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AP upset archive

Biggest College Football Upsets of 1983

The season's 20 strongest AP-defined upsets, led by the quality of the ranked team defeated and the game-time ranking gap.

20

Upsets ranked

13

Unranked winners

0

Market-confirmed

Top 20 AP upsets

  1. Historic upsetWeek 1Home

    Unranked Nebraska 44, No. 4 Penn State 6

    AP evidence · primary

    Opponent strength 44/50 · Rank gap 44/50

    Market evidence · supporting

    No betting line · Pregame win chance —

    88

    AP score

  2. Historic upsetPostseasonNeutral

    Unranked UCLA 45, No. 4 Illinois 9

    AP evidence · primary

    Opponent strength 44/50 · Rank gap 44/50

    Market evidence · supporting

    No betting line · Pregame win chance —

    88

    AP score

  3. Major upsetPostseasonNeutral

    No. 19 Alabama 28, No. 6 SMU 7

    AP evidence · primary

    Opponent strength 40/50 · Rank gap 26/50

    Market evidence · supporting

    No betting line · Pregame win chance —

    66

    AP score

  4. Major upsetWeek 7Home

    Unranked Penn State 34, No. 11 Alabama 28

    AP evidence · primary

    Opponent strength 30/50 · Rank gap 30/50

    Market evidence · supporting

    No betting line · Pregame win chance —

    60

    AP score

  5. Major upsetPostseasonNeutral

    No. 5 Miami 31, No. 1 Nebraska 30

    AP evidence · primary

    Opponent strength 50/50 · Rank gap 8/50

    Market evidence · supporting

    No betting line · Pregame win chance —

    58

    AP score

    Full Game · 1983 Miami vs. Nebraska (Bowl Full Game)

  6. Major upsetPostseasonNeutral

    No. 7 Georgia 10, No. 2 Texas 9

    AP evidence · primary

    Opponent strength 48/50 · Rank gap 10/50

    Market evidence · supporting

    No betting line · Pregame win chance —

    58

    AP score

  7. Major upsetWeek 9Home

    Unranked Penn State 41, No. 12 West Virginia 23

    AP evidence · primary

    Opponent strength 28/50 · Rank gap 28/50

    Market evidence · supporting

    No betting line · Pregame win chance —

    56

    AP score

  8. Major upsetWeek 4Road

    Unranked Michigan State 28, No. 13 Notre Dame 23

    AP evidence · primary

    Opponent strength 26/50 · Rank gap 26/50

    Market evidence · supporting

    No betting line · Pregame win chance —

    52

    AP score

  9. UpsetPostseasonNeutral

    Unranked Tennessee 30, No. 16 Maryland 23

    AP evidence · primary

    Opponent strength 20/50 · Rank gap 20/50

    Market evidence · supporting

    No betting line · Pregame win chance —

    40

    AP score

  10. UpsetPostseasonNeutral

    No. 18 Notre Dame 19, No. 13 Boston College 18

    AP evidence · primary

    Opponent strength 26/50 · Rank gap 10/50

    Market evidence · supporting

    No betting line · Pregame win chance —

    36

    AP score

  11. UpsetPostseasonNeutral

    No. 11 Florida 14, No. 10 Iowa 6

    AP evidence · primary

    Opponent strength 32/50 · Rank gap 2/50

    Market evidence · supporting

    No betting line · Pregame win chance —

    34

    AP score

  12. UpsetPostseasonNeutral

    No. 20 Penn State 13, No. 15 Washington 10

    AP evidence · primary

    Opponent strength 22/50 · Rank gap 10/50

    Market evidence · supporting

    No betting line · Pregame win chance —

    32

    AP score

  13. UpsetWeek 12Home

    Unranked Syracuse 21, No. 18 Boston College 10

    AP evidence · primary

    Opponent strength 16/50 · Rank gap 16/50

    Market evidence · supporting

    No betting line · Pregame win chance —

    32

    AP score

  14. UpsetWeek 6Home

    No. 19 Illinois 33, No. 15 Iowa 0

    AP evidence · primary

    Opponent strength 22/50 · Rank gap 8/50

    Market evidence · supporting

    No betting line · Pregame win chance —

    30

    AP score

  15. UpsetWeek 8Road

    Unranked Oregon 19, No. 19 Arizona 10

    AP evidence · primary

    Opponent strength 14/50 · Rank gap 14/50

    Market evidence · supporting

    No betting line · Pregame win chance —

    28

    AP score

  16. UpsetWeek 13Home

    Unranked Syracuse 27, No. 19 West Virginia 16

    AP evidence · primary

    Opponent strength 14/50 · Rank gap 14/50

    Market evidence · supporting

    No betting line · Pregame win chance —

    28

    AP score

  17. UpsetWeek 4Home

    Unranked Tulane 34, No. 20 Florida State 28

    AP evidence · primary

    Opponent strength 12/50 · Rank gap 12/50

    Market evidence · supporting

    No betting line · Pregame win chance —

    24

    AP score

  18. UpsetWeek 8Road

    Unranked Tennessee 41, No. 20 Alabama 34

    AP evidence · primary

    Opponent strength 12/50 · Rank gap 12/50

    Market evidence · supporting

    No betting line · Pregame win chance —

    24

    AP score

  19. UpsetWeek 10Home

    Unranked UCLA 27, No. 20 Washington 24

    AP evidence · primary

    Opponent strength 12/50 · Rank gap 12/50

    Market evidence · supporting

    No betting line · Pregame win chance —

    24

    AP score

  20. UpsetPostseasonNeutral

    Unranked Oklahoma State 24, No. 20 Baylor 14

    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.