Season leaderboard
Top 25 College Football Games of 1990
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.
- 1990PostseasonNeutral site
Notre Dame vs. Colorado
Notre Dame 9, Colorado 10
No. 5 Notre Dame vs. No. 1 Colorado · 1-point margin
Ranking 46/50 · Closeness 34/35 · Overtime 0/15
80
Game score
- 1990Week 6
Auburn at Tennessee
Auburn 26, Tennessee 26
No. 5 Auburn vs. No. 6 Tennessee · 0-point margin
Ranking 41/50 · Closeness 35/35 · Overtime 0/15
76
Game score
- 1990Week 4
Michigan at Notre Dame
Michigan 24, Notre Dame 28
No. 7 Michigan vs. No. 1 Notre Dame · 4-point margin
Ranking 44/50 · Closeness 31/35 · Overtime 0/15
75
Game score
- 1990Week 9
Florida State at Auburn
Florida State 17, Auburn 20
No. 12 Florida State vs. No. 2 Auburn · 3-point margin
Ranking 38/50 · Closeness 32/35 · Overtime 0/15
70
Game score
- 1990Week 9
Miami at Notre Dame
Miami 20, Notre Dame 29
No. 8 Miami vs. No. 3 Notre Dame · 9-point margin
Ranking 41/50 · Closeness 26/35 · Overtime 0/15
67
Game score
- 1990PostseasonNeutral site
Penn State vs. Florida State
Penn State 17, Florida State 24
No. 7 Penn State vs. No. 6 Florida State · 7-point margin
Ranking 39/50 · Closeness 28/35 · Overtime 0/15
67
Game score
- 1990Week 12
Notre Dame at Tennessee
Notre Dame 34, Tennessee 29
No. 1 Notre Dame vs. No. 14 Tennessee · 5-point margin
Ranking 37/50 · Closeness 30/35 · Overtime 0/15
67
Game score
- 1990Week 13
Penn State at Notre Dame
Penn State 24, Notre Dame 21
No. 11 Penn State vs. No. 7 Notre Dame · 3-point margin
Ranking 34/50 · Closeness 32/35 · Overtime 0/15
66
Game score
- 1990Week 11
Georgia Tech at Virginia
Georgia Tech 41, Virginia 38
No. 7 Georgia Tech vs. No. 11 Virginia · 3-point margin
Ranking 34/50 · Closeness 32/35 · Overtime 0/15
66
Game score
- 1990Week 7
Florida State at Miami
Florida State 22, Miami 31
No. 10 Florida State vs. No. 3 Miami · 9-point margin
Ranking 39/50 · Closeness 26/35 · Overtime 0/15
65
Game score
- 1990Week 3
Miami at BYU
Miami 21, BYU 28
No. 10 Miami vs. No. 5 BYU · 7-point margin
Ranking 37/50 · Closeness 28/35 · Overtime 0/15
65
Game score
- 1990Week 5
Notre Dame at Michigan State
Notre Dame 20, Michigan State 19
No. 1 Notre Dame vs. No. 22 Michigan State · 1-point margin
Ranking 29/50 · Closeness 34/35 · Overtime 0/15
63
Game score
- 1990PostseasonNeutral site
Virginia vs. Tennessee
Virginia 22, Tennessee 23
No. 17 Virginia vs. No. 10 Tennessee · 1-point margin
Ranking 25/50 · Closeness 34/35 · Overtime 0/15
59
Game score
- 1990Week 15
Texas A&M at Texas
Texas A&M 27, Texas 28
Unranked Texas A&M vs. No. 3 Texas · 1-point margin
Ranking 23/50 · Closeness 34/35 · Overtime 0/15
57
Game score
- 1990Week 10
Auburn at Mississippi State
Auburn 17, Mississippi State 16
No. 4 Auburn vs. Unranked Mississippi State · 1-point margin
Ranking 22/50 · Closeness 34/35 · Overtime 0/15
56
Game score
- 1990Week 15
Florida at Florida State
Florida 30, Florida State 45
No. 11 Florida vs. No. 6 Florida State · 15-point margin
Ranking 35/50 · Closeness 20/35 · Overtime 0/15
55
Game score
- 1990Week 11
Colorado at Nebraska
Colorado 27, Nebraska 12
No. 4 Colorado vs. No. 13 Nebraska · 15-point margin
Ranking 35/50 · Closeness 20/35 · Overtime 0/15
55
Game score
- 1990Week 14
Notre Dame at USC
Notre Dame 10, USC 6
No. 7 Notre Dame vs. No. 21 USC · 4-point margin
Ranking 24/50 · Closeness 31/35 · Overtime 0/15
55
Game score
- 1990Week 15
Miami at San Diego State
Miami 30, San Diego State 28
No. 4 Miami vs. Unranked San Diego State · 2-point margin
Ranking 22/50 · Closeness 33/35 · Overtime 0/15
55
Game score
- 1990Week 12
Virginia Tech at Georgia Tech
Virginia Tech 3, Georgia Tech 6
Unranked Virginia Tech vs. No. 4 Georgia Tech · 3-point margin
Ranking 22/50 · Closeness 32/35 · Overtime 0/15
54
Game score
- 1990Week 9
Michigan State at Illinois
Michigan State 13, Illinois 15
Unranked Michigan State vs. No. 5 Illinois · 2-point margin
Ranking 21/50 · Closeness 33/35 · Overtime 0/15
54
Game score
- 1990Week 7
Louisiana Tech at Auburn
Louisiana Tech 14, Auburn 16
Unranked Louisiana Tech vs. No. 6 Auburn · 2-point margin
Ranking 20/50 · Closeness 33/35 · Overtime 0/15
53
Game score
- 1990Week 6
Washington at Colorado
Washington 14, Colorado 20
No. 17 Washington vs. No. 12 Colorado · 6-point margin
Ranking 23/50 · Closeness 29/35 · Overtime 0/15
52
Game score
- 1990Week 8
Clemson at Georgia Tech
Clemson 19, Georgia Tech 21
No. 22 Clemson vs. No. 11 Georgia Tech · 2-point margin
Ranking 19/50 · Closeness 33/35 · Overtime 0/15
52
Game score
- 1990Week 12
Ohio State at Iowa
Ohio State 27, Iowa 26
No. 21 Ohio State vs. No. 13 Iowa · 1-point margin
Ranking 18/50 · Closeness 34/35 · Overtime 0/15
52
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.