Decade leaderboard
Top 25 College Football Games of the 1930s
Every completed game in the decade, scored without team allegiance by game-time AP poll strength, final-score closeness, and overtime.
- Games
- 25
- Top score
- 82/100
- Overtime
- 0
National ranking
The decade's top 25
25 of these games include at least one AP-ranked team at kickoff. Open a supported game for its box score and statistics.
- 1937Week 5
Fordham at Pittsburgh
Fordham 0, Pittsburgh 0
No. 4 Fordham vs. No. 1 Pittsburgh · 0-point margin
Ranking 47/50 · Closeness 35/35 · Overtime 0/15
82
Game score
- 1939PostseasonNeutral site
Texas A&M vs. Tulane
Texas A&M 14, Tulane 13
No. 1 Texas A&M vs. No. 5 Tulane · 1-point margin
Ranking 46/50 · Closeness 34/35 · Overtime 0/15
80
Game score
- 1936Week 2
Minnesota at Washington
Minnesota 14, Washington 7
No. 1 Minnesota vs. No. 4 Washington · 7-point margin
Ranking 47/50 · Closeness 28/35 · Overtime 0/15
75
Game score
- 1936PostseasonNeutral site
LSU vs. Santa Clara
LSU 14, Santa Clara 21
No. 2 LSU vs. No. 5 Santa Clara · 7-point margin
Ranking 45/50 · Closeness 28/35 · Overtime 0/15
73
Game score
- 1938Week 6
Carnegie Mellon at Notre Dame
Carnegie Mellon 0, Notre Dame 7
No. 7 Carnegie Mellon vs. No. 1 Notre Dame · 7-point margin
Ranking 44/50 · Closeness 28/35 · Overtime 0/15
72
Game score
- 1936Week 4
Nebraska at Minnesota
Nebraska 0, Minnesota 7
No. 6 Nebraska vs. No. 2 Minnesota · 7-point margin
Ranking 44/50 · Closeness 28/35 · Overtime 0/15
72
Game score
- 1938PostseasonNeutral site
Duke vs. USC
Duke 3, USC 7
No. 3 Duke vs. No. 8 USC · 4-point margin
Ranking 41/50 · Closeness 31/35 · Overtime 0/15
72
Game score
- 1938PostseasonNeutral site
Carnegie Mellon vs. TCU
Carnegie Mellon 7, TCU 15
No. 6 Carnegie Mellon vs. No. 2 TCU · 8-point margin
Ranking 44/50 · Closeness 27/35 · Overtime 0/15
71
Game score
- 1938Week 5
Holy Cross at Carnegie Mellon
Holy Cross 6, Carnegie Mellon 7
No. 10 Holy Cross vs. No. 6 Carnegie Mellon · 1-point margin
Ranking 36/50 · Closeness 34/35 · Overtime 0/15
70
Game score
- 1937Week 6
TCU at Fordham
TCU 6, Fordham 7
No. 14 TCU vs. No. 3 Fordham · 1-point margin
Ranking 35/50 · Closeness 34/35 · Overtime 0/15
69
Game score
- 1939PostseasonNeutral site
Tennessee vs. USC
Tennessee 0, USC 14
No. 2 Tennessee vs. No. 3 USC · 14-point margin
Ranking 47/50 · Closeness 21/35 · Overtime 0/15
68
Game score
- 1937PostseasonNeutral site
Alabama vs. California
Alabama 0, California 13
No. 4 Alabama vs. No. 2 California · 13-point margin
Ranking 46/50 · Closeness 22/35 · Overtime 0/15
68
Game score
- 1939Week 8
Duke at Georgia Tech
Duke 7, Georgia Tech 6
No. 6 Duke vs. No. 13 Georgia Tech · 1-point margin
Ranking 33/50 · Closeness 34/35 · Overtime 0/15
67
Game score
- 1936Week 5
Ohio State at Northwestern
Ohio State 13, Northwestern 14
No. 18 Ohio State vs. No. 1 Northwestern · 1-point margin
Ranking 33/50 · Closeness 34/35 · Overtime 0/15
67
Game score
- 1939Week 4
Texas A&M at Santa Clara
Texas A&M 7, Santa Clara 3
No. 2 Texas A&M vs. No. 16 Santa Clara · 4-point margin
Ranking 34/50 · Closeness 31/35 · Overtime 0/15
65
Game score
- 1939Week 6
Tulane at North Carolina
Tulane 14, North Carolina 14
No. 5 Tulane vs. No. 17 North Carolina · 0-point margin
Ranking 30/50 · Closeness 35/35 · Overtime 0/15
65
Game score
- 1939Week 3
Oklahoma at SMU
Oklahoma 7, SMU 7
No. 6 Oklahoma vs. No. 16 SMU · 0-point margin
Ranking 30/50 · Closeness 35/35 · Overtime 0/15
65
Game score
- 1937Week 6
LSU at Vanderbilt
LSU 6, Vanderbilt 7
No. 10 LSU vs. No. 12 Vanderbilt · 1-point margin
Ranking 30/50 · Closeness 34/35 · Overtime 0/15
64
Game score
- 1937Week 4
Villanova at Auburn
Villanova 0, Auburn 0
No. 9 Villanova vs. No. 14 Auburn · 0-point margin
Ranking 29/50 · Closeness 35/35 · Overtime 0/15
64
Game score
- 1939Week 7
Cornell at Ohio State
Cornell 23, Ohio State 14
No. 3 Cornell vs. No. 12 Ohio State · 9-point margin
Ranking 37/50 · Closeness 26/35 · Overtime 0/15
63
Game score
- 1937PostseasonNeutral site
LSU vs. Santa Clara
LSU 0, Santa Clara 6
No. 10 LSU vs. No. 8 Santa Clara · 6-point margin
Ranking 34/50 · Closeness 29/35 · Overtime 0/15
63
Game score
- 1937Week 3
Minnesota at Nebraska
Minnesota 9, Nebraska 14
No. 14 Minnesota vs. No. 6 Nebraska · 5-point margin
Ranking 32/50 · Closeness 30/35 · Overtime 0/15
62
Game score
- 1938PostseasonNeutral site
Oklahoma vs. Tennessee
Oklahoma 0, Tennessee 17
No. 5 Oklahoma vs. No. 4 Tennessee · 17-point margin
Ranking 43/50 · Closeness 18/35 · Overtime 0/15
61
Game score
- 1939Week 5
SMU at Notre Dame
SMU 19, Notre Dame 20
No. 17 SMU vs. No. 9 Notre Dame · 1-point margin
Ranking 26/50 · Closeness 34/35 · Overtime 0/15
60
Game score
- 1936Week 5
Alabama at Tennessee
Alabama 0, Tennessee 0
No. 8 Alabama vs. No. 19 Tennessee · 0-point margin
Ranking 25/50 · Closeness 35/35 · Overtime 0/15
60
Game score
Methodology
How each game earns up to 100 points
AP ranking, 50 points: each team earns 26 minus its game-time AP rank. Unranked teams receive zero.
Closeness, 35 points: the final margin is subtracted from 35, with margins of 35 or more receiving zero.
Overtime, 15 points: overtime starts at nine points and rises by two per additional period, capped at 15.
Regular-season rankings use the AP Top 25 recorded for the game's week. Postseason games use the final regular-season AP poll published before bowl and playoff results. Overtime uses period scoring when available, then explicit overtime notes as a fallback. Older decades may have less complete poll, period, and box-score data.