Decade leaderboard
Top 25 College Football Games of the 1950s
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
- 78/100
- 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.
- 1955PostseasonNeutral site
Michigan State vs. UCLA
Michigan State 17, UCLA 14
No. 2 Michigan State vs. No. 4 UCLA · 3-point margin
Ranking 46/50 · Closeness 32/35 · Overtime 0/15
78
Game score
- 1950PostseasonNeutral site
Oklahoma vs. Kentucky
Oklahoma 7, Kentucky 13
No. 1 Oklahoma vs. No. 3 Kentucky · 6-point margin
Ranking 48/50 · Closeness 29/35 · Overtime 0/15
77
Game score
- 1959Week 8
Ole Miss at LSU
Ole Miss 3, LSU 7
No. 5 Ole Miss vs. No. 1 LSU · 4-point margin
Ranking 46/50 · Closeness 31/35 · Overtime 0/15
77
Game score
- 1956Week 9
Tennessee at Georgia Tech
Tennessee 6, Georgia Tech 0
No. 1 Tennessee vs. No. 4 Georgia Tech · 6-point margin
Ranking 47/50 · Closeness 29/35 · Overtime 0/15
76
Game score
- 1950Week 5
Texas at Oklahoma
Texas 13, Oklahoma 14
No. 7 Texas vs. No. 3 Oklahoma · 1-point margin
Ranking 42/50 · Closeness 34/35 · Overtime 0/15
76
Game score
- 1954Week 4
Purdue at Duke
Purdue 13, Duke 13
No. 5 Purdue vs. No. 6 Duke · 0-point margin
Ranking 41/50 · Closeness 35/35 · Overtime 0/15
76
Game score
- 1953Week 10
Notre Dame at Iowa
Notre Dame 14, Iowa 14
No. 2 Notre Dame vs. No. 9 Iowa · 0-point margin
Ranking 41/50 · Closeness 35/35 · Overtime 0/15
76
Game score
- 1953PostseasonNeutral site
Maryland vs. Oklahoma
Maryland 0, Oklahoma 7
No. 1 Maryland vs. No. 4 Oklahoma · 7-point margin
Ranking 47/50 · Closeness 28/35 · Overtime 0/15
75
Game score
- 1955Week 2
UCLA at Maryland
UCLA 0, Maryland 7
No. 1 UCLA vs. No. 5 Maryland · 7-point margin
Ranking 46/50 · Closeness 28/35 · Overtime 0/15
74
Game score
- 1959Week 9
Syracuse at Penn State
Syracuse 20, Penn State 18
No. 1 Syracuse vs. No. 10 Penn State · 2-point margin
Ranking 41/50 · Closeness 33/35 · Overtime 0/15
74
Game score
- 1959Week 9
LSU at Tennessee
LSU 13, Tennessee 14
No. 3 LSU vs. No. 9 Tennessee · 1-point margin
Ranking 40/50 · Closeness 34/35 · Overtime 0/15
74
Game score
- 1958Week 7
Ohio State at Wisconsin
Ohio State 7, Wisconsin 7
No. 5 Ohio State vs. No. 8 Wisconsin · 0-point margin
Ranking 39/50 · Closeness 35/35 · Overtime 0/15
74
Game score
- 1959PostseasonNeutral site
Texas vs. Syracuse
Texas 14, Syracuse 23
No. 4 Texas vs. No. 1 Syracuse · 9-point margin
Ranking 47/50 · Closeness 26/35 · Overtime 0/15
73
Game score
- 1959Week 6
Texas at Arkansas
Texas 13, Arkansas 12
No. 3 Texas vs. No. 10 Arkansas · 1-point margin
Ranking 39/50 · Closeness 34/35 · Overtime 0/15
73
Game score
- 1957Week 8
Texas A&M at Arkansas
Texas A&M 7, Arkansas 6
No. 1 Texas A&M vs. No. 12 Arkansas · 1-point margin
Ranking 39/50 · Closeness 34/35 · Overtime 0/15
73
Game score
- 1954Week 3
Maryland at UCLA
Maryland 7, UCLA 12
No. 6 Maryland vs. No. 4 UCLA · 5-point margin
Ranking 42/50 · Closeness 30/35 · Overtime 0/15
72
Game score
- 1957Week 10
Iowa at Ohio State
Iowa 13, Ohio State 17
No. 8 Iowa vs. No. 3 Ohio State · 4-point margin
Ranking 41/50 · Closeness 31/35 · Overtime 0/15
72
Game score
- 1952Week 10
Alabama at Georgia Tech
Alabama 3, Georgia Tech 7
No. 8 Alabama vs. No. 3 Georgia Tech · 4-point margin
Ranking 41/50 · Closeness 31/35 · Overtime 0/15
72
Game score
- 1958PostseasonNeutral site
TCU vs. Air Force
TCU 0, Air Force 0
No. 7 TCU vs. No. 8 Air Force · 0-point margin
Ranking 37/50 · Closeness 35/35 · Overtime 0/15
72
Game score
- 1958Week 7
Pittsburgh at Army
Pittsburgh 14, Army 14
No. 12 Pittsburgh vs. No. 3 Army · 0-point margin
Ranking 37/50 · Closeness 35/35 · Overtime 0/15
72
Game score
- 1953PostseasonNeutral site
Michigan State vs. UCLA
Michigan State 28, UCLA 20
No. 3 Michigan State vs. No. 5 UCLA · 8-point margin
Ranking 44/50 · Closeness 27/35 · Overtime 0/15
71
Game score
- 1953Week 2
Notre Dame at Oklahoma
Notre Dame 28, Oklahoma 21
No. 1 Notre Dame vs. No. 8 Oklahoma · 7-point margin
Ranking 43/50 · Closeness 28/35 · Overtime 0/15
71
Game score
- 1959Week 4
Northwestern at Iowa
Northwestern 14, Iowa 10
No. 2 Northwestern vs. No. 10 Iowa · 4-point margin
Ranking 40/50 · Closeness 31/35 · Overtime 0/15
71
Game score
- 1957Week 8
Michigan at Iowa
Michigan 21, Iowa 21
No. 11 Michigan vs. No. 5 Iowa · 0-point margin
Ranking 36/50 · Closeness 35/35 · Overtime 0/15
71
Game score
- 1956Week 3
Georgia Tech at SMU
Georgia Tech 9, SMU 7
No. 3 Georgia Tech vs. No. 12 SMU · 2-point margin
Ranking 37/50 · Closeness 33/35 · Overtime 0/15
70
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.