Top 10 Biggest Upsets in College Football History

Ask a fan to name the biggest upset in college football history and the answer arrives before you finish the question: Appalachian State 34, Michigan 32, September 1, 2007. It is a wonderful answer, and it has a problem. Nevada sportsbooks never posted a line on that game. They looked at a two-time FCS champion visiting the No. 5 team in the country, in front of 109,218 people, and decided it was not worth pricing. The most famous upset in the sport's history does not have an official number attached to it.

Ten years later, almost to the day, a game most of the country did not watch produced the number that does. Howard, an FCS program that had won two or three games in the previous two seasons (CBS Sports says 3-19, Yahoo Sports 2-19), beat UNLV in Las Vegas as a 45-point underdog. No team had ever overcome a bigger spread. No team has since.

This list ranks the ten biggest upsets by the only objective measure of pre-game expectation that exists: the closing point spread. Rankings, stakes and streaks are given as context but do not move an entry up or down. The result includes a Mid-American Conference rivalry game and a Texas State team that had never played an FBS game, and leaves out the Rose Bowl that Vince Young won. That is not a flaw. It is the point.

Methodology

Every entry is ranked by the closing point spread overcome by the winner, the figure major sportsbooks posted at kickoff. The primary source is the archived list maintained by ESPN, cross-checked against Action Network data as reported by Yahoo Sports and against contemporaneous Associated Press game reports. Where sources disagree, which is often, the text gives the range rather than silently choosing a number. Books differ by half a point or more, so any ordering within a one-point band is approximate.

Three exclusions follow. Games with no posted line cannot be ranked, which is why Columbia's 16-13 win over Princeton on October 8, 1988, ending a 44-game losing streak, is mentioned below but not placed. Games where the spread was single digits are excluded no matter how famous: Texas over USC in the 2006 Rose Bowl (USC by 7), Boise State over Oklahoma in the 2007 Fiesta Bowl (Oklahoma by 7.5). And pre-2005 lines are harder to verify, so the one 1980s entry is included only because its spread was reported consistently at the time and since.

Rankings are from the Associated Press poll unless stated otherwise. Dates, scores and attendance come from the schools' athletic sites, ESPN, CBS Sports, Sports Illustrated and the Deseret News, linked inline. The 2024, 2025 and 2026 seasons were checked specifically; the largest spread overcome in that period, UMass over Rutgers at 28.5 to 29.5 points on September 3, 2026, falls short of the top ten. Several of the victims here sit among the most successful college football programs; these are the games their fans would most like to forget.

List of the Biggest Upsets in College Football History

10. Appalachian State 34, Michigan 32 (2007)

Here is the game everyone names, placed where the numbers put it. Appalachian State arrived at Michigan Stadium, the biggest of the largest college football stadiums, as two-time defending FCS champions and left with the first win by an FCS team over a ranked FBS opponent. Julian Rauch's 24-yard field goal with 26 seconds left put the Mountaineers ahead 34-32, and Corey Lynch blocked Jason Gingell's 37-yard attempt on the final play. Michigan, ranked No. 5 in both polls, fell out of the top 25 the following week, the first top-five team ever to do so after one game.

The spread is the complication. Las Vegas books did not offer the game. ESPN's archive uses an offshore closing line of Michigan by 33, the figure used here, but it is the least firm number on this list. Appalachian State was paid $400,000 for the trip. The next entry outside the ten, UL Monroe's 31-28 win at Liberty on October 16, 2021 as a 32.5-point underdog, sits within half a point.

Result: Appalachian State 34, Michigan 32, September 1, 2007, Ann Arbor. Spread: Michigan by 33 (offshore; no Nevada line). Michigan ranked No. 5.

9. James Madison 21, Virginia Tech 16 (2010)

Virginia Tech had lost 33-30 to No. 3 Boise State the Monday night before, so the No. 13 Hokies played their home opener on five days' rest. James Madison, ranked 12th in FCS, was listed at 33.5 points by ESPN; Action Network has 32.5, and one contemporaneous preview had 31. The Hokies outgained the Dukes 362 yards to 235 and lost anyway, because they committed three turnovers to James Madison's none, per Tech Sideline.

