AP upset archive
Biggest College Football Upsets of 1996
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
12
Unranked winners
0
Market-confirmed
Top 25 AP upsets
- Historic upsetWeek 14Road
No. 21 Michigan 13, No. 2 Ohio State 9
AP evidence · primary
Opponent strength 48/50 · Rank gap 38/50
Market evidence · supporting
No betting line · Pregame win chance —
86
AP score
- Historic upsetWeek 5Home
No. 17 Arizona State 19, No. 1 Nebraska 0
AP evidence · primary
Opponent strength 50/50 · Rank gap 32/50
Market evidence · supporting
No betting line · Pregame win chance —
82
AP score
- Historic upsetWeek 12Home
Unranked Memphis 21, No. 6 Tennessee 17
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 13Home
No. 24 Virginia 20, No. 6 North Carolina 17
AP evidence · primary
Opponent strength 40/50 · Rank gap 36/50
Market evidence · supporting
No betting line · Pregame win chance —
76
AP score
- Historic upsetWeek 1Home
Unranked Penn State 24, No. 7 USC 7
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
No. 22 Northwestern 17, No. 6 Michigan 16
AP evidence · primary
Opponent strength 40/50 · Rank gap 32/50
Market evidence · supporting
No betting line · Pregame win chance —
72
AP score
- Major upsetWeek 9Road
Unranked Air Force 20, No. 8 Notre Dame 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
Unranked Mississippi State 17, No. 8 Alabama 16
AP evidence · primary
Opponent strength 36/50 · Rank gap 36/50
Market evidence · supporting
No betting line · Pregame win chance —
72
AP score
- Major upsetPostseasonNeutral
No. 20 Texas 37, No. 6 Nebraska 27
AP evidence · primary
Opponent strength 40/50 · Rank gap 28/50
Market evidence · supporting
No betting line · Pregame win chance —
68
AP score
Full Game · 1996 Texas vs. Nebraska (Big 12 Championship Game Full Game)
- Major upsetWeek 12Home
Unranked Purdue 9, No. 9 Michigan 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 3Road
No. 24 North Carolina 27, No. 9 Syracuse 10
AP evidence · primary
Opponent strength 34/50 · Rank gap 30/50
Market evidence · supporting
No betting line · Pregame win chance —
64
AP score
- Major upsetWeek 9Road
Unranked Iowa 21, No. 10 Penn State 20
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 15Home
Unranked USC 27, No. 10 Notre Dame 20
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 7Home
Unranked Georgia Tech 13, No. 12 Virginia 7
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 9Road
Unranked East Carolina 31, No. 12 Miami 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 upsetPostseasonNeutral
No. 3 Florida 52, No. 1 Florida State 20
AP evidence · primary
Opponent strength 50/50 · Rank gap 4/50
Market evidence · supporting
No betting line · Pregame win chance —
54
AP score
- Major upsetWeek 4Road
No. 11 Michigan 20, No. 5 Colorado 13
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 10Road
No. 25 Miami 10, No. 12 West Virginia 7
AP evidence · primary
Opponent strength 28/50 · Rank gap 26/50
Market evidence · supporting
No betting line · Pregame win chance —
54
AP score
- Major upsetWeek 15Home
No. 2 Florida State 24, No. 1 Florida 21
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 5Road
No. 4 Florida 35, No. 2 Tennessee 29
AP evidence · primary
Opponent strength 48/50 · Rank gap 4/50
Market evidence · supporting
No betting line · Pregame win chance —
52
AP score
Full Game · Florida at Tennessee (Full Game)
- Major upsetPostseasonNeutral
No. 4 Ohio State 20, No. 2 Arizona State 17
AP evidence · primary
Opponent strength 48/50 · Rank gap 4/50
Market evidence · supporting
No betting line · Pregame win chance —
52
AP score
- Major upsetWeek 1Home
Unranked BYU 41, No. 13 Texas A&M 37
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 3Home
Unranked Wake Forest 28, No. 13 Northwestern 27
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 4Home
Unranked Washington 29, No. 14 BYU 17
AP evidence · primary
Opponent strength 24/50 · Rank gap 24/50
Market evidence · supporting
No betting line · Pregame win chance —
48
AP score
- Major upsetWeek 5Road
No. 9 Notre Dame 27, No. 6 Texas 24
AP evidence · primary
Opponent strength 40/50 · Rank gap 6/50
Market evidence · supporting
No betting line · Pregame win chance —
46
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.