AP upset archive
Biggest College Football Upsets of 1989
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
14
Unranked winners
0
Market-confirmed
Top 25 AP upsets
- Historic upsetWeek 2Road
Unranked Tennessee 24, No. 6 UCLA 6
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 3Home
Unranked Arizona 6, No. 6 Oklahoma 3
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 1Home
Unranked Texas A&M 28, No. 7 LSU 16
AP evidence · primary
Opponent strength 38/50 · Rank gap 38/50
Market evidence · supporting
No betting line · Pregame win chance —
76
AP score
- Historic upsetWeek 5Home
Unranked Duke 21, No. 7 Clemson 17
AP evidence · primary
Opponent strength 38/50 · Rank gap 38/50
Market evidence · supporting
No betting line · Pregame win chance —
76
AP score
- Historic upsetWeek 8Road
Unranked Texas 24, No. 7 Arkansas 20
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 7Home
Unranked Texas A&M 17, No. 8 Houston 13
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 6Road
Unranked Virginia Tech 12, No. 9 West Virginia 10
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 14Home
No. 11 Auburn 30, No. 2 Alabama 20
AP evidence · primary
Opponent strength 48/50 · Rank gap 18/50
Market evidence · supporting
No betting line · Pregame win chance —
66
AP score
- Major upsetPostseasonNeutral
No. 12 USC 17, No. 3 Michigan 10
AP evidence · primary
Opponent strength 46/50 · Rank gap 18/50
Market evidence · supporting
No betting line · Pregame win chance —
64
AP score
- Major upsetWeek 13Home
No. 7 Miami 27, No. 1 Notre Dame 10
AP evidence · primary
Opponent strength 50/50 · Rank gap 12/50
Market evidence · supporting
No betting line · Pregame win chance —
62
AP score
- Major upsetWeek 9Home
No. 9 Florida State 24, No. 2 Miami 10
AP evidence · primary
Opponent strength 48/50 · Rank gap 14/50
Market evidence · supporting
No betting line · Pregame win chance —
62
AP score
- Major upsetWeek 5Home
No. 12 Tennessee 21, No. 4 Auburn 14
AP evidence · primary
Opponent strength 44/50 · Rank gap 16/50
Market evidence · supporting
No betting line · Pregame win chance —
60
AP score
- Major upsetPostseasonNeutral
No. 4 Notre Dame 21, No. 1 Colorado 6
AP evidence · primary
Opponent strength 50/50 · Rank gap 6/50
Market evidence · supporting
No betting line · Pregame win chance —
56
AP score
- Major upsetWeek 2Road
Unranked Virginia 14, No. 12 Penn State 6
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 8Home
Unranked Clemson 30, No. 12 NC State 10
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 4Home
No. 23 Arizona 20, No. 11 Washington 17
AP evidence · primary
Opponent strength 30/50 · Rank gap 24/50
Market evidence · supporting
No betting line · Pregame win chance —
54
AP score
- Major upsetWeek 8Home
No. 10 Alabama 47, No. 6 Tennessee 30
AP evidence · primary
Opponent strength 40/50 · Rank gap 8/50
Market evidence · supporting
No betting line · Pregame win chance —
48
AP score
- Major upsetWeek 7Road
Unranked Georgia Tech 30, No. 14 Clemson 14
AP evidence · primary
Opponent strength 24/50 · Rank gap 24/50
Market evidence · supporting
No betting line · Pregame win chance —
48
AP score
- UpsetWeek 2Home
Unranked Washington 19, No. 15 Texas A&M 6
AP evidence · primary
Opponent strength 22/50 · Rank gap 22/50
Market evidence · supporting
No betting line · Pregame win chance —
44
AP score
- UpsetWeek 7Home
Unranked Texas 28, No. 15 Oklahoma 24
AP evidence · primary
Opponent strength 22/50 · Rank gap 22/50
Market evidence · supporting
No betting line · Pregame win chance —
44
AP score
- UpsetWeek 10Home
Unranked California 29, No. 15 Arizona 28
AP evidence · primary
Opponent strength 22/50 · Rank gap 22/50
Market evidence · supporting
No betting line · Pregame win chance —
44
AP score
- UpsetWeek 4Home
No. 13 Pittsburgh 30, No. 10 Syracuse 23
AP evidence · primary
Opponent strength 32/50 · Rank gap 6/50
Market evidence · supporting
No betting line · Pregame win chance —
38
AP score
- UpsetWeek 8Home
No. 14 Florida State 22, No. 11 Auburn 14
AP evidence · primary
Opponent strength 30/50 · Rank gap 6/50
Market evidence · supporting
No betting line · Pregame win chance —
36
AP score
- UpsetWeek 8Road
No. 22 Arizona 23, No. 15 Washington State 21
AP evidence · primary
Opponent strength 22/50 · Rank gap 14/50
Market evidence · supporting
No betting line · Pregame win chance —
36
AP score
- UpsetWeek 5Home
Unranked Oregon 16, No. 17 Arizona 10
AP evidence · primary
Opponent strength 18/50 · Rank gap 18/50
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.