Season leaderboard

Top 25 College Football Games of 2021

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: 77/100
Overtime: 4

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.

2021Week 6
Penn State at Iowa
Penn State 20, Iowa 23
No. 4 Penn State vs. No. 3 Iowa · 3-point margin
Ranking 45/50 · Closeness 32/35 · Overtime 0/15
77
Game score
Highlight · 2021 Iowa vs. Penn State (Regular Season Full Game)
2021Week 3
Alabama at Florida
Alabama 31, Florida 29
No. 1 Alabama vs. No. 11 Florida · 2-point margin
Ranking 40/50 · Closeness 33/35 · Overtime 0/15
73
Game score
2021PlayStation Fiesta BowlNeutral site
Oklahoma State vs. Notre Dame
Oklahoma State 37, Notre Dame 35
No. 9 Oklahoma State vs. No. 5 Notre Dame · 2-point margin
Ranking 38/50 · Closeness 33/35 · Overtime 0/15
71
Game score
Highlight · 2021 Notre Dame vs. Oklahoma State (Bowl Full Game)
2021Week 134OT
Alabama at Auburn
Alabama 24, Auburn 22
No. 3 Alabama vs. Unranked Auburn · 2-point margin
Ranking 23/50 · Closeness 33/35 · Overtime 15/15
71
Game score
2021Week 9
Michigan at Michigan State
Michigan 33, Michigan State 37
No. 6 Michigan vs. No. 8 Michigan State · 4-point margin
Ranking 38/50 · Closeness 31/35 · Overtime 0/15
69
Game score
Highlight · 2021 Michigan State vs. Michigan (Regular Season Full Game)
2021CFP National Championship pres. by AT&TNeutral site
Georgia vs. Alabama
Georgia 33, Alabama 18
No. 3 Georgia vs. No. 1 Alabama · 15-point margin
Ranking 48/50 · Closeness 20/35 · Overtime 0/15
68
Game score
Highlight · 2021 Alabama vs. Georgia (National Championship Full Game)
2021Week 14Neutral site
Baylor vs. Oklahoma State
Baylor 21, Oklahoma State 16
No. 9 Baylor vs. No. 5 Oklahoma State · 5-point margin
Ranking 38/50 · Closeness 30/35 · Overtime 0/15
68
Game score
Highlight · 2021 Oklahoma State vs. Baylor (Regular Season Full Game)
2021Rose Bowl Game Pres. by Capital One Venture XNeutral site
Utah vs. Ohio State
Utah 45, Ohio State 48
No. 10 Utah vs. No. 7 Ohio State · 3-point margin
Ranking 35/50 · Closeness 32/35 · Overtime 0/15
67
Game score
Highlight · 2021 Ohio State vs. Utah (Bowl Full Game)
2021Week 89OT
Illinois at Penn State
Illinois 20, Penn State 18
Unranked Illinois vs. No. 7 Penn State · 2-point margin
Ranking 19/50 · Closeness 33/35 · Overtime 15/15
67
Game score
2021Week 13
Oklahoma at Oklahoma State
Oklahoma 33, Oklahoma State 37
No. 10 Oklahoma vs. No. 7 Oklahoma State · 4-point margin
Ranking 35/50 · Closeness 31/35 · Overtime 0/15
66
Game score
Highlight · 2021 Oklahoma State vs. Oklahoma (Regular Season Full Game)
2021Week 14Neutral site
Georgia vs. Alabama
Georgia 24, Alabama 41
No. 1 Georgia vs. No. 4 Alabama · 17-point margin
Ranking 47/50 · Closeness 18/35 · Overtime 0/15
65
Game score
2021Week 2
Oregon at Ohio State
Oregon 35, Ohio State 28
No. 12 Oregon vs. No. 3 Ohio State · 7-point margin
Ranking 37/50 · Closeness 28/35 · Overtime 0/15
65
Game score
2021Week 13
Ohio State at Michigan
