Season leaderboard
Top 25 College Football Games of 1980
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
- 80/100
- 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.
- 1980PostseasonNeutral site
Florida State vs. Oklahoma
Florida State 17, Oklahoma 18
No. 2 Florida State vs. No. 4 Oklahoma · 1-point margin
Ranking 46/50 · Closeness 34/35 · Overtime 0/15
80
Game score
Full Game · 1980 Oklahoma vs. Florida State (Bowl Full Game)
- 1980PostseasonNeutral site
Notre Dame vs. Georgia
Notre Dame 10, Georgia 17
No. 7 Notre Dame vs. No. 1 Georgia · 7-point margin
Ranking 44/50 · Closeness 28/35 · Overtime 0/15
72
Game score
- 1980Week 12
Notre Dame at Alabama
Notre Dame 7, Alabama 0
No. 2 Notre Dame vs. No. 8 Alabama · 7-point margin
Ranking 42/50 · Closeness 28/35 · Overtime 0/15
70
Game score
- 1980Week 14
Pittsburgh at Penn State
Pittsburgh 14, Penn State 9
No. 4 Pittsburgh vs. No. 10 Penn State · 5-point margin
Ranking 38/50 · Closeness 30/35 · Overtime 0/15
68
Game score
- 1980Week 13
Oklahoma at Nebraska
Oklahoma 21, Nebraska 17
No. 6 Oklahoma vs. No. 10 Nebraska · 4-point margin
Ranking 36/50 · Closeness 31/35 · Overtime 0/15
67
Game score
- 1980Week 10
South Carolina at Georgia
South Carolina 10, Georgia 13
No. 15 South Carolina vs. No. 2 Georgia · 3-point margin
Ranking 35/50 · Closeness 32/35 · Overtime 0/15
67
Game score
- 1980Week 1
Arkansas at Texas
Arkansas 17, Texas 23
No. 6 Arkansas vs. No. 10 Texas · 6-point margin
Ranking 36/50 · Closeness 29/35 · Overtime 0/15
65
Game score
- 1980Week 13
Michigan at Ohio State
Michigan 9, Ohio State 3
No. 7 Michigan vs. No. 11 Ohio State · 6-point margin
Ranking 34/50 · Closeness 29/35 · Overtime 0/15
63
Game score
- 1980Week 6
Florida State at Nebraska
Florida State 18, Nebraska 14
No. 11 Florida State vs. No. 10 Nebraska · 4-point margin
Ranking 31/50 · Closeness 31/35 · Overtime 0/15
62
Game score
- 1980Week 11
Florida at Georgia
Florida 21, Georgia 26
No. 20 Florida vs. No. 1 Georgia · 5-point margin
Ranking 31/50 · Closeness 30/35 · Overtime 0/15
61
Game score
- 1980Week 7
Oklahoma at Texas
Oklahoma 13, Texas 20
No. 17 Oklahoma vs. No. 3 Texas · 7-point margin
Ranking 32/50 · Closeness 28/35 · Overtime 0/15
60
Game score
- 1980Week 4
Michigan at Notre Dame
Michigan 27, Notre Dame 29
No. 17 Michigan vs. No. 8 Notre Dame · 2-point margin
Ranking 27/50 · Closeness 33/35 · Overtime 0/15
60
Game score
- 1980Week 10
Alabama at Mississippi State
Alabama 3, Mississippi State 6
No. 6 Alabama vs. No. 19 Mississippi State · 3-point margin
Ranking 27/50 · Closeness 32/35 · Overtime 0/15
59
Game score
- 1980Week 6
Arizona State at USC
Arizona State 21, USC 23
Unranked Arizona State vs. No. 2 USC · 2-point margin
Ranking 24/50 · Closeness 33/35 · Overtime 0/15
57
Game score
- 1980Week 5
Florida State at Miami
Florida State 9, Miami 10
No. 16 Florida State vs. No. 13 Miami · 1-point margin
Ranking 23/50 · Closeness 34/35 · Overtime 0/15
57
Game score
- 1980Week 6
UCLA at Ohio State
UCLA 17, Ohio State 0
No. 5 UCLA vs. No. 9 Ohio State · 17-point margin
Ranking 38/50 · Closeness 18/35 · Overtime 0/15
56
Game score
- 1980Week 7
Alabama at Rutgers
Alabama 17, Rutgers 13
No. 1 Alabama vs. Unranked Rutgers · 4-point margin
Ranking 25/50 · Closeness 31/35 · Overtime 0/15
56
Game score
- 1980Week 7
Pittsburgh at Florida State
Pittsburgh 22, Florida State 36
No. 11 Pittsburgh vs. No. 7 Florida State · 14-point margin
Ranking 34/50 · Closeness 21/35 · Overtime 0/15
55
Game score
- 1980Week 15
Florida at Florida State
Florida 13, Florida State 17
Unranked Florida vs. No. 2 Florida State · 4-point margin
Ranking 24/50 · Closeness 31/35 · Overtime 0/15
55
Game score
- 1980Week 11
Georgia Tech at Notre Dame
Georgia Tech 3, Notre Dame 3
Unranked Georgia Tech vs. No. 6 Notre Dame · 0-point margin
Ranking 20/50 · Closeness 35/35 · Overtime 0/15
55
Game score
- 1980PostseasonNeutral site
Ohio State vs. Penn State
Ohio State 19, Penn State 31
No. 11 Ohio State vs. No. 10 Penn State · 12-point margin
Ranking 31/50 · Closeness 23/35 · Overtime 0/15
54
Game score
- 1980Week 3
USC at Tennessee
USC 20, Tennessee 17
No. 4 USC vs. Unranked Tennessee · 3-point margin
Ranking 22/50 · Closeness 32/35 · Overtime 0/15
54
Game score
- 1980Week 5
Nebraska at Penn State
Nebraska 21, Penn State 7
No. 3 Nebraska vs. No. 17 Penn State · 14-point margin
Ranking 32/50 · Closeness 21/35 · Overtime 0/15
53
Game score
- 1980PostseasonNeutral site
Missouri vs. Purdue
Missouri 25, Purdue 28
No. 15 Missouri vs. No. 16 Purdue · 3-point margin
Ranking 21/50 · Closeness 32/35 · Overtime 0/15
53
Game score
- 1980Week 13
USC at UCLA
USC 17, UCLA 20
No. 17 USC vs. No. 14 UCLA · 3-point margin
Ranking 21/50 · Closeness 32/35 · Overtime 0/15
53
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.