AP upset archive
Biggest College Football Upsets of 2018
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
22
Market-confirmed
Top 25 AP upsets
- Historic upsetWeek 8Home
Unranked Purdue 49, No. 2 Ohio State 20
View game details →AP evidence · primary
Opponent strength 48/50 · Rank gap 48/50
Market evidence · supporting
Winner closed as a 12.5-point underdog · Pregame win chance —
96
AP score
- Historic upsetWeek 3Road
Unranked BYU 24, No. 6 Wisconsin 21
View game details →AP evidence · primary
Opponent strength 40/50 · Rank gap 40/50
Market evidence · supporting
Winner closed as a 23-point underdog · Pregame win chance —
80
AP score
Highlight · 2018 Wisconsin vs. BYU (Regular Season Full Game)
- Historic upsetWeek 7Home
Unranked Iowa State 30, No. 6 West Virginia 14
View game details →AP evidence · primary
Opponent strength 40/50 · Rank gap 40/50
Market evidence · supporting
Winner closed as a 4.5-point underdog · Pregame win chance —
80
AP score
- Historic upsetWeek 9Home
Unranked Oklahoma State 38, No. 6 Texas 35
View game details →AP evidence · primary
Opponent strength 40/50 · Rank gap 40/50
Market evidence · supporting
Winner closed as a 1.5-point underdog · Pregame win chance —
80
AP score
Highlight · 2018 Oklahoma State vs. Texas (Regular Season Full Game)
- Historic upsetWeek 6Home
No. 22 Florida 27, No. 5 LSU 19
View game details →AP evidence · primary
Opponent strength 42/50 · Rank gap 34/50
Market evidence · supporting
Winner closed as a 1-point underdog · Pregame win chance —
76
AP score
Highlight · 2018 Florida vs. LSU (Regular Season Full Game)
- Historic upsetWeek 12Home
Unranked Oklahoma State 45, No. 7 West Virginia 41
View game details →AP evidence · primary
Opponent strength 38/50 · Rank gap 38/50
Market evidence · supporting
Winner closed as a 6-point underdog · Pregame win chance —
76
AP score
Highlight · 2018 Oklahoma State vs. West Virginia (Regular Season Full Game)
- Major upsetWeek 1Neutral
Unranked LSU 33, No. 8 Miami 17
View game details →AP evidence · primary
Opponent strength 36/50 · Rank gap 36/50
Market evidence · supporting
Winner closed as a 3-point underdog · Pregame win chance —
72
AP score
- Major upsetWeek 6Home
Unranked Mississippi State 23, No. 8 Auburn 9
View game details →AP evidence · primary
Opponent strength 36/50 · Rank gap 36/50
Market evidence · supporting
Winner closed as a 3-point underdog · Pregame win chance —
72
AP score
- Major upsetWeek 7Road
Unranked Michigan State 21, No. 8 Penn State 17
View game details →AP evidence · primary
Opponent strength 36/50 · Rank gap 36/50
Market evidence · supporting
Winner closed as a 13.5-point underdog · Pregame win chance —
72
AP score
- Major upsetWeek 13Home
Unranked Texas A&M 74, No. 8 LSU 72
View game details →AP evidence · primary
Opponent strength 36/50 · Rank gap 36/50
Market evidence · supporting
Winner closed as a 3-point favorite · Pregame win chance —
72
AP score
- Major upsetWeek 7Home
No. 13 LSU 36, No. 2 Georgia 16
View game details →AP evidence · primary
Opponent strength 48/50 · Rank gap 22/50
Market evidence · supporting
Winner closed as a 7-point underdog · Pregame win chance —
70
AP score
Full Game · 2018 LSU vs. Georgia (Regular Season Full Game)
- Major upsetWeek 6Neutral
No. 19 Texas 48, No. 7 Oklahoma 45
View game details →AP evidence · primary
Opponent strength 38/50 · Rank gap 24/50
Market evidence · supporting
Winner closed as a 7.5-point underdog · Pregame win chance —
62
AP score
Highlight · 2018 Oklahoma vs. Texas (Regular Season Full Game)
- Major upsetWeek 7Home
