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Top 25 College Football Games of 1949

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
77/100
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. 1949PostseasonNeutral site

    California vs. Ohio State

    California 14, Ohio State 17

    No. 2 California vs. No. 5 Ohio State · 3-point margin

    Ranking 45/50 · Closeness 32/35 · Overtime 0/15

    77

    Game score

  2. 1949Week 7

    Minnesota at Michigan

    Minnesota 7, Michigan 14

    No. 8 Minnesota vs. No. 5 Michigan · 7-point margin

    Ranking 39/50 · Closeness 28/35 · Overtime 0/15

    67

    Game score

  3. 1949Week 5

    Army at Michigan

    Army 21, Michigan 7

    No. 2 Army vs. No. 5 Michigan · 14-point margin

    Ranking 45/50 · Closeness 21/35 · Overtime 0/15

    66

    Game score

  4. 1949Week 5

    USC at Ohio State

    USC 13, Ohio State 13

    No. 12 USC vs. No. 11 Ohio State · 0-point margin

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

    64

    Game score

  5. 1949Week 8

    Stanford at Santa Clara

    Stanford 7, Santa Clara 7

    No. 12 Stanford vs. No. 14 Santa Clara · 0-point margin

    Ranking 26/50 · Closeness 35/35 · Overtime 0/15

    61

    Game score

  6. 1949Week 4

    Missouri at SMU

    Missouri 27, SMU 28

    No. 16 Missouri vs. No. 11 SMU · 1-point margin

    Ranking 25/50 · Closeness 34/35 · Overtime 0/15

    59

    Game score

  7. 1949Week 4

    Rice at LSU

    Rice 7, LSU 14

    No. 5 Rice vs. No. 17 LSU · 7-point margin

    Ranking 30/50 · Closeness 28/35 · Overtime 0/15

    58

    Game score

  8. 1949Week 3

    Michigan State at Michigan

    Michigan State 3, Michigan 7

    No. 15 Michigan State vs. No. 12 Michigan · 4-point margin

    Ranking 25/50 · Closeness 31/35 · Overtime 0/15

    56

    Game score

  9. 1949Week 6

    Michigan at Northwestern

    Michigan 20, Northwestern 21

    No. 5 Michigan vs. Unranked Northwestern · 1-point margin

    Ranking 21/50 · Closeness 34/35 · Overtime 0/15

    55

    Game score

  10. 1949Week 6

    Rice at SMU

    Rice 41, SMU 27

    No. 7 Rice vs. No. 12 SMU · 14-point margin

    Ranking 33/50 · Closeness 21/35 · Overtime 0/15

    54

    Game score

  11. 1949Week 7

    Kentucky at SMU

    Kentucky 7, SMU 20

    No. 11 Kentucky vs. No. 10 SMU · 13-point margin

    Ranking 31/50 · Closeness 22/35 · Overtime 0/15

    53

    Game score

  12. 1949Week 7

    Rice at Texas

    Rice 17, Texas 15

    No. 6 Rice vs. Unranked Texas · 2-point margin

    Ranking 20/50 · Closeness 33/35 · Overtime 0/15

    53

    Game score

  13. 1949Week 5

    Texas at Oklahoma

    Texas 14, Oklahoma 20

    Unranked Texas vs. No. 3 Oklahoma · 6-point margin

    Ranking 23/50 · Closeness 29/35 · Overtime 0/15

    52

    Game score

  14. 1949Week 6

    USC at California

    USC 10, California 16

    Unranked USC vs. No. 4 California · 6-point margin

    Ranking 22/50 · Closeness 29/35 · Overtime 0/15

    51

    Game score

  15. 1949PostseasonNeutral site

    North Carolina vs. Rice

    North Carolina 13, Rice 27

    No. 19 North Carolina vs. No. 7 Rice · 14-point margin

    Ranking 26/50 · Closeness 21/35 · Overtime 0/15

    47

    Game score

  16. 1949Week 8

    Purdue at Minnesota

    Purdue 13, Minnesota 7

    Unranked Purdue vs. No. 8 Minnesota · 6-point margin

    Ranking 18/50 · Closeness 29/35 · Overtime 0/15

    47

    Game score

  17. 1949Week 8

    California at UCLA

    California 35, UCLA 21

    No. 2 California vs. Unranked UCLA · 14-point margin

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

    45

    Game score

  18. 1949PostseasonNeutral site

    Kentucky vs. Santa Clara

    Kentucky 13, Santa Clara 21

    No. 20 Kentucky vs. No. 14 Santa Clara · 8-point margin

    Ranking 18/50 · Closeness 27/35 · Overtime 0/15

    45

    Game score

  19. 1949Week 7

    Washington at California

    Washington 7, California 21

    Unranked Washington vs. No. 3 California · 14-point margin

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

    44

    Game score

  20. 1949Week 5

    Maryland at Michigan State

    Maryland 7, Michigan State 14

    Unranked Maryland vs. No. 10 Michigan State · 7-point margin

    Ranking 16/50 · Closeness 28/35 · Overtime 0/15

    44

    Game score

  21. 1949PostseasonNeutral site

    Missouri vs. Maryland

    Missouri 7, Maryland 20

    No. 16 Missouri vs. No. 15 Maryland · 13-point margin

    Ranking 21/50 · Closeness 22/35 · Overtime 0/15

    43

    Game score

  22. 1949Week 4

    Baylor at Mississippi State

    Baylor 14, Mississippi State 6

    No. 10 Baylor vs. Unranked Mississippi State · 8-point margin

    Ranking 16/50 · Closeness 27/35 · Overtime 0/15

    43

    Game score

  23. 1949Week 5

    California at Wisconsin

    California 35, Wisconsin 20

    No. 4 California vs. Unranked Wisconsin · 15-point margin

    Ranking 22/50 · Closeness 20/35 · Overtime 0/15

    42

    Game score

  24. 1949Week 8

    Michigan at Illinois

    Michigan 13, Illinois 0

    No. 6 Michigan vs. Unranked Illinois · 13-point margin

    Ranking 20/50 · Closeness 22/35 · Overtime 0/15

    42

    Game score

  25. 1949Week 7

    North Carolina at LSU

    North Carolina 7, LSU 13

    Unranked North Carolina vs. No. 13 LSU · 6-point margin

    Ranking 13/50 · Closeness 29/35 · Overtime 0/15

    42

    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.