College football’s giant killers and most upset programs

Every upset since 2000, counted by team. An upset is an underdog of 3 or more points winning outright, or a team beating someone ranked above it. How it’s scored

Betting lines start in 2013. Before that, an upset only counts when a ranked team lost, so older seasons add fewer upsets. The “Since 2013” column compares programs on the full rules.

Giant killers: most upsets pulled off

Team	Upsets	Since 2013	Biggest win
1.Georgia Tech	44	27	Beat No. 13 North Carolina, 21–17, 2022
2.LSU	41	22	Beat No. 6 Florida, 37–34, 2020
3.UCLA	40	24	Beat No. 7 Penn State, 42–37, 2025
4.Northwestern	40	27	Beat No. 15 Notre Dame, 43–40, 2014
5.South Carolina	38	22	Beat No. 5 Tennessee, 63–38, 2022
6.Auburn	37	18	Beat No. 7 Texas A&M, 45–41, 2013
7.Michigan State	36	23	Beat No. 13 Michigan, 27–24, 2020
8.Oklahoma State	35	27	Beat No. 6 Oregon, 39–31, 2026
9.Virginia	35	20	Beat No. 10 North Carolina, 31–27, 2023
10.West Virginia	35	26	Beat No. 11 Oklahoma State, 30–21, 2013
11.Stanford	35	25	Beat No. 14 USC, 42–28, 2021
12.Ole Miss	35	24	Beat No. 10 Texas A&M, 29–28, 2016
13.Syracuse	34	26	Beat No. 2 Clemson, 27–24, 2017
14.Texas Tech	34	21	Beat No. 11 Iowa State, 23–22, 2024
15.Iowa	33	17	Beat No. 3 Ohio State, 55–24, 2017
16.California	33	23	Beat No. 8 Washington State, 37–3, 2017
17.Oregon State	33	18	Beat Colorado, 41–34, 2018
18.NC State	33	18	Beat No. 9 Clemson, 27–21, 2021
19.Arizona	32	20	Beat No. 2 Oregon, 31–24, 2014
20.Pittsburgh	32	21	Beat No. 3 Clemson, 43–42, 2016
21.Boston College	32	21	Beat No. 9 USC, 37–31, 2014
22.Mississippi State	32	24	Beat No. 6 LSU, 44–34, 2020
23.Clemson	32	15	Beat No. 3 Florida State, 26–10, 2003
24.Texas A&M	31	19	Beat No. 1 Alabama, 41–38, 2021
25.Arizona State	31	27	Beat No. 5 Washington, 13–7, 2017

Most upset: most upsets suffered

You can only be upset when you were expected to win, so programs that are favored or ranked almost every week top this list.

Team	Upsets	Since 2013	Worst loss
1.Virginia Tech	55	30	Lost to Old Dominion, 35–49, 2018
2.Florida State	51	24	Lost to Jacksonville State, 17–20, 2021
3.Florida	50	29	Lost to LSU, 34–37, 2020
4.Miami	50	34	Lost to Middle Tennessee, 31–45, 2022
5.Oregon	49	28	Lost to Arizona, 24–31, 2014
6.USC	49	31	Lost to Boston College, 31–37, 2014
7.Oklahoma	48	27	Lost to Iowa State, 31–38, 2017
8.Michigan	48	26	Lost to Iowa, 13–14, 2016
9.LSU	47	30	Lost to Mississippi State, 34–44, 2020
10.Texas	45	31	Lost to Kansas, 56–57, 2021
11.Nebraska	45	29	Lost to Georgia Southern, 42–45, 2022
12.Wisconsin	44	27	Lost to Illinois, 23–24, 2019
13.Georgia	43	25	Lost to South Carolina, 17–20, 2019
14.Clemson	42	24	Lost to Syracuse, 24–27, 2017
15.Oklahoma State	42	31	Lost to West Virginia, 21–30, 2013
16.Georgia Tech	40	23	Lost to The Citadel, 24–27, 2019
17.UCLA	39	28	Lost to Arizona, 28–34, 2022
18.Auburn	39	24	Lost to Texas A&M, 38–41, 2014
19.Notre Dame	38	26	Lost to Northern Illinois, 14–16, 2024
20.TCU	38	28	Lost to Colorado, 42–45, 2023
21.Louisville	36	26	Lost to Kentucky, 38–41, 2016
22.Ohio State	36	20	Lost to Iowa, 24–55, 2017
23.Pittsburgh	36	26	Lost to Georgia Tech, 21–26, 2022
24.West Virginia	36	16	Lost to Oklahoma State, 41–45, 2018
25.Alabama	35	21	Lost to Vanderbilt, 35–40, 2024

