← Games

AP upset archive

Biggest College Football Upsets of 1986

The season's 21 strongest AP-defined upsets, led by the quality of the ranked team defeated and the game-time ranking gap.

21

Upsets ranked

9

Unranked winners

0

Market-confirmed

Top 21 AP upsets

  1. Historic upsetWeek 12Road

    Unranked Minnesota 20, No. 6 Michigan 17

    AP evidence · primary

    Opponent strength 40/50 · Rank gap 40/50

    Market evidence · supporting

    No betting line · Pregame win chance —

    80

    AP score

  2. Major upsetWeek 9Home

    Unranked Colorado 20, No. 9 Nebraska 10

    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 upsetWeek 10Home

    Unranked Florida 18, No. 9 Auburn 17

    AP evidence · primary

    Opponent strength 34/50 · Rank gap 34/50

    Market evidence · supporting

    No betting line · Pregame win chance —

    68

    AP score

  4. Major upsetPostseasonNeutral

    No. 2 Penn State 14, No. 1 Miami 10

    AP evidence · primary

    Opponent strength 50/50 · Rank gap 2/50

    Market evidence · supporting

    No betting line · Pregame win chance —

    52

    AP score

    Full Game · 1986 Penn State vs. Miami (Bowl Full Game)

  5. Major upsetPostseasonNeutral

    No. 7 Arizona State 22, No. 4 Michigan 15

    AP evidence · primary

    Opponent strength 44/50 · Rank gap 6/50

    Market evidence · supporting

    No betting line · Pregame win chance —

    50

    AP score

  6. Major upsetWeek 7Road

    Unranked Texas Tech 17, No. 14 Arkansas 7

    AP evidence · primary

    Opponent strength 24/50 · Rank gap 24/50

    Market evidence · supporting

    No betting line · Pregame win chance —

    48

    AP score

  7. UpsetPostseasonNeutral

    No. 6 Nebraska 30, No. 5 LSU 15

    AP evidence · primary

    Opponent strength 42/50 · Rank gap 2/50

    Market evidence · supporting

    No betting line · Pregame win chance —

    44

    AP score

  8. UpsetWeek 13Home

    No. 12 Arizona 34, No. 8 Arizona State 17

    AP evidence · primary

    Opponent strength 36/50 · Rank gap 8/50

    Market evidence · supporting

    No betting line · Pregame win chance —

    44

    AP score

  9. UpsetWeek 7Home

    Unranked Washington State 34, No. 15 USC 14

    AP evidence · primary

    Opponent strength 22/50 · Rank gap 22/50

    Market evidence · supporting

    No betting line · Pregame win chance —

    44

    AP score

  10. UpsetPostseasonNeutral

    No. 11 Ohio State 28, No. 8 Texas A&M 12

    AP evidence · primary

    Opponent strength 36/50 · Rank gap 6/50

    Market evidence · supporting

    No betting line · Pregame win chance —

    42

    AP score

  11. UpsetPostseasonNeutral

    No. 15 UCLA 31, No. 11 BYU 10

    AP evidence · primary

    Opponent strength 30/50 · Rank gap 8/50

    Market evidence · supporting

    No betting line · Pregame win chance —

    38

    AP score

  12. UpsetPostseasonNeutral

    Unranked Boston College 27, No. 17 Georgia 24

    AP evidence · primary

    Opponent strength 18/50 · Rank gap 18/50

    Market evidence · supporting

    No betting line · Pregame win chance —

    36

    AP score

  13. UpsetWeek 11Road

    No. 12 LSU 14, No. 11 Alabama 10

    AP evidence · primary

    Opponent strength 30/50 · Rank gap 2/50

    Market evidence · supporting

    No betting line · Pregame win chance —

    32

    AP score

  14. UpsetWeek 12Road

    No. 20 Georgia 20, No. 15 Auburn 16

    AP evidence · primary

    Opponent strength 22/50 · Rank gap 10/50

    Market evidence · supporting

    No betting line · Pregame win chance —

    32

    AP score

  15. UpsetWeek 4Road

    Unranked Miami (OH) 21, No. 18 LSU 12

    AP evidence · primary

    Opponent strength 16/50 · Rank gap 16/50

    Market evidence · supporting

    No betting line · Pregame win chance —

    32

    AP score

  16. UpsetWeek 10Road

    Unranked Ole Miss 21, No. 18 LSU 19

    AP evidence · primary

    Opponent strength 16/50 · Rank gap 16/50

    Market evidence · supporting

    No betting line · Pregame win chance —

    32

    AP score

  17. UpsetPostseasonNeutral

    Unranked Virginia Tech 25, No. 18 NC State 24

    AP evidence · primary

    Opponent strength 16/50 · Rank gap 16/50

    Market evidence · supporting

    No betting line · Pregame win chance —

    32

    AP score

  18. UpsetPostseasonNeutral

    No. 13 Alabama 28, No. 12 Washington 6

    AP evidence · primary

    Opponent strength 28/50 · Rank gap 2/50

    Market evidence · supporting

    No betting line · Pregame win chance —

    30

    AP score

  19. UpsetWeek 14Home

    No. 20 Stanford 29, No. 16 Arizona 24

    AP evidence · primary

    Opponent strength 20/50 · Rank gap 8/50

    Market evidence · supporting

    No betting line · Pregame win chance —

    28

    AP score

  20. UpsetWeek 7Home

    No. 19 UCLA 32, No. 16 Arizona 25

    AP evidence · primary

    Opponent strength 20/50 · Rank gap 6/50

    Market evidence · supporting

    No betting line · Pregame win chance —

    26

    AP score

  21. UpsetWeek 11Home

    No. 18 Baylor 29, No. 17 Arkansas 14

    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.