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AP upset archive

Biggest College Football Upsets of 2005

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

  1. Historic upsetWeek 12Road

    Unranked Georgia Tech 14, No. 3 Miami 10

    AP evidence · primary

    Opponent strength 46/50 · Rank gap 46/50

    Market evidence · supporting

    No betting line · Pregame win chance —

    View game details →

    92

    AP score

  2. Historic upsetWeek 7Home

    Unranked Virginia 26, No. 4 Florida State 21

    AP evidence · primary

    Opponent strength 44/50 · Rank gap 44/50

    Market evidence · supporting

    No betting line · Pregame win chance —

    View game details →

    88

    AP score

  3. Historic upsetWeek 2Road

    No. 20 Notre Dame 17, No. 3 Michigan 10

    AP evidence · primary

    Opponent strength 46/50 · Rank gap 34/50

    Market evidence · supporting

    No betting line · Pregame win chance —

    View game details →

    80

    AP score

  4. Historic upsetWeek 14Home

    No. 22 Florida State 27, No. 5 Virginia Tech 22

    AP evidence · primary

    Opponent strength 42/50 · Rank gap 34/50

    Market evidence · supporting

    No betting line · Pregame win chance —

    View game details →

    76

    AP score

    Full Game · 2005 Florida State vs. Virginia Tech (ACC Championship Game Full Game)

  5. Historic upsetWeek 10Home

    Unranked Arizona 52, No. 7 UCLA 14

    AP evidence · primary

    Opponent strength 38/50 · Rank gap 38/50

    Market evidence · supporting

    No betting line · Pregame win chance —

    View game details →

    76

    AP score

  6. Major upsetWeek 2Home

    Unranked Iowa State 23, No. 8 Iowa 3

    AP evidence · primary

    Opponent strength 36/50 · Rank gap 36/50

    Market evidence · supporting

    No betting line · Pregame win chance —

    View game details →

    72

    AP score

  7. Major upsetWeek 7Home

    Unranked Michigan 27, No. 8 Penn State 25

    AP evidence · primary

    Opponent strength 36/50 · Rank gap 36/50

    Market evidence · supporting

    No betting line · Pregame win chance —

    View game details →

    72

    AP score

  8. Major upsetWeek 9Home

    No. 16 Florida 14, No. 4 Georgia 10

    AP evidence · primary

    Opponent strength 44/50 · Rank gap 24/50

    Market evidence · supporting

    No betting line · Pregame win chance —

    View game details →

    68

    AP score

  9. Major upsetWeek 4Home

    Unranked South Florida 45, No. 9 Louisville 14

    AP evidence · primary

    Opponent strength 34/50 · Rank gap 34/50

    Market evidence · supporting

    No betting line · Pregame win chance —

    View game details →

    68

    AP score

  10. Major upsetWeek 10Road

    Unranked NC State 20, No. 9 Florida State 15

    AP evidence · primary

    Opponent strength 34/50 · Rank gap 34/50

    Market evidence · supporting

    No betting line · Pregame win chance —

    View game details →

    68

    AP score

  11. Major upsetWeek 14Road

    No. 13 Georgia 34, No. 3 LSU 14

    AP evidence · primary

    Opponent strength 46/50 · Rank gap 20/50

    Market evidence · supporting

    No betting line · Pregame win chance —

    View game details →

    66

    AP score

    Full Game · 2005 LSU vs. Georgia (SEC Championship Game Full Game)

