AP upset archive
Biggest College Football Upsets of 1981
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
21
Unranked winners
0
Market-confirmed
Top 25 AP upsets
- Historic upsetWeek 2Home
Unranked Wisconsin 21, No. 1 Michigan 14
AP evidence · primary
Opponent strength 50/50 · Rank gap 50/50
Market evidence · supporting
No betting line · Pregame win chance —
100
AP score
- Historic upsetWeek 6Road
Unranked Arizona 13, No. 1 USC 10
AP evidence · primary
Opponent strength 50/50 · Rank gap 50/50
Market evidence · supporting
No betting line · Pregame win chance —
100
AP score
- Historic upsetWeek 7Home
Unranked Arkansas 42, No. 1 Texas 11
AP evidence · primary
Opponent strength 50/50 · Rank gap 50/50
Market evidence · supporting
No betting line · Pregame win chance —
100
AP score
- Historic upsetWeek 9Home
Unranked Miami 17, No. 1 Penn State 14
AP evidence · primary
Opponent strength 50/50 · Rank gap 50/50
Market evidence · supporting
No betting line · Pregame win chance —
100
AP score
- Historic upsetWeek 2Road
Unranked Georgia Tech 24, No. 2 Alabama 21
AP evidence · primary
Opponent strength 48/50 · Rank gap 48/50
Market evidence · supporting
No betting line · Pregame win chance —
96
AP score
- Historic upsetWeek 8Road
Unranked South Carolina 31, No. 3 North Carolina 13
AP evidence · primary
Opponent strength 46/50 · Rank gap 46/50
Market evidence · supporting
No betting line · Pregame win chance —
92
AP score
- Historic upsetWeek 11Home
Unranked Washington 13, No. 3 USC 3
AP evidence · primary
Opponent strength 46/50 · Rank gap 46/50
Market evidence · supporting
No betting line · Pregame win chance —
92
AP score
- Historic upsetWeek 3Home
Unranked Clemson 13, No. 4 Georgia 3
AP evidence · primary
Opponent strength 44/50 · Rank gap 44/50
Market evidence · supporting
No betting line · Pregame win chance —
88
AP score
- Historic upsetWeek 4Home
Unranked Iowa 20, No. 6 UCLA 7
AP evidence · primary
Opponent strength 40/50 · Rank gap 40/50
Market evidence · supporting
No betting line · Pregame win chance —
80
AP score
- Historic upsetWeek 8Road
Unranked Minnesota 12, No. 6 Iowa 10
AP evidence · primary
Opponent strength 40/50 · Rank gap 40/50
Market evidence · supporting
No betting line · Pregame win chance —
80
AP score
- Historic upsetWeek 2Home
Unranked Iowa 10, No. 7 Nebraska 7
AP evidence · primary
Opponent strength 38/50 · Rank gap 38/50
Market evidence · supporting
No betting line · Pregame win chance —
76
AP score
- Historic upsetWeek 5Road
Unranked Florida State 36, No. 7 Ohio State 27
AP evidence · primary
Opponent strength 38/50 · Rank gap 38/50
Market evidence · supporting
No betting line · Pregame win chance —
76
AP score
- Historic upsetWeek 12Road
Unranked Ohio State 14, No. 7 Michigan 9
AP evidence · primary
Opponent strength 38/50 · Rank gap 38/50
Market evidence · supporting
No betting line · Pregame win chance —
76
AP score
- Major upsetWeek 6Road
Unranked UNLV 45, No. 8 BYU 41
AP evidence · primary
Opponent strength 36/50 · Rank gap 36/50
Market evidence · supporting
No betting line · Pregame win chance —
72
AP score
- Major upsetWeek 7Home
Unranked Iowa State 34, No. 8 Missouri 13
AP evidence · primary
Opponent strength 36/50 · Rank gap 36/50
Market evidence · supporting
No betting line · Pregame win chance —
72
AP score
- Major upsetWeek 3Home
No. 11 Michigan 25, No. 1 Notre Dame 7
AP evidence · primary
Opponent strength 50/50 · Rank gap 20/50
Market evidence · supporting
No betting line · Pregame win chance —
70
AP score
- Major upsetWeek 13Road
No. 11 Penn State 48, No. 1 Pittsburgh 14
AP evidence · primary
Opponent strength 50/50 · Rank gap 20/50
Market evidence · supporting
No betting line · Pregame win chance —
70
AP score
- Major upsetWeek 5Road
Unranked Missouri 14, No. 9 Mississippi State 3
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 12Home
Unranked Louisville 13, No. 9 Southern Miss 10
AP evidence · primary
Opponent strength 34/50 · Rank gap 34/50
Market evidence · supporting
No betting line · Pregame win chance —
68
AP score
- Major upsetPostseasonNeutral
No. 10 Pittsburgh 24, No. 2 Georgia 20
AP evidence · primary
Opponent strength 48/50 · Rank gap 16/50
Market evidence · supporting
No betting line · Pregame win chance —
64
AP score
- Major upsetWeek 9Home
Unranked Kansas State 10, No. 11 Iowa State 7
AP evidence · primary
Opponent strength 30/50 · Rank gap 30/50
Market evidence · supporting
No betting line · Pregame win chance —
60
AP score
- Major upsetWeek 7Road
No. 12 Iowa 9, No. 5 Michigan 7
AP evidence · primary
Opponent strength 42/50 · Rank gap 14/50
Market evidence · supporting
No betting line · Pregame win chance —
56
AP score
- Major upsetWeek 5Road
Unranked Arizona State 26, No. 12 Washington 7
AP evidence · primary
Opponent strength 28/50 · Rank gap 28/50
Market evidence · supporting
No betting line · Pregame win chance —
56
AP score
- Major upsetWeek 6Home
Unranked San Diego State 52, No. 12 Iowa State 31
AP evidence · primary
Opponent strength 28/50 · Rank gap 28/50
Market evidence · supporting
No betting line · Pregame win chance —
56
AP score
- Major upsetWeek 8Road
Unranked Houston 20, No. 12 Arkansas 17
AP evidence · primary
Opponent strength 28/50 · Rank gap 28/50
Market evidence · supporting
No betting line · Pregame win chance —
56
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.