Drew Dudzik ran for two touchdowns in a read-option offense the Hokies never solved; they managed three second-half points to James Madison's fourteen. It was Frank Beamer's first loss to a lower-division opponent since 1987, and the 2010 Hokies became only the second AP-ranked team ever to lose to an FCS opponent. Then they did not lose again until the Orange Bowl, going 8-0 in the ACC and winning the conference.

Result: James Madison 21, Virginia Tech 16, September 11, 2010, Blacksburg (att. 66,233). Spread: Virginia Tech by 33.5 (range 31 to 33.5). Virginia Tech ranked No. 13.

8. Liberty 48, Baylor 45 (2017)

On the Saturday Howard was rewriting the record in Las Vegas, Liberty produced the seventh-largest spread upset in ESPN's archive in Waco, and almost nobody noticed. Baylor was unranked and this was Matt Rhule's first game as head coach. Liberty, mid-transition from FCS to FBS under Turner Gill, closed as a 34-point underdog by ESPN's count (other archives say 33 to 35).

Quarterback Stephen Calvert threw 44-of-60 for 447 yards and three touchdowns without an interception, and the Flames traded scores with a Big 12 offense all afternoon in front of 45,784. It was a shootout the underdog simply refused to lose, and it shows how a line reaches 34 points: not because the favorite is great, but because the underdog is assumed to be two divisions worse.

Result: Liberty 48, Baylor 45, September 2, 2017, Waco. Spread: Baylor by 34 (range 33 to 35). Baylor unranked.

7. Central Michigan 21, Western Michigan 17 (2000)

The least famous game on the list is one of the cleanest cases of a market getting a rivalry wrong. Western Michigan was 7-1 in the MAC and co-leading the West Division; Central Michigan was 1-8 and had lost seven straight. The Broncos were favored by 34.5 points per ESPN, or 35.5 per Action Network, at Kelly/Shorts Stadium in Mount Pleasant.

Central Michigan scored on its opening drive, a 77-yard catch-and-run by Ira Gooch from Derrick Vickers, and held on 21-17. Western Michigan still won its division, lost the MAC title game to Marshall 19-14, and Gary Darnell was still named MAC Coach of the Year. A 35-point line in a conference rivalry is a statement that one team is unserious, and rivalry games punish that assumption; it is what makes the most famous college football rivalries so hard to price.

Result: Central Michigan 21, Western Michigan 17, November 11, 2000, Mount Pleasant. Spread: Western Michigan by 34.5 (range 34.5 to 35.5). Western Michigan unranked.

6. Texas State 30, Houston 13 (2012)

Texas State had never played an FBS game. Houston had gone 13-1 in 2011 and led the nation in total, passing and scoring offense. The line at Robertson Stadium was 35 points per ESPN, 34.5 per Texas State's own account, and 36.5 in Action Network's archive. Dennis Franchione's team led 27-10 at halftime, with Marcus Curry scoring three touchdowns, and held Houston to 1-of-16 on third and fourth down.

What makes this entry unique is the margin. Every other game in the top ten was decided by a touchdown or less; Texas State won by 17, in the program's first week at the top level, while ineligible for a bowl because of its transition status. The market was not wrong about Houston's talent. It was wrong about what Texas State was.

Result: Texas State 30, Houston 13, September 1, 2012, Houston (att. 32,207). Spread: Houston by 35 (range 34.5 to 36.5). Houston unranked.

5. Temple 28, Virginia Tech 24 (1998)

Temple was 0-6, had lost 26 straight to ranked opponents, and was 0-26 all-time in Big East road games. Virginia Tech was 5-0, ranked No. 14, and had allowed 30 points in five games combined. The Hokies were favored by 35 according to the Associated Press report carried by CBS News; ESPN's archive says 35.5 and Action Network 36.

They led 17-0. Then Devin Scott, a true freshman making his first start, completed just four passes all day but two went for touchdowns, including an 80-yard strike to Carlos Johnson that put Temple ahead 21-17, and his one-yard run with 6:04 left made it 28-24. Virginia Tech drove 82 yards on 12 plays and was stopped at the Temple 2 on the final snap. Bobby Wallace's Owls had their first win over a ranked team since 1987. A year later the Hokies won the rematch 62-7, which tells you how far outside the trend this was.

