AP upset archive
Biggest College Football Upsets of 1991
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 3Home
Unranked USC 21, No. 5 Penn State 10
AP evidence · primary
Opponent strength 42/50 · Rank gap 42/50
Market evidence · supporting
No betting line · Pregame win chance —
84
AP score
- Historic upsetWeek 6Home
Unranked Georgia 27, No. 6 Clemson 12
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 7Home
Unranked Texas 10, No. 6 Oklahoma 7
AP evidence · primary
Opponent strength 40/50 · Rank gap 40/50
Market evidence · supporting
No betting line · Pregame win chance —
80
AP score
- Historic upsetPostseasonNeutral
No. 18 Notre Dame 39, No. 3 Florida 28
AP evidence · primary
Opponent strength 46/50 · Rank gap 30/50
Market evidence · supporting
No betting line · Pregame win chance —
76
AP score
- Major upsetWeek 1Home
Unranked Penn State 34, No. 8 Georgia Tech 22
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 7Road
Unranked Rice 20, No. 8 Baylor 17
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 13Home
No. 21 Stanford 38, No. 6 California 21
AP evidence · primary
Opponent strength 40/50 · Rank gap 30/50
Market evidence · supporting
No betting line · Pregame win chance —
70
AP score
- Major upsetWeek 4Home
No. 18 Syracuse 38, No. 5 Florida 21
AP evidence · primary
Opponent strength 42/50 · Rank gap 26/50
Market evidence · supporting
No betting line · Pregame win chance —
68
AP score
- Major upsetWeek 11Road
No. 13 Tennessee 35, No. 5 Notre Dame 34
AP evidence · primary
Opponent strength 42/50 · Rank gap 16/50
Market evidence · supporting
No betting line · Pregame win chance —
58
AP score
- Major upsetWeek 7Home
No. 10 Florida 35, No. 4 Tennessee 18
AP evidence · primary
Opponent strength 44/50 · Rank gap 12/50
Market evidence · supporting
No betting line · Pregame win chance —
56
AP score
- Major upsetWeek 12Road
No. 2 Miami 17, No. 1 Florida State 16
AP evidence · primary
Opponent strength 50/50 · Rank gap 2/50
Market evidence · supporting
No betting line · Pregame win chance —
52
AP score
- Major upsetWeek 2Home
Unranked Mississippi State 13, No. 13 Texas 6
AP evidence · primary
Opponent strength 26/50 · Rank gap 26/50
Market evidence · supporting
No betting line · Pregame win chance —
52
AP score
- Major upsetWeek 14Home
No. 5 Florida 14, No. 3 Florida State 9
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 3Road
No. 23 Baylor 16, No. 12 Colorado 14
AP evidence · primary
Opponent strength 28/50 · Rank gap 22/50
Market evidence · supporting
No betting line · Pregame win chance —
50
AP score
- Major upsetWeek 8Home
No. 14 Alabama 24, No. 8 Tennessee 19
AP evidence · primary
Opponent strength 36/50 · Rank gap 12/50
Market evidence · supporting
No betting line · Pregame win chance —
48
AP score
- Major upsetWeek 7Home
No. 20 Illinois 10, No. 11 Ohio State 7
AP evidence · primary
Opponent strength 30/50 · Rank gap 18/50
Market evidence · supporting
No betting line · Pregame win chance —
48
AP score
- Major upsetWeek 8Road
No. 22 Colorado 34, No. 12 Oklahoma 17
AP evidence · primary
Opponent strength 28/50 · Rank gap 20/50
Market evidence · supporting
No betting line · Pregame win chance —
48
AP score
- UpsetWeek 4Home
Unranked Tulsa 35, No. 15 Texas A&M 34
AP evidence · primary
Opponent strength 22/50 · Rank gap 22/50
Market evidence · supporting
No betting line · Pregame win chance —
44
AP score
- UpsetWeek 7Road
Unranked East Carolina 23, No. 15 Syracuse 20
AP evidence · primary
Opponent strength 22/50 · Rank gap 22/50
Market evidence · supporting
No betting line · Pregame win chance —
44
AP score
- UpsetWeek 9Home
No. 19 Clemson 29, No. 12 NC State 19
AP evidence · primary
Opponent strength 28/50 · Rank gap 14/50
Market evidence · supporting
No betting line · Pregame win chance —
42
AP score
- UpsetWeek 1Road
Unranked Memphis 24, No. 16 USC 10
AP evidence · primary
Opponent strength 20/50 · Rank gap 20/50
Market evidence · supporting
No betting line · Pregame win chance —
40
AP score
- UpsetWeek 6Road
Unranked Southern Miss 10, No. 16 Auburn 9
AP evidence · primary
Opponent strength 20/50 · Rank gap 20/50
Market evidence · supporting
No betting line · Pregame win chance —
40
AP score
- UpsetWeek 5Home
Unranked Stanford 28, No. 17 Colorado 21
AP evidence · primary
Opponent strength 18/50 · Rank gap 18/50
Market evidence · supporting
No betting line · Pregame win chance —
36
AP score
- UpsetWeek 8Home
Unranked Vanderbilt 27, No. 17 Georgia 25
AP evidence · primary
Opponent strength 18/50 · Rank gap 18/50
Market evidence · supporting
No betting line · Pregame win chance —
36
AP score
- UpsetWeek 9Home
Unranked Northwestern 17, No. 17 Illinois 11
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.