AP upset archive
Biggest College Football Upsets of 1982
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
17
Unranked winners
0
Market-confirmed
Top 25 AP upsets
- Historic upsetWeek 10Road
Unranked Notre Dame 31, No. 1 Pittsburgh 16
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 Tennessee 35, No. 2 Alabama 28
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 9Home
Unranked Stanford 43, No. 2 Washington 31
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 5Road
Unranked LSU 24, No. 4 Florida 13
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 10Home
Unranked Baylor 24, No. 5 Arkansas 17
AP evidence · primary
Opponent strength 42/50 · Rank gap 42/50
Market evidence · supporting
No betting line · Pregame win chance —
84
AP score
- Historic upsetWeek 12Home
Unranked Washington State 24, No. 5 Washington 20
AP evidence · primary
Opponent strength 42/50 · Rank gap 42/50
Market evidence · supporting
No betting line · Pregame win chance —
84
AP score
- Historic upsetWeek 11Home
Unranked Mississippi State 27, No. 6 LSU 24
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 13Home
Unranked Arizona 28, No. 6 Arizona State 18
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 13Road
Unranked Tulane 31, No. 7 LSU 28
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 2Road
Unranked West Virginia 41, No. 9 Oklahoma 27
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 7Road
Unranked Arizona 16, No. 9 Notre Dame 13
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 9Road
Unranked Maryland 31, No. 10 North Carolina 24
AP evidence · primary
Opponent strength 32/50 · Rank gap 32/50
Market evidence · supporting
No betting line · Pregame win chance —
64
AP score
- Major upsetWeek 4Home
No. 8 Penn State 27, No. 2 Nebraska 24
AP evidence · primary
Opponent strength 48/50 · Rank gap 12/50
Market evidence · supporting
No betting line · Pregame win chance —
60
AP score
Full Game · Penn State vs. Nebraska (Full Broadcast)
- Major upsetPostseasonNeutral
No. 18 North Carolina 26, No. 8 Texas 10
AP evidence · primary
Opponent strength 36/50 · Rank gap 20/50
Market evidence · supporting
No betting line · Pregame win chance —
56
AP score
- Major upsetWeek 11Road
No. 7 Washington 17, No. 3 Arizona State 13
AP evidence · primary
Opponent strength 46/50 · Rank gap 8/50
Market evidence · supporting
No betting line · Pregame win chance —
54
AP score
- Major upsetPostseasonNeutral
No. 2 Penn State 27, No. 1 Georgia 23
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 14Home
No. 12 Texas 33, No. 6 Arkansas 7
AP evidence · primary
Opponent strength 40/50 · Rank gap 12/50
Market evidence · supporting
No betting line · Pregame win chance —
52
AP score
- Major upsetWeek 3Home
No. 20 Notre Dame 23, No. 10 Michigan 17
AP evidence · primary
Opponent strength 32/50 · Rank gap 20/50
Market evidence · supporting
No betting line · Pregame win chance —
52
AP score
- Major upsetWeek 4Road
Unranked Stanford 23, No. 13 Ohio State 20
AP evidence · primary
Opponent strength 26/50 · Rank gap 26/50
Market evidence · supporting
No betting line · Pregame win chance —
52
AP score
- Major upsetWeek 6Home
Unranked Oklahoma 28, No. 13 Texas 22
AP evidence · primary
Opponent strength 26/50 · Rank gap 26/50
Market evidence · supporting
No betting line · Pregame win chance —
52
AP score
- Major upsetWeek 12Home
Unranked Ohio State 24, No. 13 Michigan 14
AP evidence · primary
Opponent strength 26/50 · Rank gap 26/50
Market evidence · supporting
No betting line · Pregame win chance —
52
AP score
- Major upsetWeek 6Home
No. 4 Alabama 42, No. 3 Penn State 21
AP evidence · primary
Opponent strength 46/50 · Rank gap 2/50
Market evidence · supporting
No betting line · Pregame win chance —
48
AP score
- Major upsetWeek 12Home
No. 12 LSU 55, No. 7 Florida State 21
AP evidence · primary
Opponent strength 38/50 · Rank gap 10/50
Market evidence · supporting
No betting line · Pregame win chance —
48
AP score
- Major upsetWeek 6Home
Unranked Vanderbilt 31, No. 14 Florida 29
AP evidence · primary
Opponent strength 24/50 · Rank gap 24/50
Market evidence · supporting
No betting line · Pregame win chance —
48
AP score
- UpsetWeek 7Road
Unranked Ohio State 26, No. 15 Illinois 21
AP evidence · primary
Opponent strength 22/50 · Rank gap 22/50
Market evidence · supporting
No betting line · Pregame win chance —
44
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.