Teams ranked No. 1 in the Associated Press college football poll are 587-40-7 against unranked opponents. Of those 40 losses, there’s little doubt that Vanderbilt 40, No. 1 Alabama 35 on Saturday ranks among the most shocking — especially given the recent lack of No. 1 upsets and the Commodores’ history of losing.
Prior to Saturday, AP No. 1 teams had gone 134-1 against unranked opponents since Oregon State upset USC on a Thursday night in September 2008. That Beavers win was the third time in five games that No. 1s lost to unranked teams. Since then, the only loss was by Alabama to Texas A&M in 2021.
And then came Vandy, which had never before beaten an AP top-five team — let alone a No. 1 — and hadn’t defeated the Crimson Tide in 40 years.
All hope is not lost for Alabama, especially in the debut season of the 12-team College Football Playoff. Four AP No. 1 teams have lost to an unranked opponent and gone on to win the national title:
- 2007 LSU (50-48 to Arkansas)
- 1967 USC (3-0 to Oregon State)
- 1960 Minnesota (23-14 to Purdue)
- 1943 Notre Dame (19-14 to Great Lakes Navy)
But regardless of what happens next, Alabama’s first season under Kalen DeBoer will be remembered for a historic upset, just as its first season under Nick Saban is remembered for a loss to Louisiana-Monroe.
How shocking was Vanderbilt’s win? Let’s rank the most stunning losses by AP No. 1 teams to unranked opponents.
1. Duquesne 21, No. 1 Pitt 13 (Oct. 21, 1939)
The first may still be the most surprising.
Pitt finished in the top eight each of the first three years of the AP poll’s existence, including winning the 1937 national title. Preseason polls didn’t exist until 1950, but when the first poll of 1939 was released, Pitt was a justifiable No. 1.
Duquesne had gone 4-6 the year before, had a new coach in Aldo Donelli and had played only forgettable games against Illinois Wesleyan, Waynesburg and Manhattan (winning all three) before its cross-city rivalry game against Pitt in mid-October. Yet the Dukes pulled off a stunner en route to an 8-0-1 season that ended with a tie against Detroit. They finished ranked No. 10, while Pitt stumbled to 5-4 and didn’t finish ranked again until 1955.
2. Purdue 28, No. 1 Notre Dame 14 (Oct. 7, 1950)
Notre Dame dominated the 1940s, winning four national titles in a dynasty under Frank Leahy — including in 1949. Purdue had gone 14-21-1 from 1946-49. And so as the 1950s began and Notre Dame claimed No. 1 in the first preseason poll, there was no reason to believe the Boilermakers were a threat.
But Purdue shocked the world in South Bend, delivering Notre Dame its first loss since Dec. 1, 1945, ending a 39-game unbeaten streak. Purdue went on to win just one more game and finish 2-7. Notre Dame stumbled to 4-4-1, and Leahy’s Irish were never quite the same.
3. TCU 6, No. 1 Texas 0 (Nov. 18, 1961)
Texas was barreling toward its first national title under Darrell Royal with a No. 1 ranking and an 8-0 record heading into its game against Southwest Conference basement dweller TCU. The Horned Frogs had gone 4-4-2 the year before, and they were 2-4-1 when they traveled to Austin in November 1961.
The Longhorns came up empty on three drives inside the TCU 10-yard line, and a 50-yard touchdown pass from Sonny Gibbs to Buddy Iles in the second quarter was all the Horned Frogs needed. It was the only loss for Texas, which won the Cotton Bowl and finished No. 3. TCU ended up 3-5-2.
4. Mississippi State 6, No. 1 Alabama 3 (Nov. 1, 1980)
Call it the beginning of the end of the Bear Bryant era at Alabama. The Crimson Tide won back-to-back national titles in 1978-79, and they had eyes on a third in a row after a 7-0 start in 1980. Mississippi State was 6-2, but the Bulldogs had gone 0-22 against Bryant-coach Alabama teams.
The Bulldogs held the Tide without a touchdown, ending their 28-game winning streak with their first SEC defeat in four years.
5. Vanderbilt 40, No. 1 Alabama 35 (Oct. 5, 2024)
Consider Vanderbilt’s place in the hierarchy of college football: The butt of jokes in the SEC, 0-60 all-time against top-five teams, 0-10 against No. 1 teams. Vandy has never appeared in the AP top five and has never finished in the top 10. It’s a founding member of the SEC but has never won the conference title.
