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Top 25 College Football Games of 1953

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
76/100
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. 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

  2. 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

  3. 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

  4. 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

  5. 1953Week 8

    Baylor at Texas

    Baylor 20, Texas 21

    No. 9 Baylor vs. No. 10 Texas · 1-point margin

    Ranking 33/50 · Closeness 34/35 · Overtime 0/15

    67

    Game score

  6. 1953Week 6

    Georgia Tech at Notre Dame

    Georgia Tech 14, Notre Dame 27

    No. 8 Georgia Tech vs. No. 1 Notre Dame · 13-point margin

    Ranking 43/50 · Closeness 22/35 · Overtime 0/15

    65

    Game score

  7. 1953Week 5

    Pittsburgh at Notre Dame

    Pittsburgh 14, Notre Dame 23

    No. 18 Pittsburgh vs. No. 1 Notre Dame · 9-point margin

    Ranking 33/50 · Closeness 26/35 · Overtime 0/15

    59

    Game score

  8. 1953Week 9

    Georgia Tech at Alabama

    Georgia Tech 6, Alabama 13

    No. 12 Georgia Tech vs. No. 11 Alabama · 7-point margin

    Ranking 29/50 · Closeness 28/35 · Overtime 0/15

    57

    Game score

  9. 1953Week 6

    Baylor at Texas A&M

    Baylor 14, Texas A&M 13

    No. 3 Baylor vs. Unranked Texas A&M · 1-point margin

    Ranking 23/50 · Closeness 34/35 · Overtime 0/15

    57

    Game score

  10. 1953Week 8

    Stanford at USC

    Stanford 20, USC 23

    No. 16 Stanford vs. No. 12 USC · 3-point margin

    Ranking 24/50 · Closeness 32/35 · Overtime 0/15

    56

    Game score

  11. 1953Week 4

    Iowa at Michigan

    Iowa 13, Michigan 14

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

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

    55

    Game score

  12. 1953Week 5

    UCLA at Stanford

    UCLA 20, Stanford 21

    No. 12 UCLA vs. No. 20 Stanford · 1-point margin

    Ranking 20/50 · Closeness 34/35 · Overtime 0/15

    54

    Game score

  13. 1953Week 3

    Pittsburgh at Oklahoma

    Pittsburgh 7, Oklahoma 7

    No. 17 Pittsburgh vs. No. 16 Oklahoma · 0-point margin

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

    54

    Game score

  14. 1953Week 7

    West Virginia at Penn State

    West Virginia 20, Penn State 19

    No. 7 West Virginia vs. Unranked Penn State · 1-point margin

    Ranking 19/50 · Closeness 34/35 · Overtime 0/15

    53

    Game score

  15. 1953Week 8

    Notre Dame at Pennsylvania

    Notre Dame 28, Pennsylvania 20

    No. 1 Notre Dame vs. Unranked Pennsylvania · 8-point margin

    Ranking 25/50 · Closeness 27/35 · Overtime 0/15

    52

    Game score

  16. 1953Week 4

    TCU at Michigan State

    TCU 19, Michigan State 26

    Unranked TCU vs. No. 2 Michigan State · 7-point margin

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

    52

    Game score

  17. 1953Week 10

    Marquette at Michigan State

    Marquette 15, Michigan State 21

    Unranked Marquette vs. No. 3 Michigan State · 6-point margin

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

    52

    Game score

  18. 1953Week 2

    Florida at Georgia Tech

    Florida 0, Georgia Tech 0

    Unranked Florida vs. No. 9 Georgia Tech · 0-point margin

    Ranking 17/50 · Closeness 35/35 · Overtime 0/15

    52

    Game score

  19. 1953Week 9

    Michigan at Michigan State

    Michigan 6, Michigan State 14

    Unranked Michigan vs. No. 3 Michigan State · 8-point margin

    Ranking 23/50 · Closeness 27/35 · Overtime 0/15

    50

    Game score

  20. 1953Week 6

    Syracuse at Illinois

    Syracuse 13, Illinois 20

    Unranked Syracuse vs. No. 4 Illinois · 7-point margin

    Ranking 22/50 · Closeness 28/35 · Overtime 0/15

    50

    Game score

  21. 1953Week 10

    UCLA at USC

    UCLA 13, USC 0

    No. 5 UCLA vs. No. 20 USC · 13-point margin

    Ranking 27/50 · Closeness 22/35 · Overtime 0/15

    49

    Game score

  22. 1953Week 6

    Michigan State at Purdue

    Michigan State 0, Purdue 6

    No. 6 Michigan State vs. Unranked Purdue · 6-point margin

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

    49

    Game score

  23. 1953Week 3

    SMU at Georgia Tech

    SMU 4, Georgia Tech 6

    Unranked SMU vs. No. 10 Georgia Tech · 2-point margin

    Ranking 16/50 · Closeness 33/35 · Overtime 0/15

    49

    Game score

  24. 1953Week 10

    Minnesota at Wisconsin

    Minnesota 21, Wisconsin 21

    Unranked Minnesota vs. No. 12 Wisconsin · 0-point margin

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

    49

    Game score

  25. 1953Week 5

    Northwestern at Michigan

    Northwestern 12, Michigan 20

    Unranked Northwestern vs. No. 5 Michigan · 8-point margin

    Ranking 21/50 · Closeness 27/35 · Overtime 0/15

    48

    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.