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AP upset archive

Biggest College Football Upsets of 2020

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

23

Market-confirmed

Top 25 AP upsets

  1. Historic upsetWeek 4Road

    Unranked Kansas State 38, No. 3 Oklahoma 35

    AP evidence · primary

    Opponent strength 46/50 · Rank gap 46/50

    Market evidence · supporting

    Winner closed as a 28-point underdog · Pregame win chance —

    View game details →

    92

    AP score

  2. Historic upsetWeek 7Home

    Unranked Florida State 31, No. 5 North Carolina 28

    AP evidence · primary

    Opponent strength 42/50 · Rank gap 42/50

    Market evidence · supporting

    Winner closed as a 14-point underdog · Pregame win chance —

    View game details →

    84

    AP score

  3. Historic upsetWeek 4Road

    Unranked Mississippi State 44, No. 6 LSU 34

    AP evidence · primary

    Opponent strength 40/50 · Rank gap 40/50

    Market evidence · supporting

    Winner closed as a 14.5-point underdog · Pregame win chance —

    View game details →

    80

    AP score

  4. Historic upsetWeek 9Road

    Unranked Texas 41, No. 6 Oklahoma State 34

    AP evidence · primary

    Opponent strength 40/50 · Rank gap 40/50

    Market evidence · supporting

    Winner closed as a 3.5-point underdog · Pregame win chance —

    View game details →

    80

    AP score

  5. Historic upsetWeek 15Road

    Unranked LSU 37, No. 6 Florida 34

    AP evidence · primary

    Opponent strength 40/50 · Rank gap 40/50

    Market evidence · supporting

    Winner closed as a 23-point underdog · Pregame win chance —

    View game details →

    80

    AP score

  6. Historic upsetWeek 6Home

    No. 21 Texas A&M 41, No. 4 Florida 38

    AP evidence · primary

    Opponent strength 44/50 · Rank gap 34/50

    Market evidence · supporting

    Winner closed as a 6-point underdog · Pregame win chance —

    View game details →

    78

    AP score

  7. Historic upsetOutback BowlNeutral

    Unranked Ole Miss 26, No. 7 Indiana 20

    AP evidence · primary

    Opponent strength 38/50 · Rank gap 38/50

    Market evidence · supporting

    Winner closed as a 7.5-point underdog · Pregame win chance —

    View game details →

    76

    AP score

  8. Major upsetWeek 8Home

    Unranked Indiana 36, No. 8 Penn State 35

    AP evidence · primary

    Opponent strength 36/50 · Rank gap 36/50

    Market evidence · supporting

    Winner closed as a 6-point underdog · Pregame win chance —

    View game details →

    72

    AP score

    Full Game · 2020 Indiana vs. Penn State (Regular Season Full Game)

  9. Major upsetWeek 5Road

    Unranked TCU 33, No. 9 Texas 31

    AP evidence · primary

    Opponent strength 34/50 · Rank gap 34/50

    Market evidence · supporting

    Winner closed as a 10.5-point underdog · Pregame win chance —

    View game details →

    68

    AP score

  10. Major upsetWeek 13Home

    Unranked Oregon State 41, No. 9 Oregon 38

    AP evidence · primary

    Opponent strength 34/50 · Rank gap 34/50

    Market evidence · supporting

    Winner closed as a 13-point underdog · Pregame win chance —

    View game details →

    68

    AP score

  11. Major upsetFBC Mortgage Cure BowlNeutral

    No. 22 Liberty 37, No. 9 Coastal Carolina 34

    AP evidence · primary

    Opponent strength 34/50 · Rank gap 26/50

    Market evidence · supporting

    Winner closed as a 6.5-point underdog · Pregame win chance —

    View game details →

    60

    AP score

  12. Major upsetWeek 5Road

    Unranked Tulsa 34, No. 11 UCF 26

    AP evidence · primary

    Opponent strength 30/50 · Rank gap 30/50

    Market evidence · supporting

    Winner closed as a 21-point underdog · Pregame win chance —

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    60

    AP score

  13. Major upsetWeek 13Home

    Unranked Michigan State 29, No. 11 Northwestern 20

    AP evidence · primary

    Opponent strength 30/50 · Rank gap 30/50

    Market evidence · supporting

    Winner closed as a 13.5-point underdog · Pregame win chance —

    View game details →

    60

    AP score

  14. Major upsetWeek 10Home

    No. 4 Notre Dame 47, No. 1 Clemson 40

    AP evidence · primary

    Opponent strength 50/50 · Rank gap 6/50

    Market evidence · supporting

    Winner closed as a 6-point underdog · Pregame win chance —

    View game details →

    56

    AP score

    Full Game · 2020 Notre Dame vs. Clemson (Regular Season Full Game)

