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Top 25 College Football Games of 1979

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
82/100
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. 1979PostseasonNeutral site

    Ohio State vs. USC

    Ohio State 16, USC 17

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

    Ranking 48/50 · Closeness 34/35 · Overtime 0/15

    82

    Game score

  2. 1979Week 13

    Nebraska at Oklahoma

    Nebraska 14, Oklahoma 17

    No. 7 Nebraska vs. No. 5 Oklahoma · 3-point margin

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

    72

    Game score

  3. 1979Week 9

    Houston at Arkansas

    Houston 13, Arkansas 10

    No. 4 Houston vs. No. 9 Arkansas · 3-point margin

    Ranking 39/50 · Closeness 32/35 · Overtime 0/15

    71

    Game score

  4. 1979Week 8

    Texas at Arkansas

    Texas 14, Arkansas 17

    No. 9 Texas vs. No. 4 Arkansas · 3-point margin

    Ranking 39/50 · Closeness 32/35 · Overtime 0/15

    71

    Game score

  5. 1979PostseasonNeutral site

    Nebraska vs. Houston

    Nebraska 14, Houston 17

    No. 7 Nebraska vs. No. 8 Houston · 3-point margin

    Ranking 37/50 · Closeness 32/35 · Overtime 0/15

    69

    Game score

  6. 1979Week 3

    Notre Dame at Michigan

    Notre Dame 12, Michigan 10

    No. 5 Notre Dame vs. No. 11 Michigan · 2-point margin

    Ranking 36/50 · Closeness 33/35 · Overtime 0/15

    69

    Game score

  7. 1979Week 7

    Oklahoma at Texas

    Oklahoma 7, Texas 16

    No. 8 Oklahoma vs. No. 2 Texas · 9-point margin

    Ranking 42/50 · Closeness 26/35 · Overtime 0/15

    68

    Game score

  8. 1979Week 12

    Ohio State at Michigan

    Ohio State 18, Michigan 15

    No. 2 Ohio State vs. No. 16 Michigan · 3-point margin

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

    66

    Game score

  9. 1979PostseasonNeutral site

    Arkansas vs. Alabama

    Arkansas 9, Alabama 24

    No. 6 Arkansas vs. No. 2 Alabama · 15-point margin

    Ranking 44/50 · Closeness 20/35 · Overtime 0/15

    64

    Game score

  10. 1979Week 11

    Texas at Houston

    Texas 21, Houston 13

    No. 6 Texas vs. No. 9 Houston · 8-point margin

    Ranking 37/50 · Closeness 27/35 · Overtime 0/15

    64

    Game score

  11. 1979Week 5

    USC at LSU

    USC 17, LSU 12

    No. 1 USC vs. No. 17 LSU · 5-point margin

    Ranking 34/50 · Closeness 30/35 · Overtime 0/15

    64

    Game score

  12. 1979PostseasonNeutral site

    Florida State vs. Oklahoma

    Florida State 7, Oklahoma 24

    No. 4 Florida State vs. No. 5 Oklahoma · 17-point margin

    Ranking 43/50 · Closeness 18/35 · Overtime 0/15

    61

    Game score

  13. 1979Week 14

    Auburn at Alabama

    Auburn 18, Alabama 25

    No. 17 Auburn vs. No. 2 Alabama · 7-point margin

    Ranking 33/50 · Closeness 28/35 · Overtime 0/15

    61

    Game score

  14. 1979Week 11

    USC at Washington

    USC 24, Washington 17

    No. 4 USC vs. No. 16 Washington · 7-point margin

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

    60

    Game score

  15. 1979Week 11

    Michigan at Purdue

    Michigan 21, Purdue 24

    No. 13 Michigan vs. No. 12 Purdue · 3-point margin

    Ranking 27/50 · Closeness 32/35 · Overtime 0/15

    59

    Game score

  16. 1979Week 8

    Tennessee at Alabama

    Tennessee 17, Alabama 27

    No. 19 Tennessee vs. No. 1 Alabama · 10-point margin

    Ranking 32/50 · Closeness 25/35 · Overtime 0/15

    57

    Game score

  17. 1979Week 11

    Alabama at LSU

    Alabama 3, LSU 0

    No. 1 Alabama vs. Unranked LSU · 3-point margin

    Ranking 25/50 · Closeness 32/35 · Overtime 0/15

    57

    Game score

  18. 1979Week 7

    USC at Stanford

    USC 21, Stanford 21

    No. 4 USC vs. Unranked Stanford · 0-point margin

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

    57

    Game score

  19. 1979PostseasonNeutral site

    Texas vs. Washington

    Texas 7, Washington 14

    No. 11 Texas vs. No. 13 Washington · 7-point margin

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

    56

    Game score

  20. 1979Week 4

    Notre Dame at Purdue

    Notre Dame 22, Purdue 28

    No. 15 Notre Dame vs. No. 10 Purdue · 6-point margin

    Ranking 27/50 · Closeness 29/35 · Overtime 0/15

    56

    Game score

  21. 1979Week 10

    Nebraska at Missouri

    Nebraska 23, Missouri 20

    No. 2 Nebraska vs. Unranked Missouri · 3-point margin

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

    56

    Game score

  22. 1979Week 7

    Houston at Texas A&M

    Houston 17, Texas A&M 14

    No. 5 Houston vs. Unranked Texas A&M · 3-point margin

    Ranking 21/50 · Closeness 32/35 · Overtime 0/15

    53

    Game score

  23. 1979PostseasonNeutral site

    Michigan vs. North Carolina

    Michigan 15, North Carolina 17

    No. 14 Michigan vs. No. 18 North Carolina · 2-point margin

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

    53

    Game score

  24. 1979Week 4

    Nebraska at Iowa

    Nebraska 24, Iowa 21

    No. 6 Nebraska vs. Unranked Iowa · 3-point margin

    Ranking 20/50 · Closeness 32/35 · Overtime 0/15

    52

    Game score

  25. 1979Week 8

    USC at Notre Dame

    USC 42, Notre Dame 23

    No. 3 USC vs. No. 14 Notre Dame · 19-point margin

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

    51

    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.