Result: Temple 28, Virginia Tech 24, October 17, 1998, Blacksburg. Spread: Virginia Tech by 35 (range 35 to 36). Virginia Tech ranked No. 14.

4. UTEP 23, BYU 16 (1985)

This is the oldest game on the list and the only one from before the modern archive. BYU was the defending national champion, ranked No. 7, and had won 30 of its previous 31 games. UTEP was 0-6 and had won 14 games in the previous eleven seasons. Robbie Bosco, the quarterback who had won the title the year before, walked into the Sun Bowl as a 35-point favorite by the Deseret News account; Action Network's archive says 36.

Bill Yung's Miners rushed two and dropped nine, a scheme BYU never adjusted to, and Bosco finished 15-of-34 for 151 yards with four interceptions, one returned 100 yards by Danny Taylor for a touchdown. "It's always been a sore spot in my career," Bosco said years later. Yung was fired after a 1-10 season; this was the one win. For forty years it stood as the last time a team that started 0-4 or worse beat an AP top-ten opponent, until UCLA did it to Penn State in October 2025.

Result: UTEP 23, BYU 16, October 26, 1985, El Paso. Spread: BYU by 35 (range 35 to 36). BYU ranked No. 7, defending national champion.

3. Syracuse 38, Louisville 35 (2007)

Louisville was ranked No. 18, quarterbacked by Brian Brohm, and riding a 20-game home winning streak under first-year coach Steve Kragthorpe. Syracuse was 0-3 under Greg Robinson, and the closing line reached 37 points in ESPN's archive; the AP report quoted 36.5, and BetLabs data cited by Legion Report says 38.5. Whichever book you pick, it is the third-largest spread ever overcome.

Andrew Robinson threw for a career-high 423 yards and four touchdowns in front of 40,922, and the Orange held on for their first victory over a ranked team since 2004. Syracuse finished 2-10; Louisville finished 6-6 and missed a bowl for the first time in a decade. The game is almost never on fan lists because neither program went anywhere afterward, which is exactly why a spread-based list is worth building: the market said this was more improbable than anything except two games in history.

Result: Syracuse 38, Louisville 35, September 22, 2007, Louisville (att. 40,922). Spread: Louisville by 37 (range 36.5 to 38.5). Louisville ranked No. 18.

2. Stanford 24, USC 23 (2007)

For a decade this was the record, and it remains the biggest upset of a top-two team by spread. USC was No. 2 in the AP poll and No. 1 in the coaches' poll, had won 35 straight at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum, and was coached by Pete Carroll at the peak of a run that places those teams among the greatest college football teams. Stanford was 1-3 in Jim Harbaugh's first season, a year removed from 1-11, and starting Tavita Pritchard, a backup with three career passes. Contemporaneous reports put the line at 41 points; ESPN's later archive lists 40.5, per the Stanford Daily and GoStanford.

USC turned the ball over five times. Trailing 23-17 in the final minute, Pritchard converted fourth-and-20 with a throw to Richard Sherman, then hit Mark Bradford for a 10-yard touchdown on fourth-and-goal with 49 seconds left. Bo McNally's interception of John David Booty on the next possession ended it in front of 85,125. The game is remembered as the birth of Harbaugh's Stanford; by the numbers it is the largest upset a national-title favorite has ever suffered.

Result: Stanford 24, USC 23, October 6, 2007, Los Angeles (att. 85,125). Spread: USC by 41 (range 40.5 to 41). USC ranked No. 2 AP, No. 1 coaches.

1. Howard 43, UNLV 40 (2017)

The largest spread ever overcome in college football belongs to a MEAC program coached by Mike London in his first game, at Sam Boyd Stadium, in front of 15,667 people, in UNLV's 50th-anniversary opener. Howard had lost 76-0 to Boston College in 2015 and been outscored 104-27 by Maryland and Rutgers in 2016. The closing line was 45 points in contemporaneous reports and 45.5 in ESPN's archive, either way the biggest number any winner has ever covered.