  15. Major upsetWeek 15Road

    No. 20 North Carolina 62, No. 9 Miami 26

    AP evidence · primary

    Opponent strength 34/50 · Rank gap 22/50

    Market evidence · supporting

    Winner closed as a 3-point underdog · Pregame win chance —

    View game details →

    56

    AP score

  16. Major upsetWeek 16Neutral

    No. 4 Clemson 34, No. 2 Notre Dame 10

    AP evidence · primary

    Opponent strength 48/50 · Rank gap 4/50

    Market evidence · supporting

    Winner closed as a 11-point favorite · Pregame win chance —

    View game details →

    52

    AP score

    Full Game · 2020 Notre Dame vs. Clemson (ACC Championship Game Full Game)

  17. Major upsetWeek 9Road

    Unranked Michigan State 27, No. 13 Michigan 24

    AP evidence · primary

    Opponent strength 26/50 · Rank gap 26/50

    Market evidence · supporting

    Winner closed as a 25-point underdog · Pregame win chance —

    View game details →

    52

    AP score

  18. Major upsetWeek 16Road

    Unranked Oregon 31, No. 13 USC 24

    AP evidence · primary

    Opponent strength 26/50 · Rank gap 26/50

    Market evidence · supporting

    Winner closed as a 3-point underdog · Pregame win chance —

    View game details →

    52

    AP score

  19. Major upsetWeek 12Home

    No. 19 Northwestern 17, No. 10 Wisconsin 7

    AP evidence · primary

    Opponent strength 32/50 · Rank gap 18/50

    Market evidence · supporting

    Winner closed as a 7.5-point underdog · Pregame win chance —

    View game details →

    50

    AP score

  20. Major upsetWeek 10Neutral

    No. 8 Florida 44, No. 5 Georgia 28

    AP evidence · primary

    Opponent strength 42/50 · Rank gap 6/50

    Market evidence · supporting

    Winner closed as a 3.5-point underdog · Pregame win chance —

    View game details →

    48

    AP score

    Full Game · 2020 Georgia vs. Florida (Regular Season Full Game)

  21. Major upsetChick-fil-A Peach BowlNeutral

    No. 10 Georgia 24, No. 6 Cincinnati 21

    AP evidence · primary

    Opponent strength 40/50 · Rank gap 8/50

    Market evidence · supporting

    Winner closed as a 9-point underdog · Pregame win chance —

    View game details →

    48

    AP score

    Full Game · 2020 Georgia vs. Cincinnati (Peach Bowl Full Game)

  22. Major upsetWeek 14Home

    No. 14 Coastal Carolina 22, No. 8 BYU 17

    AP evidence · primary

    Opponent strength 36/50 · Rank gap 12/50

    Market evidence · supporting

    Winner closed as a 10.5-point underdog · Pregame win chance —

    View game details →

    48

    AP score

  23. Major upsetWeek 7Home

    Unranked South Carolina 30, No. 14 Auburn 22

    AP evidence · primary

    Opponent strength 24/50 · Rank gap 24/50

    Market evidence · supporting

    Winner closed as a 2.5-point underdog · Pregame win chance —

    View game details →

    48

    AP score

  24. UpsetWeek 16Neutral

    No. 12 Oklahoma 27, No. 8 Iowa State 21

    AP evidence · primary

    Opponent strength 36/50 · Rank gap 8/50

    Market evidence · supporting

    Winner closed as a 5.5-point favorite · Pregame win chance —

    View game details →

    44

    AP score

    Full Game · 2020 Iowa State vs. Oklahoma (Big 12 Championship Game Full Game)

  25. UpsetWeek 9Home

    Unranked Virginia 44, No. 15 North Carolina 41

    AP evidence · primary

    Opponent strength 22/50 · Rank gap 22/50

    Market evidence · supporting

    Winner closed as a 7-point underdog · Pregame win chance —

    View game details →

    44

    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.