Ohio State 27, Michigan 42
No. 2 Ohio State vs. No. 6 Michigan · 15-point margin
Ranking 44/50 · Closeness 20/35 · Overtime 0/15
64
Game score
Highlight · 2021 Michigan vs. Ohio State (Regular Season Full Game)
2021CFP Semifinal at the Goodyear Cotton Bowl ClassicNeutral site
Cincinnati vs. Alabama
Cincinnati 6, Alabama 27
No. 4 Cincinnati vs. No. 1 Alabama · 21-point margin
Ranking 47/50 · Closeness 14/35 · Overtime 0/15
61
Game score
Full Game · 2021 Alabama vs. Cincinnati (CFP Semifinal Full Game)
2021Week 5
Cincinnati at Notre Dame
Cincinnati 24, Notre Dame 13
No. 7 Cincinnati vs. No. 9 Notre Dame · 11-point margin
Ranking 36/50 · Closeness 24/35 · Overtime 0/15
60
Game score
Highlight · 2021 Notre Dame vs. Cincinnati (Regular Season Full Game)
2021Week 51OT
Oregon at Stanford
Oregon 24, Stanford 31
No. 3 Oregon vs. Unranked Stanford · 7-point margin
Ranking 23/50 · Closeness 28/35 · Overtime 9/15
60
Game score
Highlight · 2021 Stanford vs. Oregon (Regular Season Full Game)
2021CFP Semifinal at the Capital One Orange BowlNeutral site
Georgia vs. Michigan
Georgia 34, Michigan 11
No. 3 Georgia vs. No. 2 Michigan · 23-point margin
Ranking 47/50 · Closeness 12/35 · Overtime 0/15
59
Game score
Full Game · 2021 Michigan vs. Georgia (CFP Semifinal Full Game)
2021Allstate Sugar BowlNeutral site
Baylor vs. Ole Miss
Baylor 21, Ole Miss 7
No. 6 Baylor vs. No. 8 Ole Miss · 14-point margin
Ranking 38/50 · Closeness 21/35 · Overtime 0/15
59
Game score
Full Game · 2021 Ole Miss vs. Baylor (Sugar Bowl Full Game)
2021Week 7
Kentucky at Georgia
Kentucky 13, Georgia 30
No. 11 Kentucky vs. No. 1 Georgia · 17-point margin
Ranking 40/50 · Closeness 18/35 · Overtime 0/15
58
Game score
2021Week 2
Iowa at Iowa State
Iowa 27, Iowa State 17
No. 10 Iowa vs. No. 9 Iowa State · 10-point margin
Ranking 33/50 · Closeness 25/35 · Overtime 0/15
58
Game score
Full Game · 2021 Iowa State vs. Iowa (Regular Season Full Game)
2021Week 12
Arkansas at Alabama
Arkansas 35, Alabama 42
No. 21 Arkansas vs. No. 2 Alabama · 7-point margin
Ranking 29/50 · Closeness 28/35 · Overtime 0/15
57
Game score
2021Week 6
Alabama at Texas A&M
Alabama 38, Texas A&M 41
No. 1 Alabama vs. Unranked Texas A&M · 3-point margin
Ranking 25/50 · Closeness 32/35 · Overtime 0/15
57
Game score
Highlight · 2021 Texas A&M vs. Alabama (Regular Season Full Game)
2021Week 42OT
Clemson at NC State
Clemson 21, NC State 27
No. 9 Clemson vs. Unranked NC State · 6-point margin
Ranking 17/50 · Closeness 29/35 · Overtime 11/15
57
Game score
2021Week 6
Arkansas at Ole Miss
Arkansas 51, Ole Miss 52
No. 13 Arkansas vs. No. 17 Ole Miss · 1-point margin
Ranking 22/50 · Closeness 34/35 · Overtime 0/15
56
Game score
Highlight · 2021 Ole Miss vs. Arkansas (Regular Season Full Game)
2021Week 11
Texas A&M at Ole Miss
Texas A&M 19, Ole Miss 29
No. 11 Texas A&M vs. No. 12 Ole Miss · 10-point margin
Ranking 29/50 · Closeness 25/35 · 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.