AP upset archive
Biggest College Football Upsets of 1988
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
13
Unranked winners
0
Market-confirmed
Top 25 AP upsets
- Historic upsetWeek 10Road
Unranked Washington State 34, No. 1 UCLA 30
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 LSU 7, No. 4 Auburn 6
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 5Home
Unranked Ohio State 36, No. 7 LSU 33
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 8Home
Unranked Georgia Tech 34, No. 8 South Carolina 0
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 2Home
Unranked Hawai'i 27, No. 9 Iowa 24
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 9Home
Unranked NC State 10, No. 9 Clemson 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 1Home
Unranked Nebraska 23, No. 10 Texas A&M 14
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 12Home
Unranked Houston 34, No. 10 Wyoming 10
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 2Home
No. 6 Miami 31, No. 1 Florida State 0
AP evidence · primary
Opponent strength 50/50 · Rank gap 10/50
Market evidence · supporting
No betting line · Pregame win chance —
60
AP score
- Major upsetWeek 4Road
No. 10 Florida State 24, No. 3 Clemson 21
AP evidence · primary
Opponent strength 46/50 · Rank gap 14/50
Market evidence · supporting
No betting line · Pregame win chance —
60
AP score
- Major upsetWeek 9Home
Unranked Kentucky 16, No. 11 Georgia 10
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 8Home
No. 4 Notre Dame 31, No. 1 Miami 30
AP evidence · primary
Opponent strength 50/50 · Rank gap 6/50
Market evidence · supporting
No betting line · Pregame win chance —
56
AP score
Full Game · Catholics vs. Convicts: Notre Dame vs. Miami (Full Game)
- Major upsetWeek 5Home
No. 14 South Carolina 23, No. 6 Georgia 10
AP evidence · primary
Opponent strength 40/50 · Rank gap 16/50
Market evidence · supporting
No betting line · Pregame win chance —
56
AP score
- Major upsetWeek 7Road
Unranked Ole Miss 22, No. 12 Alabama 12
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 3Home
No. 5 UCLA 41, No. 2 Nebraska 28
AP evidence · primary
Opponent strength 48/50 · Rank gap 6/50
Market evidence · supporting
No betting line · Pregame win chance —
54
AP score
- Major upsetPostseasonNeutral
No. 11 Michigan 22, No. 5 USC 14
AP evidence · primary
Opponent strength 42/50 · Rank gap 12/50
Market evidence · supporting
No betting line · Pregame win chance —
54
AP score
- Major upsetWeek 5Home
No. 5 USC 23, No. 3 Oklahoma 7
AP evidence · primary
Opponent strength 46/50 · Rank gap 4/50
Market evidence · supporting
No betting line · Pregame win chance —
50
AP score
- Major upsetWeek 7Road
Unranked Memphis 17, No. 14 Florida 11
AP evidence · primary
Opponent strength 24/50 · Rank gap 24/50
Market evidence · supporting
No betting line · Pregame win chance —
48
AP score
- UpsetWeek 3Road
Unranked Rutgers 17, No. 15 Michigan State 13
AP evidence · primary
Opponent strength 22/50 · Rank gap 22/50
Market evidence · supporting
No betting line · Pregame win chance —
44
AP score
- UpsetWeek 5Road
Unranked Rutgers 21, No. 15 Penn State 16
AP evidence · primary
Opponent strength 22/50 · Rank gap 22/50
Market evidence · supporting
No betting line · Pregame win chance —
44
AP score
- UpsetWeek 3Home
No. 13 Notre Dame 19, No. 9 Michigan 17
AP evidence · primary
Opponent strength 34/50 · Rank gap 8/50
Market evidence · supporting
No betting line · Pregame win chance —
42
AP score
- UpsetWeek 2Home
No. 17 LSU 27, No. 11 Texas A&M 0
AP evidence · primary
Opponent strength 30/50 · Rank gap 12/50
Market evidence · supporting
No betting line · Pregame win chance —
42
AP score
- UpsetPostseasonNeutral
No. 9 UCLA 17, No. 8 Arkansas 3
AP evidence · primary
Opponent strength 36/50 · Rank gap 2/50
Market evidence · supporting
No betting line · Pregame win chance —
38
AP score
- UpsetPostseasonNeutral
No. 13 Clemson 13, No. 10 Oklahoma 6
AP evidence · primary
Opponent strength 32/50 · Rank gap 6/50
Market evidence · supporting
No betting line · Pregame win chance —
38
AP score
- UpsetWeek 9Home
No. 20 Michigan 31, No. 14 Indiana 6
AP evidence · primary
Opponent strength 24/50 · Rank gap 12/50
Market evidence · supporting
No betting line · Pregame win chance —
36
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.