AP upset archive
Biggest College Football Upsets of 1997
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
16
Unranked winners
0
Market-confirmed
Top 25 AP upsets
- Historic upsetWeek 15Home
Unranked Michigan State 49, No. 4 Penn State 14
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 12Road
Unranked Oregon 31, No. 6 Washington 28
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 8Home
No. 14 LSU 28, No. 1 Florida 21
AP evidence · primary
Opponent strength 50/50 · Rank gap 26/50
Market evidence · supporting
No betting line · Pregame win chance —
76
AP score
- Major upsetWeek 9Road
Unranked Ole Miss 36, No. 8 LSU 21
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 14Home
No. 10 Florida 32, No. 2 Florida State 29
AP evidence · primary
Opponent strength 48/50 · Rank gap 16/50
Market evidence · supporting
No betting line · Pregame win chance —
64
AP score
- Major upsetWeek 4Road
Unranked UCLA 66, No. 11 Texas 3
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 5Road
Unranked Arkansas 17, No. 11 Alabama 16
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 11Road
Unranked Mississippi State 20, No. 11 Auburn 0
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 13Road
Unranked Notre Dame 24, No. 11 LSU 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 5Road
No. 7 Nebraska 27, No. 2 Washington 14
AP evidence · primary
Opponent strength 48/50 · Rank gap 10/50
Market evidence · supporting
No betting line · Pregame win chance —
58
AP score
- Major upsetWeek 11Home
No. 14 Georgia 37, No. 6 Florida 17
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 13Road
No. 16 Auburn 45, No. 7 Georgia 34
AP evidence · primary
Opponent strength 38/50 · Rank gap 18/50
Market evidence · supporting
No betting line · Pregame win chance —
56
AP score
- Major upsetWeek 4Home
Unranked Purdue 28, No. 12 Notre Dame 17
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 9Home
Unranked Northwestern 19, No. 12 Michigan State 17
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 10Road
Unranked Missouri 51, No. 12 Oklahoma State 50
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 12Home
Unranked Wisconsin 13, No. 12 Iowa 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 15Road
Unranked Arizona 28, No. 12 Arizona State 16
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 12Road
No. 4 Michigan 34, No. 2 Penn State 8
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 11Home
No. 20 Arizona State 44, No. 10 Washington State 31
AP evidence · primary
Opponent strength 32/50 · Rank gap 20/50
Market evidence · supporting
No betting line · Pregame win chance —
52
AP score
- Major upsetWeek 2Road
Unranked NC State 32, No. 13 Syracuse 31
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
No. 14 Michigan 27, No. 8 Colorado 3
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 4Road
No. 24 Arizona State 23, No. 13 Miami 12
AP evidence · primary
Opponent strength 26/50 · Rank gap 22/50
Market evidence · supporting
No betting line · Pregame win chance —
48
AP score
- Major upsetWeek 5Road
Unranked BYU 13, No. 14 Arizona State 10
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 7Road
Unranked Miami (OH) 24, No. 14 Virginia Tech 17
AP evidence · primary
Opponent strength 24/50 · Rank gap 24/50
Market evidence · supporting
No betting line · Pregame win chance —
48
AP score
- UpsetWeek 14Home
Unranked Arkansas 17, No. 15 Mississippi State 7
AP evidence · primary
Opponent strength 22/50 · Rank gap 22/50
Market evidence · supporting
No betting line · Pregame win chance —
44
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.