Season leaderboard
Top 25 College Football Games of 1982
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.
- 1982PostseasonNeutral site
Georgia vs. Penn State
Georgia 23, Penn State 27
No. 1 Georgia vs. No. 2 Penn State · 4-point margin
Ranking 49/50 · Closeness 31/35 · Overtime 0/15
80
Game score
- 1982Week 2
North Carolina at Pittsburgh
North Carolina 6, Pittsburgh 7
No. 5 North Carolina vs. No. 1 Pittsburgh · 1-point margin
Ranking 46/50 · Closeness 34/35 · Overtime 0/15
80
Game score
- 1982Week 12
SMU at Arkansas
SMU 17, Arkansas 17
No. 2 SMU vs. No. 9 Arkansas · 0-point margin
Ranking 41/50 · Closeness 35/35 · Overtime 0/15
76
Game score
- 1982Week 4
Nebraska at Penn State
Nebraska 24, Penn State 27
No. 2 Nebraska vs. No. 8 Penn State · 3-point margin
Ranking 42/50 · Closeness 32/35 · Overtime 0/15
74
Game score
Full Game · Penn State vs. Nebraska (Full Broadcast)
- 1982PostseasonNeutral site
Pittsburgh vs. SMU
Pittsburgh 3, SMU 7
No. 6 Pittsburgh vs. No. 4 SMU · 4-point margin
Ranking 42/50 · Closeness 31/35 · Overtime 0/15
73
Game score
- 1982Week 11
Washington at Arizona State
Washington 17, Arizona State 13
No. 7 Washington vs. No. 3 Arizona State · 4-point margin
Ranking 42/50 · Closeness 31/35 · Overtime 0/15
73
Game score
- 1982Week 13
Pittsburgh at Penn State
Pittsburgh 10, Penn State 19
No. 5 Pittsburgh vs. No. 2 Penn State · 9-point margin
Ranking 45/50 · Closeness 26/35 · Overtime 0/15
71
Game score
- 1982PostseasonNeutral site
LSU vs. Nebraska
LSU 20, Nebraska 21
No. 13 LSU vs. No. 3 Nebraska · 1-point margin
Ranking 36/50 · Closeness 34/35 · Overtime 0/15
70
Game score
- 1982Week 13
Oklahoma at Nebraska
Oklahoma 24, Nebraska 28
No. 11 Oklahoma vs. No. 3 Nebraska · 4-point margin
Ranking 38/50 · Closeness 31/35 · Overtime 0/15
69
Game score
- 1982Week 5
West Virginia at Pittsburgh
West Virginia 13, Pittsburgh 16
No. 14 West Virginia vs. No. 2 Pittsburgh · 3-point margin
Ranking 36/50 · Closeness 32/35 · Overtime 0/15
68
Game score
- 1982Week 10
UCLA at Washington
UCLA 7, Washington 10
No. 9 UCLA vs. No. 10 Washington · 3-point margin
Ranking 33/50 · Closeness 32/35 · Overtime 0/15
65
Game score
- 1982Week 9
USC at Arizona State
USC 10, Arizona State 17
No. 12 USC vs. No. 7 Arizona State · 7-point margin
Ranking 33/50 · Closeness 28/35 · Overtime 0/15
61
Game score
- 1982PostseasonNeutral site
Maryland vs. Washington
Maryland 20, Washington 21
No. 16 Maryland vs. No. 9 Washington · 1-point margin
Ranking 27/50 · Closeness 34/35 · Overtime 0/15
61
Game score
- 1982Week 12
USC at UCLA
USC 19, UCLA 20
No. 15 USC vs. No. 11 UCLA · 1-point margin
Ranking 26/50 · Closeness 34/35 · Overtime 0/15
60
Game score
- 1982Week 6
Penn State at Alabama
Penn State 21, Alabama 42
No. 3 Penn State vs. No. 4 Alabama · 21-point margin
Ranking 45/50 · Closeness 14/35 · Overtime 0/15
59
Game score
- 1982Week 11
Penn State at Notre Dame
Penn State 24, Notre Dame 14
No. 5 Penn State vs. No. 13 Notre Dame · 10-point margin
Ranking 34/50 · Closeness 25/35 · Overtime 0/15
59
Game score
- 1982Week 10
LSU at Alabama
LSU 20, Alabama 10
No. 11 LSU vs. No. 8 Alabama · 10-point margin
Ranking 33/50 · Closeness 25/35 · Overtime 0/15
58
Game score
- 1982Week 2
USC at Florida
USC 9, Florida 17
No. 10 USC vs. No. 11 Florida · 8-point margin
Ranking 31/50 · Closeness 27/35 · Overtime 0/15
58
Game score
- 1982Week 6
Miami at Notre Dame
Miami 14, Notre Dame 16
No. 17 Miami vs. No. 10 Notre Dame · 2-point margin
Ranking 25/50 · Closeness 33/35 · Overtime 0/15
58
Game score
- 1982Week 11
Clemson at Maryland
Clemson 24, Maryland 22
No. 11 Clemson vs. No. 18 Maryland · 2-point margin
Ranking 23/50 · Closeness 33/35 · Overtime 0/15
56
Game score
- 1982Week 11
Georgia at Auburn
Georgia 19, Auburn 14
No. 1 Georgia vs. Unranked Auburn · 5-point margin
Ranking 25/50 · Closeness 30/35 · Overtime 0/15
55
Game score
- 1982Week 4
Vanderbilt at Alabama
Vanderbilt 21, Alabama 24
Unranked Vanderbilt vs. No. 4 Alabama · 3-point margin
Ranking 22/50 · Closeness 32/35 · Overtime 0/15
54
Game score
- 1982PostseasonNeutral site
Oklahoma vs. Arizona State
Oklahoma 21, Arizona State 32
No. 12 Oklahoma vs. No. 11 Arizona State · 11-point margin
Ranking 29/50 · Closeness 24/35 · Overtime 0/15
53
Game score
- 1982PostseasonNeutral site
Michigan vs. UCLA
Michigan 14, UCLA 24
No. 19 Michigan vs. No. 5 UCLA · 10-point margin
Ranking 28/50 · Closeness 25/35 · Overtime 0/15
53
Game score
- 1982Week 8
Texas Tech at Washington
Texas Tech 3, Washington 10
Unranked Texas Tech vs. No. 1 Washington · 7-point margin
Ranking 25/50 · Closeness 28/35 · 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.