evidence · primary
Opponent strength 18/50 · Rank gap 2/50
Market evidence · supporting
No betting line · Pregame win chance —
20
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.