The biggest upsets since 2000

1. Howard 43, UNLV 40

   2017Week 145-point underdogFCS beat FBSRecap
   Upset size45
2. Iowa State 38, No. 3 Oklahoma 31

   2017Week 630.5-point underdogUnranked beat No. 3Recap
   Upset size42
3. Southern Utah 22, South Alabama 21

   2013Week 141-point underdogFCS beat FBSRecap
   Upset size41
4. Illinois 24, No. 6 Wisconsin 23

   2019Week 830-point underdogUnranked beat No. 6Recap
   Upset size40
5. Kansas State 38, No. 3 Oklahoma 35

   2020Week 427.5-point underdogUnranked beat No. 3Recap
   Upset size39
6. Northern Illinois 16, No. 5 Notre Dame 14

   2024Week 228.5-point underdogUnranked beat No. 5Recap
   Upset size39
7. Syracuse 27, No. 2 Clemson 24

   2017Week 724-point underdogUnranked beat No. 2Recap
   Upset size36
8. Old Dominion 49, No. 13 Virginia Tech 35

   2018Week 428.5-point underdogUnranked beat No. 13Recap
   Upset size35
9. Vanderbilt 40, No. 1 Alabama 35

   2024Week 622.5-point underdogUnranked beat No. 1Recap
   Upset size35
10. Arizona 31, No. 2 Oregon 24

    2014Week 622.5-point underdogUnranked beat No. 2Recap
    Upset size34.5
11. Idaho State 30, Nevada 28

    2017Week 334.5-point underdogFCS beat FBSRecap
    Upset size34.5
12. Oklahoma State 39, No. 6 Oregon 31

    2026Week 224.5-point underdogUnranked beat No. 6Recap
    Upset size34.5
13. South Alabama 21, Mississippi State 20

    2016Week 134-point underdogRecap
    Upset size34
14. Kansas State 48, No. 5 Oklahoma 41

    2019Week 923.5-point underdogUnranked beat No. 5Recap
    Upset size34
15. Illinois 20, No. 7 Penn State 18

    2021Week 824.5-point underdogUnranked beat No. 7Recap
    Upset size34
16. UCLA 42, No. 7 Penn State 37

    2025Week 624.5-point underdogUnranked beat No. 7Recap
    Upset size34
17. Kentucky 41, No. 11 Louisville 38

    2016Week 1326-point underdogUnranked beat No. 11Recap
    Upset size33.5
18. BYU 24, No. 6 Wisconsin 21

    2018Week 323.5-point underdogUnranked beat No. 6Recap
    Upset size33.5
19. Liberty 48, Baylor 45

    2017Week 133-point underdogFCS beat FBSRecap
    Upset size33
20. LSU 37, No. 6 Florida 34

    2020Week 1523-point underdogUnranked beat No. 6Recap
    Upset size33
21. South Carolina 63, No. 5 Tennessee 38

    2022Week 1222.5-point underdogUnranked beat No. 5Recap
    Upset size33
22. Iowa 55, No. 3 Ohio State 24

    2017Week 1021-point underdogUnranked beat No. 3Recap
    Upset size32.5
23. South Carolina 20, No. 3 Georgia 17

    2019Week 721-point underdogUnranked beat No. 3Recap
    Upset size32.5
24. UL Monroe 31, Liberty 28

    2021Week 732.5-point underdogRecap
    Upset size32.5
25. Michigan 13, No. 2 Ohio State 10

    2024Week 1420.5-point underdogUnranked beat No. 2Recap
    Upset size32.5