Season leaderboard
Top 25 College Football Games of 1988
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
- 81/100
- 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.
- 1988Week 8
Miami at Notre Dame
Miami 30, Notre Dame 31
No. 1 Miami vs. No. 4 Notre Dame · 1-point margin
Ranking 47/50 · Closeness 34/35 · Overtime 0/15
81
Game score
Full Game · Catholics vs. Convicts: Notre Dame vs. Miami (Full Game)
- 1988Week 14
Arkansas at Miami
Arkansas 16, Miami 18
No. 8 Arkansas vs. No. 3 Miami · 2-point margin
Ranking 41/50 · Closeness 33/35 · Overtime 0/15
74
Game score
- 1988Week 4
Florida State at Clemson
Florida State 24, Clemson 21
No. 10 Florida State vs. No. 3 Clemson · 3-point margin
Ranking 39/50 · Closeness 32/35 · Overtime 0/15
71
Game score
- 1988PostseasonNeutral site
West Virginia vs. Notre Dame
West Virginia 21, Notre Dame 34
No. 3 West Virginia vs. No. 1 Notre Dame · 13-point margin
Ranking 48/50 · Closeness 22/35 · Overtime 0/15
70
Game score
- 1988Week 13
USC at UCLA
USC 31, UCLA 22
No. 2 USC vs. No. 6 UCLA · 9-point margin
Ranking 44/50 · Closeness 26/35 · Overtime 0/15
70
Game score
- 1988PostseasonNeutral site
Auburn vs. Florida State
Auburn 7, Florida State 13
No. 7 Auburn vs. No. 4 Florida State · 6-point margin
Ranking 41/50 · Closeness 29/35 · Overtime 0/15
70
Game score
- 1988Week 4
Miami at Michigan
Miami 31, Michigan 30
No. 1 Miami vs. No. 15 Michigan · 1-point margin
Ranking 36/50 · Closeness 34/35 · Overtime 0/15
70
Game score
- 1988Week 14
Notre Dame at USC
Notre Dame 27, USC 10
No. 1 Notre Dame vs. No. 2 USC · 17-point margin
Ranking 49/50 · Closeness 18/35 · Overtime 0/15
67
Game score
- 1988Week 3
Nebraska at UCLA
Nebraska 28, UCLA 41
No. 2 Nebraska vs. No. 5 UCLA · 13-point margin
Ranking 45/50 · Closeness 22/35 · Overtime 0/15
67
Game score
- 1988Week 13
Nebraska at Oklahoma
Nebraska 7, Oklahoma 3
No. 7 Nebraska vs. No. 9 Oklahoma · 4-point margin
Ranking 36/50 · Closeness 31/35 · Overtime 0/15
67
Game score
- 1988Week 8
Washington at USC
Washington 27, USC 28
No. 16 Washington vs. No. 3 USC · 1-point margin
Ranking 33/50 · Closeness 34/35 · Overtime 0/15
67
Game score
- 1988Week 11
Oklahoma at Oklahoma State
Oklahoma 31, Oklahoma State 28
No. 8 Oklahoma vs. No. 12 Oklahoma State · 3-point margin
Ranking 32/50 · Closeness 32/35 · Overtime 0/15
64
Game score
Full Game · Oklahoma vs. Oklahoma State (Full Game)
- 1988Week 5
Oklahoma at USC
Oklahoma 7, USC 23
No. 3 Oklahoma vs. No. 5 USC · 16-point margin
Ranking 44/50 · Closeness 19/35 · Overtime 0/15
63
Game score
- 1988PostseasonNeutral site
Michigan vs. USC
Michigan 22, USC 14
No. 11 Michigan vs. No. 5 USC · 8-point margin
Ranking 36/50 · Closeness 27/35 · Overtime 0/15
63
Game score
- 1988Week 3
Michigan at Notre Dame
Michigan 17, Notre Dame 19
No. 9 Michigan vs. No. 13 Notre Dame · 2-point margin
Ranking 30/50 · Closeness 33/35 · Overtime 0/15
63
Game score
- 1988Week 6
UCLA at Washington
UCLA 24, Washington 17
No. 2 UCLA vs. No. 16 Washington · 7-point margin
Ranking 34/50 · Closeness 28/35 · Overtime 0/15
62
Game score
- 1988PostseasonNeutral site
Nebraska vs. Miami
Nebraska 3, Miami 23
No. 6 Nebraska vs. No. 2 Miami · 20-point margin
Ranking 44/50 · Closeness 15/35 · Overtime 0/15
59
Game score
- 1988Week 14
Alabama at Auburn
Alabama 10, Auburn 15
No. 17 Alabama vs. No. 7 Auburn · 5-point margin
Ranking 28/50 · Closeness 30/35 · Overtime 0/15
58
Game score
- 1988PostseasonNeutral site
Oklahoma vs. Clemson
Oklahoma 6, Clemson 13
No. 10 Oklahoma vs. No. 13 Clemson · 7-point margin
Ranking 29/50 · Closeness 28/35 · Overtime 0/15
57
Game score
- 1988PostseasonNeutral site
Arkansas vs. UCLA
Arkansas 3, UCLA 17
No. 8 Arkansas vs. No. 9 UCLA · 14-point margin
Ranking 35/50 · Closeness 21/35 · Overtime 0/15
56
Game score
- 1988Week 10
Washington State at UCLA
Washington State 34, UCLA 30
Unranked Washington State vs. No. 1 UCLA · 4-point margin
Ranking 25/50 · Closeness 31/35 · Overtime 0/15
56
Game score
- 1988Week 7
Auburn at LSU
Auburn 6, LSU 7
No. 4 Auburn vs. Unranked LSU · 1-point margin
Ranking 22/50 · Closeness 34/35 · Overtime 0/15
56
Game score
- 1988Week 11
LSU at Alabama
LSU 19, Alabama 18
No. 13 LSU vs. No. 18 Alabama · 1-point margin
Ranking 21/50 · Closeness 34/35 · Overtime 0/15
55
Game score
- 1988Week 5
Georgia at South Carolina
Georgia 10, South Carolina 23
No. 6 Georgia vs. No. 14 South Carolina · 13-point margin
Ranking 32/50 · Closeness 22/35 · Overtime 0/15
54
Game score
- 1988Week 12
Colorado at Nebraska
Colorado 0, Nebraska 7
No. 19 Colorado vs. No. 7 Nebraska · 7-point margin
Ranking 26/50 · Closeness 28/35 · Overtime 0/15
54
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.