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Top 25 College Football Games of 1972

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
75/100
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. 1972Week 12

    Oklahoma at Nebraska

    Oklahoma 17, Nebraska 14

    No. 4 Oklahoma vs. No. 5 Nebraska · 3-point margin

    Ranking 43/50 · Closeness 32/35 · Overtime 0/15

    75

    Game score

    Full Game · 1972 Nebraska vs. Oklahoma (Regular Season Full Game)

  2. 1972Week 13

    Alabama at Auburn

    Alabama 16, Auburn 17

    No. 2 Alabama vs. No. 9 Auburn · 1-point margin

    Ranking 41/50 · Closeness 34/35 · Overtime 0/15

    75

    Game score

    Full Game · Punt, Bama, Punt: Auburn vs. Alabama (Full Game)

  3. 1972PostseasonNeutral site

    Alabama vs. Texas

    Alabama 13, Texas 17

    No. 4 Alabama vs. No. 7 Texas · 4-point margin

    Ranking 41/50 · Closeness 31/35 · Overtime 0/15

    72

    Game score

  4. 1972Week 12

    Michigan at Ohio State

    Michigan 11, Ohio State 14

    No. 3 Michigan vs. No. 9 Ohio State · 3-point margin

    Ranking 40/50 · Closeness 32/35 · Overtime 0/15

    72

    Game score

  5. 1972Week 7

    Oklahoma at Colorado

    Oklahoma 14, Colorado 20

    No. 2 Oklahoma vs. No. 9 Colorado · 6-point margin

    Ranking 41/50 · Closeness 29/35 · Overtime 0/15

    70

    Game score

  6. 1972Week 7

    Alabama at Tennessee

    Alabama 17, Tennessee 10

    No. 3 Alabama vs. No. 10 Tennessee · 7-point margin

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

    67

    Game score

  7. 1972Week 2

    Penn State at Tennessee

    Penn State 21, Tennessee 28

    No. 6 Penn State vs. No. 7 Tennessee · 7-point margin

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

    67

    Game score

  8. 1972Week 10

    Iowa State at Nebraska

    Iowa State 23, Nebraska 23

    No. 17 Iowa State vs. No. 3 Nebraska · 0-point margin

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

    67

    Game score

  9. 1972PostseasonNeutral site

    Penn State vs. Oklahoma

    Penn State 0, Oklahoma 14

    No. 5 Penn State vs. No. 2 Oklahoma · 14-point margin

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

    66

    Game score

  10. 1972Week 10

    LSU at Alabama

    LSU 21, Alabama 35

    No. 6 LSU vs. No. 2 Alabama · 14-point margin

    Ranking 44/50 · Closeness 21/35 · Overtime 0/15

    65

    Game score

  11. 1972Week 5

    USC at Stanford

    USC 30, Stanford 21

    No. 1 USC vs. No. 15 Stanford · 9-point margin

    Ranking 36/50 · Closeness 26/35 · Overtime 0/15

    62

    Game score

  12. 1972PostseasonNeutral site

    LSU vs. Tennessee

    LSU 17, Tennessee 24

    No. 10 LSU vs. No. 11 Tennessee · 7-point margin

    Ranking 31/50 · Closeness 28/35 · Overtime 0/15

    59

    Game score

  13. 1972PostseasonNeutral site

    Ohio State vs. USC

    Ohio State 17, USC 42

    No. 3 Ohio State vs. No. 1 USC · 25-point margin

    Ranking 48/50 · Closeness 10/35 · Overtime 0/15

    58

    Game score

  14. 1972Week 11

    USC at UCLA

    USC 24, UCLA 7

    No. 1 USC vs. No. 14 UCLA · 17-point margin

    Ranking 37/50 · Closeness 18/35 · Overtime 0/15

    55

    Game score

  15. 1972Week 10

    Missouri at Oklahoma

    Missouri 6, Oklahoma 17

    No. 14 Missouri vs. No. 7 Oklahoma · 11-point margin

    Ranking 31/50 · Closeness 24/35 · Overtime 0/15

    55

    Game score

  16. 1972Week 11

    Purdue at Michigan

    Purdue 6, Michigan 9

    Unranked Purdue vs. No. 3 Michigan · 3-point margin

    Ranking 23/50 · Closeness 32/35 · Overtime 0/15

    55

    Game score

  17. 1972Week 11

    Iowa State at Missouri

    Iowa State 5, Missouri 6

    No. 12 Iowa State vs. No. 19 Missouri · 1-point margin

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

    55

    Game score

  18. 1972Week 13

    Notre Dame at USC

    Notre Dame 23, USC 45

    No. 10 Notre Dame vs. No. 1 USC · 22-point margin

    Ranking 41/50 · Closeness 13/35 · Overtime 0/15

    54

    Game score

  19. 1972Week 9

    Ole Miss at LSU

    Ole Miss 16, LSU 17

    Unranked Ole Miss vs. No. 6 LSU · 1-point margin

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

    54

    Game score

  20. 1972Week 4

    Tennessee at Auburn

    Tennessee 6, Auburn 10

    No. 4 Tennessee vs. Unranked Auburn · 4-point margin

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

    53

    Game score

  21. 1972Week 12

    Florida at LSU

    Florida 3, LSU 3

    Unranked Florida vs. No. 8 LSU · 0-point margin

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

    53

    Game score

  22. 1972Week 3

    Michigan at UCLA

    Michigan 26, UCLA 9

    No. 12 Michigan vs. No. 6 UCLA · 17-point margin

    Ranking 34/50 · Closeness 18/35 · Overtime 0/15

    52

    Game score

  23. 1972Week 9

    Oklahoma at Iowa State

    Oklahoma 20, Iowa State 6

    No. 7 Oklahoma vs. No. 14 Iowa State · 14-point margin

    Ranking 31/50 · Closeness 21/35 · Overtime 0/15

    52

    Game score

  24. 1972Week 8

    Colorado at Missouri

    Colorado 17, Missouri 20

    No. 7 Colorado vs. Unranked Missouri · 3-point margin

    Ranking 19/50 · Closeness 32/35 · Overtime 0/15

    51

    Game score

  25. 1972Week 8

    Penn State at West Virginia

    Penn State 28, West Virginia 19

    No. 11 Penn State vs. No. 18 West Virginia · 9-point margin

    Ranking 23/50 · Closeness 26/35 · Overtime 0/15

    49

    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.