AP upset archive
Biggest College Football Upsets of 1990
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
- Major upsetWeek 7Road
Unranked Stanford 36, No. 8 Notre Dame 31
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 12Road
Unranked UCLA 25, No. 10 Washington 22
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 8Road
No. 24 Michigan State 28, No. 10 Michigan 27
AP evidence · primary
Opponent strength 32/50 · Rank gap 28/50
Market evidence · supporting
No betting line · Pregame win chance —
60
AP score
- Major upsetWeek 9Road
Unranked Alabama 9, No. 11 Tennessee 6
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 6Home
No. 22 Oregon 32, No. 11 BYU 16
AP evidence · primary
Opponent strength 30/50 · Rank gap 22/50
Market evidence · supporting
No betting line · Pregame win chance —
52
AP score
- Major upsetWeek 15Home
Unranked Hawai'i 59, No. 13 BYU 28
AP evidence · primary
Opponent strength 26/50 · Rank gap 26/50
Market evidence · supporting
No betting line · Pregame win chance —
52
AP score
- Major upsetPostseasonNeutral
No. 25 Texas A&M 65, No. 13 BYU 14
AP evidence · primary
Opponent strength 26/50 · Rank gap 24/50
Market evidence · supporting
No betting line · Pregame win chance —
50
AP score
- Major upsetPostseasonNeutral
No. 4 Miami 46, No. 3 Texas 3
AP evidence · primary
Opponent strength 46/50 · Rank gap 2/50
Market evidence · supporting
No betting line · Pregame win chance —
48
AP score
- Major upsetWeek 13Road
No. 11 Penn State 24, No. 7 Notre Dame 21
AP evidence · primary
Opponent strength 38/50 · Rank gap 8/50
Market evidence · supporting
No betting line · Pregame win chance —
46
AP score
- UpsetWeek 12Road
No. 21 Ohio State 27, No. 13 Iowa 26
AP evidence · primary
Opponent strength 26/50 · Rank gap 16/50
Market evidence · supporting
No betting line · Pregame win chance —
42
AP score
- UpsetWeek 13Road
Unranked Maryland 35, No. 17 Virginia 30
AP evidence · primary
Opponent strength 18/50 · Rank gap 18/50
Market evidence · supporting
No betting line · Pregame win chance —
36
AP score
- UpsetWeek 14Home
Unranked Minnesota 31, No. 18 Iowa 24
AP evidence · primary
Opponent strength 16/50 · Rank gap 16/50
Market evidence · supporting
No betting line · Pregame win chance —
32
AP score
- UpsetWeek 6Home
Unranked LSU 17, No. 19 Texas A&M 8
AP evidence · primary
Opponent strength 14/50 · Rank gap 14/50
Market evidence · supporting
No betting line · Pregame win chance —
28
AP score
- UpsetWeek 8Home
No. 19 Texas 14, No. 16 Oklahoma 13
AP evidence · primary
Opponent strength 20/50 · Rank gap 6/50
Market evidence · supporting
No betting line · Pregame win chance —
26
AP score
- UpsetPostseasonNeutral
Unranked Colorado State 32, No. 20 Oregon 31
AP evidence · primary
Opponent strength 12/50 · Rank gap 12/50
Market evidence · supporting
No betting line · Pregame win chance —
24
AP score
- UpsetWeek 14Home
No. 22 Oklahoma 45, No. 19 Nebraska 10
AP evidence · primary
Opponent strength 14/50 · Rank gap 6/50
Market evidence · supporting
No betting line · Pregame win chance —
20
AP score
- UpsetWeek 9Road
Unranked Iowa State 33, No. 22 Oklahoma 31
AP evidence · primary
Opponent strength 8/50 · Rank gap 8/50
Market evidence · supporting
No betting line · Pregame win chance —
16
AP score
- UpsetWeek 9Road
No. 23 Arizona 35, No. 21 USC 26
AP evidence · primary
Opponent strength 10/50 · Rank gap 4/50
Market evidence · supporting
No betting line · Pregame win chance —
14
AP score
- UpsetPostseasonNeutral
No. 22 Michigan State 17, No. 21 USC 16
AP evidence · primary
Opponent strength 10/50 · Rank gap 2/50
Market evidence · supporting
No betting line · Pregame win chance —
12
AP score
- UpsetWeek 5Road
Unranked Ole Miss 21, No. 23 Arkansas 17
AP evidence · primary
Opponent strength 6/50 · Rank gap 6/50
Market evidence · supporting
No betting line · Pregame win chance —
12
AP score
- UpsetPostseasonNeutral
Unranked Syracuse 28, No. 23 Arizona 0
AP evidence · primary
Opponent strength 6/50 · Rank gap 6/50
Market evidence · supporting
No betting line · Pregame win chance —
12
AP score
- UpsetPostseasonNeutral
Unranked NC State 31, No. 23 Southern Miss 27
AP evidence · primary
Opponent strength 6/50 · Rank gap 6/50
Market evidence · supporting
No betting line · Pregame win chance —
12
AP score
- UpsetPostseasonNeutral
Unranked Air Force 23, No. 24 Ohio State 11
AP evidence · primary
Opponent strength 4/50 · Rank gap 4/50
Market evidence · supporting
No betting line · Pregame win chance —
8
AP score
- UpsetWeek 12Road
No. 25 Southern Miss 13, No. 24 Auburn 12
AP evidence · primary
Opponent strength 4/50 · Rank gap 2/50
Market evidence · supporting
No betting line · Pregame win chance —
6
AP score
- UpsetWeek 6Road
Unranked California 30, No. 25 Arizona 25
AP evidence · primary
Opponent strength 2/50 · Rank gap 2/50
Market evidence · supporting
No betting line · Pregame win chance —
4
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.