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AP upset archive

Biggest College Football Upsets of 2009

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

19

Unranked winners

0

Market-confirmed

Top 25 AP upsets

  1. Historic upsetWeek 1Neutral

    Unranked BYU 14, No. 3 Oklahoma 13

    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 3Home

    Unranked Washington 16, No. 3 USC 13

    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 4Home

    Unranked South Carolina 16, No. 4 Ole Miss 10

    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. Historic upsetWeek 2Road

    Unranked Houston 45, No. 5 Oklahoma State 35

    AP evidence · primary

    Opponent strength 42/50 · Rank gap 42/50

    Market evidence · supporting

    No betting line · Pregame win chance —

    View game details →

    84

    AP score

  5. Historic upsetWeek 4Road

    Unranked Iowa 21, No. 5 Penn State 10

    AP evidence · primary

    Opponent strength 42/50 · Rank gap 42/50

    Market evidence · supporting

    No betting line · Pregame win chance —

    View game details →

    84

    AP score

  6. Historic upsetWeek 4Home

    Unranked Oregon 42, No. 6 California 3

    AP evidence · primary

    Opponent strength 40/50 · Rank gap 40/50

    Market evidence · supporting

    No betting line · Pregame win chance —

    View game details →

    80

    AP score

  7. Historic upsetWeek 3Road

    Unranked Florida State 54, No. 7 BYU 28

    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

  8. Historic upsetWeek 7Home

    Unranked Purdue 26, No. 7 Ohio State 18

    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

  9. Historic upsetWeek 10Home

    Unranked Stanford 51, No. 7 Oregon 42

    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

  10. Historic upsetWeek 13Road

    Unranked Georgia 30, No. 7 Georgia Tech 24

    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

  11. Major upsetWeek 7Home

    No. 19 Georgia Tech 28, No. 4 Virginia Tech 23

    AP evidence · primary

    Opponent strength 44/50 · Rank gap 30/50

    Market evidence · supporting

    No betting line · Pregame win chance —

    View game details →

    74

    AP score

  12. Major upsetWeek 8Road

    Unranked Clemson 40, No. 8 Miami 37

    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

  13. Major upsetWeek 10Road

    Unranked Northwestern 17, No. 8 Iowa 10

    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

  14. Major upsetWeek 13Home

    Unranked West Virginia 19, No. 8 Pittsburgh 16

    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

  15. Major upsetWeek 12Home

    Unranked Ole Miss 25, No. 10 LSU 23

    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

  16. Major upsetWeek 13Home

    Unranked Oklahoma 27, No. 11 Oklahoma State 0

    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

  17. Major upsetWeek 11Road

    No. 25 Stanford 55, No. 11 USC 21

    AP evidence · primary

    Opponent strength 30/50 · Rank gap 28/50

    Market evidence · supporting

    No betting line · Pregame win chance —

    View game details →

    58

    AP score

  18. Major upsetWeek 9Home

    No. 10 Oregon 47, No. 4 USC 20

    AP evidence · primary

    Opponent strength 44/50 · Rank gap 12/50

    Market evidence · supporting

    No betting line · Pregame win chance —

    View game details →

    56

    AP score

    Full Game · 2009 Oregon vs. USC (Regular Season Full Game)

  19. Major upsetWeek 5Home

    Unranked UTEP 58, No. 12 Houston 41

    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

  20. Major upsetWeek 11Home

    Unranked North Carolina 33, No. 12 Miami 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

  21. Major upsetWeek 5Home

    No. 17 Miami 21, No. 8 Oklahoma 20

    AP evidence · primary

    Opponent strength 36/50 · Rank gap 18/50

    Market evidence · supporting

    No betting line · Pregame win chance —

    View game details →

    54

    AP score

  22. Major upsetWeek 14Neutral

    No. 2 Alabama 32, No. 1 Florida 13

    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 · 2009 Alabama vs. Florida (SEC Championship Game Full Game)

  23. Major upsetTOSTITOS FIESTA BOWLNeutral

    No. 6 Boise State 17, No. 3 TCU 10

    AP evidence · primary

    Opponent strength 46/50 · Rank gap 6/50

    Market evidence · supporting

    No betting line · Pregame win chance —

    View game details →

    52

    AP score

    Full Game · 2009 TCU vs. Boise State (Fiesta Bowl Full Game)

  24. Major upsetWeek 11Home

    Unranked UCF 37, No. 13 Houston 32

    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

  25. Major upsetWeek 9Road

    Unranked North Carolina 20, 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 —

    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.