Caylin Newton, a freshman making his college debut and the younger brother of Cam Newton, rushed 21 times for 190 yards and two touchdowns and threw for 140 yards and another score, 330 yards of total offense in all. His late touchdown gave Howard a three-point lead it held, for the Bison's first win over an FBS opponent in program history, in the city that sets the lines.

The honest footnote is that UNLV was unranked and nothing about the game decided a championship. That is the pattern this list keeps surfacing: the biggest upsets by expectation are not the biggest games. They are games the market stopped thinking about.

Result: Howard 43, UNLV 40, September 2, 2017, Las Vegas (att. 15,667). Spread: UNLV by 45 (ESPN: 45.5). UNLV unranked.

Summary of the Top 10 Biggest Upsets in College Football History

The Famous Upsets That Do Not Make the Cut

Most lists of college football's greatest upsets are really lists of its greatest games, and the spread exposes the difference. Texas 41, USC 38 in the 2006 Rose Bowl ended a 34-game winning streak and gave Vince Young, one of the greatest college football players of his era, a 467-yard night. USC was favored by 7. Boise State's hook-and-lateral, Statue of Liberty win over Oklahoma in the 2007 Fiesta Bowl came as a 7.5-point underdog. They were shocks of stature, not of probability; the market thought both games were close, and both were.

The next tier is genuinely large by spread but falls just outside the ten. UL Monroe over Liberty in 2021 (32.5 points) is closest. Then come three games at 31 points: Iowa State's 38-31 win at No. 3 Oklahoma on October 7, 2017, with walk-on Kyle Kempt throwing for 343 yards; Kansas's 57-56 overtime win at Texas on November 13, 2021; and New Mexico over Boise State in 2015. UL Monroe's 34-31 overtime win over No. 8 Arkansas in 2012 was 30. Memphis beat Peyton Manning's No. 6 Tennessee 21-17 in 1996 as a 26-point underdog, per the Daily Memphian. Oregon State over No. 1 USC in 2008 was 25. UL Monroe's 21-14 win in Nick Saban's first Alabama season, November 17, 2007, was 24.5, per CBS Sports.

Then there is the one with no number at all. Columbia beat Princeton 16-13 on October 8, 1988, ending a 44-game losing streak stretching back to 1983, then a Division I record. With no reliable archived line for an Ivy League game that fall, it is unrankable here, though by any human measure it belongs in the conversation.

What the Last Three Seasons Tell Us

The question every year is whether a new game has broken into the top ten, and the answer for 2024 through early October 2026 is no. Northern Illinois beat No. 5 Notre Dame 16-14 in South Bend on September 7, 2024 as a 28.5-point underdog, blocking a 62-yard field goal on the final play, per Sports Illustrated. It was the largest spread overcome against a top-five team since Stanford in 2007; Notre Dame still reached the national championship game that season.

In 2025, an 0-4 UCLA team that had fired DeShaun Foster three weeks earlier beat No. 7 Penn State 42-37 at the Rose Bowl on October 4 under interim coach Tim Skipper, closing at 24.5 points and leading 27-7 at halftime. It was the first time since UTEP in 1985 that a team starting 0-4 or worse beat a top-ten opponent.

The 2026 season opened with the biggest FBS-versus-FBS spread upset in five years. UMass, carrying a 16-game losing streak and 677 days without a win, beat Rutgers 37-21 in Piscataway on September 3 as a 28.5-point underdog at FanDuel and 29.5 at other books, per theScore, after Rutgers paid $1.55 million for the game. Nine days later Oklahoma State beat No. 6 Oregon 39-31 in Stillwater as a 23.5-point underdog. Both are large. Neither reaches 33.

The pattern across all thirteen of these games, the ten ranked and the three recent, is almost mechanical. Ten were played in September or the first week of October, when lines rest on untested preseason assumptions. Eight of the favorites were unranked or outside the top ten, so the spread was large because the underdog was rated terribly, not because the favorite was great. And turnovers decided nearly every one: five for USC, four interceptions for BYU, three giveaways for Virginia Tech against James Madison. A 35-point line assumes the favorite will not beat itself. The biggest upsets in college football history are what happens when it does.