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Top 25 College Football Games of 1940

Every completed game in the season, scored without team allegiance by game-time AP poll strength, final-score closeness, and overtime.

Games
25
Top score
71/100
Overtime
0

National ranking

The season'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.

  1. 1940PostseasonNeutral site

    Tennessee vs. Boston College

    Tennessee 13, Boston College 19

    No. 6 Tennessee vs. No. 4 Boston College · 6-point margin

    Ranking 42/50 · Closeness 29/35 · Overtime 0/15

    71

    Game score

  2. 1940PostseasonNeutral site

    Fordham vs. Texas A&M

    Fordham 12, Texas A&M 13

    No. 14 Fordham vs. No. 2 Texas A&M · 1-point margin

    Ranking 36/50 · Closeness 34/35 · Overtime 0/15

    70

    Game score

  3. 1940PostseasonNeutral site

    Nebraska vs. Stanford

    Nebraska 13, Stanford 21

    No. 8 Nebraska vs. No. 3 Stanford · 8-point margin

    Ranking 41/50 · Closeness 27/35 · Overtime 0/15

    68

    Game score

  4. 1940Week 4

    Nebraska at Minnesota

    Nebraska 7, Minnesota 13

    No. 12 Nebraska vs. No. 2 Minnesota · 6-point margin

    Ranking 38/50 · Closeness 29/35 · Overtime 0/15

    67

    Game score

  5. 1940Week 5

    Santa Clara at Stanford

    Santa Clara 6, Stanford 7

    No. 16 Santa Clara vs. No. 4 Stanford · 1-point margin

    Ranking 32/50 · Closeness 34/35 · Overtime 0/15

    66

    Game score

  6. 1940Week 3

    Washington at Minnesota

    Washington 14, Minnesota 19

    No. 13 Washington vs. No. 4 Minnesota · 5-point margin

    Ranking 35/50 · Closeness 30/35 · Overtime 0/15

    65

    Game score

  7. 1940PostseasonNeutral site

    Georgetown vs. Mississippi State

    Georgetown 7, Mississippi State 14

    No. 9 Georgetown vs. No. 11 Mississippi State · 7-point margin

    Ranking 32/50 · Closeness 28/35 · Overtime 0/15

    60

    Game score

  8. 1940Week 7

    Pennsylvania at Michigan

    Pennsylvania 0, Michigan 14

    No. 10 Pennsylvania vs. No. 5 Michigan · 14-point margin

    Ranking 37/50 · Closeness 21/35 · Overtime 0/15

    58

    Game score

  9. 1940Week 4

    Duke at Tennessee

    Duke 0, Tennessee 13

    No. 12 Duke vs. No. 5 Tennessee · 13-point margin

    Ranking 35/50 · Closeness 22/35 · Overtime 0/15

    57

    Game score

  10. 1940Week 6

    Minnesota at Ohio State

    Minnesota 13, Ohio State 7

    No. 1 Minnesota vs. Unranked Ohio State · 6-point margin

    Ranking 25/50 · Closeness 29/35 · Overtime 0/15

    54

    Game score

  11. 1940Week 7

    Texas A&M at Baylor

    Texas A&M 14, Baylor 7

    No. 2 Texas A&M vs. Unranked Baylor · 7-point margin

    Ranking 24/50 · Closeness 28/35 · Overtime 0/15

    52

    Game score

  12. 1940Week 5

    Texas A&M at UCLA

    Texas A&M 7, UCLA 0

    No. 3 Texas A&M vs. Unranked UCLA · 7-point margin

    Ranking 23/50 · Closeness 28/35 · Overtime 0/15

    51

    Game score

  13. 1940Week 4

    Michigan State at Michigan

    Michigan State 14, Michigan 21

    Unranked Michigan State vs. No. 3 Michigan · 7-point margin

    Ranking 23/50 · Closeness 28/35 · Overtime 0/15

    51

    Game score

  14. 1940Week 6

    Tennessee at Alabama

    Tennessee 27, Alabama 12

    No. 6 Tennessee vs. No. 17 Alabama · 15-point margin

    Ranking 29/50 · Closeness 20/35 · Overtime 0/15

    49

    Game score

  15. 1940Week 5

    Georgia Tech at Notre Dame

    Georgia Tech 20, Notre Dame 26

    Unranked Georgia Tech vs. No. 7 Notre Dame · 6-point margin

    Ranking 19/50 · Closeness 29/35 · Overtime 0/15

    48

    Game score

  16. 1940Week 5

    Ohio State at Northwestern

    Ohio State 3, Northwestern 6

    Unranked Ohio State vs. No. 10 Northwestern · 3-point margin

    Ranking 16/50 · Closeness 32/35 · Overtime 0/15

    48

    Game score

  17. 1940Week 7

    California at Washington

    California 6, Washington 7

    Unranked California vs. No. 12 Washington · 1-point margin

    Ranking 14/50 · Closeness 34/35 · Overtime 0/15

    48

    Game score

  18. 1940Week 6

    Stanford at Washington State

    Stanford 26, Washington State 14

    No. 3 Stanford vs. Unranked Washington State · 12-point margin

    Ranking 23/50 · Closeness 23/35 · Overtime 0/15

    46

    Game score

  19. 1940Week 7

    Michigan State at Santa Clara

    Michigan State 0, Santa Clara 0

    Unranked Michigan State vs. No. 15 Santa Clara · 0-point margin

    Ranking 11/50 · Closeness 35/35 · Overtime 0/15

    46

    Game score

  20. 1940Week 5

    Auburn at Mississippi State

    Auburn 7, Mississippi State 7

    Unranked Auburn vs. No. 15 Mississippi State · 0-point margin

    Ranking 11/50 · Closeness 35/35 · Overtime 0/15

    46

    Game score

  21. 1940Week 6

    TCU at Texas A&M

    TCU 7, Texas A&M 21

    Unranked TCU vs. No. 2 Texas A&M · 14-point margin

    Ranking 24/50 · Closeness 21/35 · Overtime 0/15

    45

    Game score

  22. 1940Week 7

    USC at Stanford

    USC 7, Stanford 21

    Unranked USC vs. No. 3 Stanford · 14-point margin

    Ranking 23/50 · Closeness 21/35 · Overtime 0/15

    44

    Game score

  23. 1940Week 5

    Indiana at Nebraska

    Indiana 7, Nebraska 13

    Unranked Indiana vs. No. 11 Nebraska · 6-point margin

    Ranking 15/50 · Closeness 29/35 · Overtime 0/15

    44

    Game score

  24. 1940Week 7

    Saint Mary's (CA) at Fordham

    Saint Mary's (CA) 9, Fordham 6

    Unranked Saint Mary's (CA) vs. No. 14 Fordham · 3-point margin

    Ranking 12/50 · Closeness 32/35 · Overtime 0/15

    44

    Game score

  25. 1940Week 3

    SMU at UCLA

    SMU 9, UCLA 6

    No. 15 SMU vs. Unranked UCLA · 3-point margin

    Ranking 11/50 · Closeness 32/35 · Overtime 0/15

    43

    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. Historical seasons may have less complete period and box-score data.