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AP upset archive

Biggest College Football Upsets of 1984

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

  1. Major upsetWeek 6Home

    Unranked Syracuse 17, No. 8 Nebraska 9

    AP evidence · primary

    Opponent strength 36/50 · Rank gap 36/50

    Market evidence · supporting

    No betting line · Pregame win chance

    72

    AP score

  2. Major upsetWeek 13Home

    Unranked Navy 38, No. 9 South Carolina 21

    AP evidence · primary

    Opponent strength 34/50 · Rank gap 34/50

    Market evidence · supporting

    No betting line · Pregame win chance

    68

    AP score

  3. Major upsetPostseasonNeutral

    No. 18 USC 20, No. 6 Ohio State 17

    AP evidence · primary

    Opponent strength 40/50 · Rank gap 24/50

    Market evidence · supporting

    No betting line · Pregame win chance

    64

    AP score

  4. Major upsetWeek 10Home

    Unranked Kansas 28, No. 10 Oklahoma 11

    AP evidence · primary

    Opponent strength 32/50 · Rank gap 32/50

    Market evidence · supporting

    No betting line · Pregame win chance

    64

    AP score

  5. Major upsetWeek 12Road

    Unranked Houston 29, No. 10 Texas 15

    AP evidence · primary

    Opponent strength 32/50 · Rank gap 32/50

    Market evidence · supporting

    No betting line · Pregame win chance

    64

    AP score

  6. Major upsetPostseasonNeutral

    No. 4 Washington 28, No. 2 Oklahoma 17

    AP evidence · primary

    Opponent strength 48/50 · Rank gap 4/50

    Market evidence · supporting

    No betting line · Pregame win chance

    52

    AP score

  7. Major upsetWeek 14Home

    Unranked Baylor 24, No. 13 Texas 10

    AP evidence · primary

    Opponent strength 26/50 · Rank gap 26/50

    Market evidence · supporting

    No betting line · Pregame win chance

    52

    AP score

  8. Major upsetWeek 7Home

    No. 14 Purdue 28, No. 8 Ohio State 23

    AP evidence · primary

    Opponent strength 36/50 · Rank gap 12/50

    Market evidence · supporting

    No betting line · Pregame win chance

    48

    AP score

  9. Major upsetWeek 9Road

    Unranked Houston 29, No. 14 SMU 20

    AP evidence · primary

    Opponent strength 24/50 · Rank gap 24/50

    Market evidence · supporting

    No betting line · Pregame win chance

    48

    AP score

  10. Major upsetWeek 12Road

    Unranked Maryland 42, No. 14 Miami 40

    AP evidence · primary

    Opponent strength 24/50 · Rank gap 24/50

    Market evidence · supporting

    No betting line · Pregame win chance

    48

    AP score

    Full Game · Maryland at Miami: The 31-0 Comeback (Full Game)

  11. UpsetWeek 9Home

    No. 18 West Virginia 21, No. 11 Boston College 20

    AP evidence · primary

    Opponent strength 30/50 · Rank gap 14/50

    Market evidence · supporting

    No betting line · Pregame win chance

    44

    AP score

  12. UpsetWeek 10Road

    Unranked Notre Dame 30, No. 15 LSU 22

    AP evidence · primary

    Opponent strength 22/50 · Rank gap 22/50

    Market evidence · supporting

    No betting line · Pregame win chance

    44

    AP score

  13. UpsetPostseasonNeutral

    No. 9 Oklahoma State 21, No. 7 South Carolina 14

    AP evidence · primary

    Opponent strength 38/50 · Rank gap 4/50

    Market evidence · supporting

    No betting line · Pregame win chance

    42

    AP score

  14. UpsetWeek 10Home

    Unranked Wisconsin 16, No. 16 Ohio State 14

    AP evidence · primary

    Opponent strength 20/50 · Rank gap 20/50

    Market evidence · supporting

    No betting line · Pregame win chance

    40

    AP score

  15. UpsetWeek 11Home

    Unranked Penn State 37, No. 16 Boston College 30

    AP evidence · primary

    Opponent strength 20/50 · Rank gap 20/50

    Market evidence · supporting

    No betting line · Pregame win chance

    40

    AP score

  16. UpsetWeek 13Home

    Unranked Mississippi State 16, No. 16 LSU 14

    AP evidence · primary

    Opponent strength 20/50 · Rank gap 20/50

    Market evidence · supporting

    No betting line · Pregame win chance

    40

    AP score

  17. UpsetWeek 15Home

    Unranked Alabama 17, No. 16 Auburn 15

    AP evidence · primary

    Opponent strength 20/50 · Rank gap 20/50

    Market evidence · supporting

    No betting line · Pregame win chance

    40

    AP score

  18. UpsetWeek 13Home

    No. 19 UCLA 29, No. 14 USC 10

    AP evidence · primary

    Opponent strength 24/50 · Rank gap 10/50

    Market evidence · supporting

    No betting line · Pregame win chance

    34

    AP score

  19. UpsetPostseasonNeutral

    No. 19 Virginia 27, No. 14 Purdue 24

    AP evidence · primary

    Opponent strength 24/50 · Rank gap 10/50

    Market evidence · supporting

    No betting line · Pregame win chance

    34

    AP score

  20. UpsetPostseasonNeutral

    No. 14 UCLA 39, No. 13 Miami 37

    AP evidence · primary

    Opponent strength 26/50 · Rank gap 2/50

    Market evidence · supporting

    No betting line · Pregame win chance

    28

    AP score

  21. UpsetWeek 8Home

    Unranked Alabama 6, No. 19 Penn State 0

    AP evidence · primary

    Opponent strength 14/50 · Rank gap 14/50

    Market evidence · supporting

    No betting line · Pregame win chance

    28

    AP score

  22. UpsetWeek 11Road

    Unranked Virginia 27, No. 19 West Virginia 7

    AP evidence · primary

    Opponent strength 14/50 · Rank gap 14/50

    Market evidence · supporting

    No betting line · Pregame win chance

    28

    AP score

  23. UpsetWeek 15Road

    Unranked Texas A&M 37, No. 19 Texas 12

    AP evidence · primary

    Opponent strength 14/50 · Rank gap 14/50

    Market evidence · supporting

    No betting line · Pregame win chance

    28

    AP score

  24. UpsetWeek 6Home

    Unranked South Carolina 17, No. 20 Georgia 10

    AP evidence · primary

    Opponent strength 12/50 · Rank gap 12/50

    Market evidence · supporting

    No betting line · Pregame win chance

    24

    AP score

  25. UpsetWeek 7Road

    Unranked NC State 27, No. 20 Georgia Tech 22

    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.