  12. Major upsetWeek 3Road

    Unranked Michigan State 44, No. 10 Notre Dame 41

    AP evidence · primary

    Opponent strength 32/50 · Rank gap 32/50

    Market evidence · supporting

    No betting line · Pregame win chance —

    View game details →

    64

    AP score

  13. Major upsetWeek 5Home

    No. 15 Alabama 31, No. 5 Florida 3

    AP evidence · primary

    Opponent strength 42/50 · Rank gap 20/50

    Market evidence · supporting

    No betting line · Pregame win chance —

    View game details →

    62

    AP score

  14. Major upsetPostseasonHome

    No. 21 Oklahoma 17, No. 8 Oregon 14

    AP evidence · primary

    Opponent strength 36/50 · Rank gap 26/50

    Market evidence · supporting

    No betting line · Pregame win chance —

    View game details →

    62

    AP score

  15. Major upsetWeek 4Road

    No. 10 Tennessee 30, No. 3 LSU 27

    AP evidence · primary

    Opponent strength 46/50 · Rank gap 14/50

    Market evidence · supporting

    No betting line · Pregame win chance —

    View game details →

    60

    AP score

    Full Game · 2005 LSU vs. Tennessee (Regular Season Full Game)

  16. Major upsetWeek 6Home

    No. 16 Penn State 17, No. 6 Ohio State 10

    AP evidence · primary

    Opponent strength 40/50 · Rank gap 20/50

    Market evidence · supporting

    No betting line · Pregame win chance —

    View game details →

    60

    AP score

  17. Major upsetWeek 4Home

    Unranked Minnesota 42, No. 11 Purdue 35

    AP evidence · primary

    Opponent strength 30/50 · Rank gap 30/50

    Market evidence · supporting

    No betting line · Pregame win chance —

    View game details →

    60

    AP score

  18. Major upsetWeek 5Road

    Unranked Michigan 34, No. 11 Michigan State 31

    AP evidence · primary

    Opponent strength 30/50 · Rank gap 30/50

    Market evidence · supporting

    No betting line · Pregame win chance —

    View game details →

    60

    AP score

  19. Major upsetCapital One BowlRoad

    No. 21 Wisconsin 24, No. 9 Auburn 10

    AP evidence · primary

    Opponent strength 34/50 · Rank gap 24/50

    Market evidence · supporting

    No betting line · Pregame win chance —

    View game details →

    58

    AP score

  20. Major upsetWeek 11Home

    Unranked South Carolina 30, No. 12 Florida 22

    AP evidence · primary

    Opponent strength 28/50 · Rank gap 28/50

    Market evidence · supporting

    No betting line · Pregame win chance —

    View game details →

    56

    AP score

  21. Major upsetThe Rose Bowl Game presented by CitiHome

    No. 2 Texas 41, No. 1 USC 38

    AP evidence · primary

    Opponent strength 50/50 · Rank gap 2/50

    Market evidence · supporting

    No betting line · Pregame win chance —

    View game details →

    52

    AP score

    Full Game · 2005 Texas vs. USC (Rose Bowl Full Game)

  22. Major upsetWeek 6Home

    No. 20 UCLA 47, No. 10 California 40

    AP evidence · primary

    Opponent strength 32/50 · Rank gap 20/50

    Market evidence · supporting

    No betting line · Pregame win chance —

    View game details →

    52

    AP score

  23. Major upsetWeek 11Home

    Unranked Oklahoma State 24, No. 13 Texas Tech 17

    AP evidence · primary

    Opponent strength 26/50 · Rank gap 26/50

    Market evidence · supporting

    No betting line · Pregame win chance —

    View game details →

    52

    AP score

  24. Major upsetWeek 10Road

    No. 5 Miami 27, No. 3 Virginia Tech 7

    AP evidence · primary

    Opponent strength 46/50 · Rank gap 4/50

    Market evidence · supporting

    No betting line · Pregame win chance —

    View game details →

    50

    AP score

    Full Game · 2005 Virginia Tech vs. Miami (Regular Season Full Game)

  25. Major upsetWeek 4Home

    Unranked Wisconsin 23, No. 14 Michigan 20

    AP evidence · primary

    Opponent strength 24/50 · Rank gap 24/50

    Market evidence · supporting

    No betting line · Pregame win chance —

    View game details →

    48

    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.