Season leaderboard
Top 25 College Football Games of 1956
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.
- 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
- 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
- 1956Week 10
Michigan State at Minnesota
Michigan State 13, Minnesota 14
No. 10 Michigan State vs. No. 7 Minnesota · 1-point margin
Ranking 35/50 · Closeness 34/35 · Overtime 0/15
69
Game score
- 1956Week 6
TCU at Texas A&M
TCU 6, Texas A&M 7
No. 10 TCU vs. No. 7 Texas A&M · 1-point margin
Ranking 35/50 · Closeness 34/35 · Overtime 0/15
69
Game score
- 1956Week 10
Ohio State at Iowa
Ohio State 0, Iowa 6
No. 12 Ohio State vs. No. 3 Iowa · 6-point margin
Ranking 37/50 · Closeness 29/35 · Overtime 0/15
66
Game score
- 1956Week 4
Michigan State at Michigan
Michigan State 9, Michigan 0
No. 2 Michigan State vs. No. 12 Michigan · 9-point margin
Ranking 38/50 · Closeness 26/35 · Overtime 0/15
64
Game score
- 1956PostseasonNeutral site
Pittsburgh vs. Georgia Tech
Pittsburgh 14, Georgia Tech 21
No. 12 Pittsburgh vs. No. 4 Georgia Tech · 7-point margin
Ranking 36/50 · Closeness 28/35 · Overtime 0/15
64
Game score
- 1956PostseasonNeutral site
Tennessee vs. Baylor
Tennessee 7, Baylor 13
No. 2 Tennessee vs. No. 15 Baylor · 6-point margin
Ranking 35/50 · Closeness 29/35 · Overtime 0/15
64
Game score
- 1956PostseasonNeutral site
Syracuse vs. TCU
Syracuse 27, TCU 28
No. 8 Syracuse vs. No. 14 TCU · 1-point margin
Ranking 30/50 · Closeness 34/35 · Overtime 0/15
64
Game score
- 1956Week 2
Notre Dame at SMU
Notre Dame 13, SMU 19
No. 14 Notre Dame vs. No. 5 SMU · 6-point margin
Ranking 33/50 · Closeness 29/35 · Overtime 0/15
62
Game score
- 1956Week 7
Texas A&M at Baylor
Texas A&M 19, Baylor 13
No. 5 Texas A&M vs. No. 15 Baylor · 6-point margin
Ranking 32/50 · Closeness 29/35 · Overtime 0/15
61
Game score
- 1956Week 8
Oklahoma at Colorado
Oklahoma 27, Colorado 19
No. 1 Oklahoma vs. No. 18 Colorado · 8-point margin
Ranking 33/50 · Closeness 27/35 · Overtime 0/15
60
Game score
- 1956Week 8
Michigan at Iowa
Michigan 17, Iowa 14
No. 10 Michigan vs. No. 15 Iowa · 3-point margin
Ranking 27/50 · Closeness 32/35 · Overtime 0/15
59
Game score
- 1956Week 6
Penn State at Ohio State
Penn State 7, Ohio State 6
No. 18 Penn State vs. No. 9 Ohio State · 1-point margin
Ranking 25/50 · Closeness 34/35 · Overtime 0/15
59
Game score
- 1956Week 8
Pittsburgh at Minnesota
Pittsburgh 6, Minnesota 9
No. 20 Pittsburgh vs. No. 6 Minnesota · 3-point margin
Ranking 26/50 · Closeness 32/35 · Overtime 0/15
58
Game score
- 1956PostseasonNeutral site
Oregon State vs. Iowa
Oregon State 19, Iowa 35
No. 11 Oregon State vs. No. 3 Iowa · 16-point margin
Ranking 38/50 · Closeness 19/35 · Overtime 0/15
57
Game score
- 1956Week 9
Iowa at Minnesota
Iowa 7, Minnesota 0
No. 7 Iowa vs. No. 17 Minnesota · 7-point margin
Ranking 28/50 · Closeness 28/35 · Overtime 0/15
56
Game score
- 1956Week 6
Tulane at Ole Miss
Tulane 10, Ole Miss 3
No. 15 Tulane vs. No. 10 Ole Miss · 7-point margin
Ranking 27/50 · Closeness 28/35 · Overtime 0/15
55
Game score
- 1956Week 3
Syracuse at Pittsburgh
Syracuse 7, Pittsburgh 14
No. 18 Syracuse vs. No. 7 Pittsburgh · 7-point margin
Ranking 27/50 · Closeness 28/35 · Overtime 0/15
55
Game score
- 1956Week 9
Purdue at Michigan State
Purdue 9, Michigan State 12
Unranked Purdue vs. No. 3 Michigan State · 3-point margin
Ranking 23/50 · Closeness 32/35 · Overtime 0/15
55
Game score
- 1956Week 7
Iowa at Purdue
Iowa 21, Purdue 20
No. 7 Iowa vs. Unranked Purdue · 1-point margin
Ranking 19/50 · Closeness 34/35 · Overtime 0/15
53
Game score
- 1956Week 8
Georgia Tech at Duke
Georgia Tech 7, Duke 0
No. 2 Georgia Tech vs. Unranked Duke · 7-point margin
Ranking 24/50 · Closeness 28/35 · Overtime 0/15
52
Game score
- 1956Week 2
Georgia Tech at Kentucky
Georgia Tech 14, Kentucky 6
No. 2 Georgia Tech vs. Unranked Kentucky · 8-point margin
Ranking 24/50 · Closeness 27/35 · Overtime 0/15
51
Game score
- 1956Week 11
Wisconsin at Minnesota
Wisconsin 13, Minnesota 13
Unranked Wisconsin vs. No. 10 Minnesota · 0-point margin
Ranking 16/50 · Closeness 35/35 · Overtime 0/15
51
Game score
- 1956Week 7
Michigan State at Illinois
Michigan State 13, Illinois 20
No. 4 Michigan State vs. Unranked Illinois · 7-point margin
Ranking 22/50 · Closeness 28/35 · Overtime 0/15
50
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.