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AP upset archive

Biggest College Football Upsets of 2008

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

15

Unranked winners

0

Market-confirmed

Top 25 AP upsets

  1. Historic upsetWeek 5Home

    Unranked Oregon State 27, No. 1 USC 21

    AP evidence · primary

    Opponent strength 50/50 · Rank gap 50/50

    Market evidence · supporting

    No betting line · Pregame win chance —

    View game details →

    100

    AP score

  2. Historic upsetWeek 11Home

    Unranked Iowa 24, No. 3 Penn State 23

    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

  3. Historic upsetWeek 5Road

    Unranked Ole Miss 31, No. 4 Florida 30

    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

  4. Major upsetWeek 7Road

    No. 17 Oklahoma State 28, No. 3 Missouri 23

    AP evidence · primary

    Opponent strength 46/50 · Rank gap 28/50

    Market evidence · supporting

    No betting line · Pregame win chance —

    View game details →

    74

    AP score

  5. Major upsetWeek 2Home

    Unranked East Carolina 24, No. 8 West Virginia 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

  6. Major upsetWeek 1Neutral

    Unranked Alabama 34, No. 9 Clemson 10

    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

  7. Major upsetWeek 5Home

    Unranked Michigan 27, No. 9 Wisconsin 25

    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

  8. Major upsetWeek 8Home

    Unranked TCU 32, No. 9 BYU 7

    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

  9. Major upsetCOTTON BOWLNeutral

    No. 22 Ole Miss 47, No. 8 Texas Tech 34

    AP evidence · primary

    Opponent strength 36/50 · Rank gap 28/50

    Market evidence · supporting

    No betting line · Pregame win chance —

    View game details →

    64

    AP score

    Full Game · 2008 Texas Tech vs. Ole Miss (Cotton Bowl Full Game)

  10. Major upsetWeek 6Road

    Unranked Pittsburgh 26, No. 10 South Florida 21

    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

  11. Major upsetALLSTATE SUGAR BOWLNeutral

    No. 7 Utah 31, No. 1 Alabama 17

    AP evidence · primary

    Opponent strength 50/50 · Rank gap 12/50

    Market evidence · supporting

    No betting line · Pregame win chance —

    View game details →

    62

    AP score

    Full Game · 2008 Alabama vs. Utah (Bowl Full Game)

  12. Major upsetWeek 10Home

    No. 6 Texas Tech 39, No. 1 Texas 33

    AP evidence · primary

    Opponent strength 50/50 · Rank gap 10/50

    Market evidence · supporting

    No betting line · Pregame win chance —

    View game details →

    60

    AP score

    Full Game · Texas Tech vs. Texas (Full Game)

  13. Major upsetWeek 7Neutral

    No. 5 Texas 45, No. 1 Oklahoma 35

    AP evidence · primary

    Opponent strength 50/50 · Rank gap 8/50

    Market evidence · supporting

    No betting line · Pregame win chance —

    View game details →

    58

    AP score

  14. Major upsetWeek 7Home

    No. 11 Florida 51, No. 4 LSU 21

    AP evidence · primary

    Opponent strength 44/50 · Rank gap 14/50

    Market evidence · supporting

    No betting line · Pregame win chance —

    View game details →

    58

    AP score

  15. Major upsetWeek 5Road

    No. 8 Alabama 41, No. 3 Georgia 30

    AP evidence · primary

    Opponent strength 46/50 · Rank gap 10/50

    Market evidence · supporting

    No betting line · Pregame win chance —

    View game details →

    56

    AP score

    Full Game · 2008 Georgia vs. Alabama (Regular Season Full Game)

  16. Major upsetWeek 14Neutral

    Unranked Kansas 40, No. 12 Missouri 37

    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

  17. Major upsetWeek 15Neutral

    Unranked Buffalo 42, No. 12 Ball State 24

    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

  18. Major upsetWeek 13Home

    No. 5 Oklahoma 65, No. 2 Texas Tech 21

    AP evidence · primary

    Opponent strength 48/50 · Rank gap 6/50

    Market evidence · supporting

    No betting line · Pregame win chance —

    View game details →

    54

    AP score

    Full Game · 2008 Oklahoma vs. Texas Tech (Regular Season Full Game)

  19. Major upsetGMAC BOWLNeutral

    No. 25 Tulsa 45, No. 12 Ball State 13

    AP evidence · primary

    Opponent strength 28/50 · Rank gap 26/50

    Market evidence · supporting

    No betting line · Pregame win chance —

    View game details →

    54

    AP score

  20. Major upsetWeek 15Neutral

    No. 2 Florida 31, No. 1 Alabama 20

    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 · 2008 Florida vs. Alabama (SEC Championship Game Full Game)

  21. Major upsetWeek 7Home

    Unranked Mississippi State 17, No. 13 Vanderbilt 14

    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

  22. Major upsetWeek 9Home

    Unranked Louisville 24, No. 14 South Florida 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

  23. UpsetWeek 3Road

    Unranked UNLV 23, No. 15 Arizona State 20

    AP evidence · primary

    Opponent strength 22/50 · Rank gap 22/50

    Market evidence · supporting

    No betting line · Pregame win chance —

    View game details →

    44

    AP score

  24. UpsetWeek 4Home

    Unranked NC State 30, No. 15 East Carolina 24

    AP evidence · primary

    Opponent strength 22/50 · Rank gap 22/50

    Market evidence · supporting

    No betting line · Pregame win chance —

    View game details →

    44

    AP score

  25. UpsetWeek 5Road

    Unranked Navy 24, No. 16 Wake Forest 17

    AP evidence · primary

    Opponent strength 20/50 · Rank gap 20/50

    Market evidence · supporting

    No betting line · Pregame win chance —

    View game details →

    40

    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.