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AP upset archive

Biggest College Football Upsets of 2011

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 12Home

    Unranked Iowa State 37, No. 2 Oklahoma State 31

    AP evidence · primary

    Opponent strength 48/50 · Rank gap 48/50

    Market evidence · supporting

    No betting line · Pregame win chance —

    View game details →

    96

    AP score

  2. Historic upsetWeek 8Road

    Unranked Texas Tech 41, No. 3 Oklahoma 38

    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 11Road

    Unranked TCU 36, No. 5 Boise 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

  4. Historic upsetWeek 12Home

    No. 25 Baylor 45, No. 5 Oklahoma 38

    AP evidence · primary

    Opponent strength 42/50 · Rank gap 40/50

    Market evidence · supporting

    No betting line · Pregame win chance —

    View game details →

    82

    AP score

  5. Historic upsetWeek 9Home

    Unranked Georgia Tech 31, No. 6 Clemson 17

    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

  6. Historic upsetWeek 12Home

    Unranked NC State 37, No. 7 Clemson 13

    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

  7. Major upsetWeek 14Neutral

    No. 21 Clemson 38, No. 5 Virginia Tech 10

    AP evidence · primary

    Opponent strength 42/50 · Rank gap 32/50

    Market evidence · supporting

    No betting line · Pregame win chance —

    View game details →

    74

    AP score

    Full Game · 2011 Clemson vs. Virginia Tech (ACC Championship Game Full Game)

  8. Major upsetWeek 12Road

    No. 18 USC 38, No. 4 Oregon 35

    AP evidence · primary

    Opponent strength 44/50 · Rank gap 28/50

    Market evidence · supporting

    No betting line · Pregame win chance —

    View game details →

    72

    AP score

  9. Major upsetWeek 14Road

    No. 24 Southern Miss 49, No. 7 Houston 28

    AP evidence · primary

    Opponent strength 38/50 · Rank gap 34/50

    Market evidence · supporting

    No betting line · Pregame win chance —

    View game details →

    72

    AP score

  10. Major upsetWeek 10Road

    Unranked Northwestern 28, No. 9 Nebraska 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

  11. Major upsetWeek 8Home

    No. 15 Michigan State 37, No. 4 Wisconsin 31

    AP evidence · primary

    Opponent strength 44/50 · Rank gap 22/50

    Market evidence · supporting

    No betting line · Pregame win chance —

    View game details →

    66

    AP score

  12. Major upsetWeek 5Road

    Unranked Auburn 16, No. 10 South Carolina 13

    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 8Home

    Unranked Syracuse 49, No. 11 West Virginia 23

    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

  14. Major upsetWeek 7Home

    Unranked Virginia 24, No. 12 Georgia Tech 21

    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

  15. Major upsetWeek 9Home

    Unranked Ohio State 33, No. 12 Wisconsin 29

    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

  16. Major upsetWeek 7Home

    No. 23 Michigan State 28, No. 11 Michigan 14

    AP evidence · primary

    Opponent strength 30/50 · Rank gap 24/50

    Market evidence · supporting

    No betting line · Pregame win chance —

    View game details →

    54

    AP score

  17. Major upsetALLSTATE BCS NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIPNeutral

    No. 2 Alabama 21, No. 1 LSU 0

    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 · 2011 LSU vs. Alabama (National Championship Full Game)

  18. Major upsetWeek 11Road

    No. 6 Oregon 53, No. 3 Stanford 30

    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 · 2011 Stanford vs. Oregon (Regular Season Full Game)

  19. Major upsetWeek 10Home

    Unranked Iowa 24, No. 13 Michigan 16

    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

  20. Major upsetWeek 4Home

    No. 21 Clemson 35, No. 11 Florida State 30

    AP evidence · primary

    Opponent strength 30/50 · Rank gap 20/50

    Market evidence · supporting

    No betting line · Pregame win chance —

    View game details →

    50

    AP score

  21. UpsetWeek 3Home

    Unranked Notre Dame 31, No. 15 Michigan State 13

    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

  22. UpsetWeek 5Home

    Unranked Kansas State 36, No. 15 Baylor 35

    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

  23. UpsetWeek 9Home

    No. 13 Nebraska 24, No. 9 Michigan State 3

    AP evidence · primary

    Opponent strength 34/50 · Rank gap 8/50

    Market evidence · supporting

    No betting line · Pregame win chance —

    View game details →

    42

    AP score

  24. UpsetWeek 11Road

    No. 19 Nebraska 17, No. 12 Penn State 14

    AP evidence · primary

    Opponent strength 28/50 · Rank gap 14/50

    Market evidence · supporting

    No betting line · Pregame win chance —

    View game details →

    42

    AP score

  25. UpsetDISCOVER ORANGE BOWLNeutral

    No. 23 West Virginia 70, No. 14 Clemson 33

    AP evidence · primary

    Opponent strength 24/50 · Rank gap 18/50

    Market evidence · supporting

    No betting line · Pregame win chance —

    View game details →

    42

    AP score

    Full Game · 2011 Clemson vs. West Virginia (Orange Bowl Full Game)

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.