No. 17 Oregon 30, No. 7 Washington 27
View game details →AP evidence · primary
Opponent strength 38/50 · Rank gap 20/50
Market evidence · supporting
Winner closed as a 3.5-point underdog · Pregame win chance —
58
AP score
Highlight · 2018 Oregon vs. Washington (Regular Season Full Game)
- Major upsetWeek 13Home
No. 10 Ohio State 62, No. 4 Michigan 39
View game details →AP evidence · primary
Opponent strength 44/50 · Rank gap 12/50
Market evidence · supporting
Winner closed as a 4-point underdog · Pregame win chance —
56
AP score
Full Game · 2018 Ohio State vs. Michigan (Regular Season Full Game)
- Major upsetALLSTATE SUGAR BOWLNeutral
No. 14 Texas 28, No. 6 Georgia 21
View game details →AP evidence · primary
Opponent strength 40/50 · Rank gap 16/50
Market evidence · supporting
Winner closed as a 13.5-point underdog · Pregame win chance —
56
AP score
Full Game · 2018 Georgia vs. Texas (Bowl Full Game)
- Major upsetWeek 13Road
No. 16 Washington 28, No. 7 Washington State 15
View game details →AP evidence · primary
Opponent strength 38/50 · Rank gap 18/50
Market evidence · supporting
Winner closed as a 3-point underdog · Pregame win chance —
56
AP score
- Major upsetWeek 11Home
Unranked Tennessee 24, No. 12 Kentucky 7
View game details →AP evidence · primary
Opponent strength 28/50 · Rank gap 28/50
Market evidence · supporting
Winner closed as a 5-point underdog · Pregame win chance —
56
AP score
- Major upsetWeek 8Home
No. 25 Washington State 34, No. 12 Oregon 20
View game details →AP evidence · primary
Opponent strength 28/50 · Rank gap 26/50
Market evidence · supporting
Winner closed as a 3-point favorite · Pregame win chance —
54
AP score
- Major upsetCFP NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP PRESENTED BY AT&TNeutral
No. 2 Clemson 44, No. 1 Alabama 16
View game details →AP evidence · primary
Opponent strength 50/50 · Rank gap 2/50
Market evidence · supporting
Winner closed as a 5.5-point underdog · Pregame win chance —
52
AP score
Highlight · 2018 Alabama vs. Clemson (National Championship Full Game)
- Major upsetWeek 4Home
Unranked Old Dominion 49, No. 13 Virginia Tech 35
View game details →AP evidence · primary
Opponent strength 26/50 · Rank gap 26/50
Market evidence · supporting
Winner closed as a 28.5-point underdog · Pregame win chance —
52
AP score
- Major upsetWeek 6Home
Unranked Texas A&M 20, No. 13 Kentucky 14
View game details →AP evidence · primary
Opponent strength 26/50 · Rank gap 26/50
Market evidence · supporting
Winner closed as a 5.5-point favorite · Pregame win chance —
52
AP score
- Major upsetWeek 10Road
Unranked Missouri 38, No. 13 Florida 17
View game details →AP evidence · primary
Opponent strength 26/50 · Rank gap 26/50
Market evidence · supporting
Winner closed as a 6-point underdog · Pregame win chance —
52
AP score
- Major upsetWeek 3Road
No. 12 LSU 22, No. 7 Auburn 21
View game details →AP evidence · primary
Opponent strength 38/50 · Rank gap 10/50
Market evidence · supporting
Winner closed as a 10-point underdog · Pregame win chance —
48
AP score
- Major upsetWeek 4Home
Unranked Kentucky 28, No. 14 Mississippi State 7
View game details →AP evidence · primary
Opponent strength 24/50 · Rank gap 24/50
Market evidence · supporting
Winner closed as a 10-point underdog · Pregame win chance —
48
AP score
- Major upsetWeek 6Road
Unranked Utah 40, No. 14 Stanford 21
View game details →AP evidence · primary
Opponent strength 24/50 · Rank gap 24/50
Market evidence · supporting
Winner closed as a 4-point underdog · Pregame win chance —
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.