AP upset archive
Biggest College Football Upsets of 2002
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
20
Unranked winners
0
Market-confirmed
Top 25 AP upsets
- Historic upsetWeek 12Home
Unranked Texas A&M 30, No. 1 Oklahoma 26
AP evidence · primary
Opponent strength 50/50 · Rank gap 50/50
Market evidence · supporting
No betting line · Pregame win chance —
100
AP score
- Historic upsetWeek 11Road
Unranked Pittsburgh 28, No. 3 Virginia Tech 21
AP evidence · primary
Opponent strength 46/50 · Rank gap 46/50
Market evidence · supporting
No betting line · Pregame win chance —
92
AP score
- Historic upsetWeek 14Road
Unranked Washington 29, No. 3 Washington State 26
AP evidence · primary
Opponent strength 46/50 · Rank gap 46/50
Market evidence · supporting
No betting line · Pregame win chance —
92
AP score
- Historic upsetWeek 15Home
Unranked Oklahoma State 38, No. 3 Oklahoma 28
AP evidence · primary
Opponent strength 46/50 · Rank gap 46/50
Market evidence · supporting
No betting line · Pregame win chance —
92
AP score
- Historic upsetWeek 6Home
Unranked Louisville 26, No. 4 Florida State 20
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 11Road
Unranked Boston College 14, No. 4 Notre Dame 7
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 13Home
Unranked Texas Tech 42, No. 4 Texas 38
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 11Road
Unranked Florida 20, No. 5 Georgia 13
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 7Home
Unranked Ole Miss 17, No. 6 Florida 14
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 9Road
Unranked Arizona State 45, No. 6 Oregon 42
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 2Road
Unranked Colorado State 19, No. 7 Colorado 14
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 4Home
Unranked Penn State 40, No. 8 Nebraska 7
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 12Home
Unranked Syracuse 50, No. 8 Virginia Tech 42
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 14Road
Unranked Auburn 17, No. 9 Alabama 7
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 4Home
No. 20 Notre Dame 25, No. 7 Michigan 23
AP evidence · primary
Opponent strength 38/50 · Rank gap 26/50
Market evidence · supporting
No betting line · Pregame win chance —
64
AP score
- Major upsetWeek 10Home
Unranked Auburn 31, No. 10 LSU 7
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 11Road
Unranked Georgia Tech 24, No. 10 NC State 17
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 5Home
No. 25 Kansas State 27, No. 11 USC 20
AP evidence · primary
Opponent strength 30/50 · Rank gap 28/50
Market evidence · supporting
No betting line · Pregame win chance —
58
AP score
- Major upsetWeek 5Road
No. 10 Florida 30, No. 4 Tennessee 13
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 6Road
Unranked Iowa 42, No. 12 Penn State 35
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 7Road
Unranked California 34, No. 12 Washington 27
AP evidence · primary
Opponent strength 28/50 · Rank gap 28/50
Market evidence · supporting
No betting line · Pregame win chance —
56
AP score
- Major upsetAT TEMPE AZNeutral
No. 2 Ohio State 31, No. 1 Miami 24
AP evidence · primary
Opponent strength 50/50 · Rank gap 2/50
Market evidence · supporting
No betting line · Pregame win chance —
52
AP score
Full Game · 2002 Miami vs. Ohio State (Bowl Full Game)
- Major upsetCAPITAL ONE BOWLHome
No. 20 Auburn 13, No. 10 Penn State 9
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 7Home
Unranked Colorado 35, No. 13 Kansas State 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 14Road
Unranked West Virginia 21, No. 13 Virginia Tech 18
AP evidence · primary
Opponent strength 26/50 · Rank gap 26/50
Market evidence · supporting
No betting line · Pregame win chance —
52
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.