In the eyes of the SEC’s blue bloods, Vanderbilt football exists to lose — and provide a breather after emotional games like, say, Alabama’s dramatic win over Georgia.
Perhaps Alabama’s aura of invincibility had already been punctured by Saban’s retirement, but the Crimson Tide had still risen to No. 1 after taking down the Bulldogs behind DeBoer, who nearly led Washington to a surprise national title last season. Vanderbilt was 2-2 with a loss to Georgia State and went winless in SEC plays in three of the past four seasons.
The point spread was merely 22.5 — low by Alabama-Vandy standards — but it doesn’t make Saturday’s result any less shocking.
6. Michigan State 28, No. 1 Ohio State 24 (Nov. 7, 1998)
Michigan State 16, No. 1 Ohio State 13 (Nov. 9, 1974)
It’s hard to pick between Spartans stunners against the Buckeyes.
In 1998, Nick Saban was not Nick Saban yet. He had gone 19-16-1 in his first three seasons at Michigan State, and his 1998 squad was 4-4 when it traveled to Ohio State, which had been ranked No. 1 all season behind Andy Katzenmoyer and a dominant defense. The Spartans were 27-point underdogs — a few points more than Vanderbilt on Saturday — and fell behind 17-3. But behind two touchdowns and five field goals, they dashed the BCS title dreams of Ohio State.
Twenty-four years earlier, 4-3-1 Michigan State held off Ohio State — in the mindset of a run of four consecutive Rose Bowl trips — with big plays and a controversial goal-line stand. The Buckeyes crossed the goal line for what some thought was a game-winning touchdown on the final play, but officials waved it off, ruling that time had expired much to the chagrin of an irate Woody Hayes.
7. Holy Cross 55, No. 1 Boston College 12 (Nov. 28, 1942)
The No. 1 team lost to an unranked foe two weeks in a row in 1942. First came Auburn’s 27-13 win against Georgia and Heisman winner Frankie Sinkwich. Then came an even bigger — and historically dominant — upset.
Boston College had moved to No. 1 thanks to Georgia’s defeat, but it was blown out 55-12 by Holy Cross, which was just 4-4-1. More than 80 years later, it stands as the largest margin of defeat for an AP No. 1 team at 43 points, easily topping Penn State’s 34-point win against No. 1 Pitt in 1981.
8. UCLA 20, No. 1 Nebraska 17 (Sept. 9, 1972)
UCLA had gone 2-7-1 in 1971. Nebraska had won its second consecutive national title. With eventual Heisman winner Johnny Rodgers returning and a preseason No. 1 ranking, Nebraska was a heavy favorite over UCLA to open the 1972 season.
But in his first game as starting quarterback, future Emmy-nominated actor Mark Harmon led UCLA to an upset, capped by Efren Herrera’s winning field goal with 22 seconds left.
9. Syracuse 17, No. 1 Nebraska 9 (Sept. 29, 1984)
Syracuse did not have a ranked finish from 1961 through 1986. It didn’t even appear in the poll from 1972 through 1986. Nebraska was the opposite, a poll mainstay that carried 15 consecutive top-12 finishes into the 1984 season.
The Huskers had blown out Syracuse 63-7 en route to losing the national title on a missed two-point try against Miami the year before, and despite losing several stars, were No. 1 when they visited Syracuse on Sept. 29, 1984, as 24.5-point favorites. Syracuse pulled off the shocker, ending Nebraska’s 23-game regular-season winning streak while holding the Huskers — who beat No. 8 UCLA 42-3 the game before — to just 214 yards.
10. Washington State 34, No. 1 UCLA 31 (Oct. 29, 1988)
Washington State had gone 10-21-2 in the previous three years, and it was just 4-3 — and coming off back-to-back losses — in Dennis Erickson’s second season. UCLA was undefeated and had already beaten No. 2 Nebraska behind star quarterback Troy Aikman.
An upset appeared even more unlikely when UCLA took a 27-6 lead in the third quarter. But Washington State scored 21 third-quarter points and turned it into an unexpected thriller with an 81-yard touchdown to tie the score at 27. In the fourth, with Washington State leading by four, Aikman led UCLA down to the 6-yard line, but his final two passes fell incomplete and Washington State beat UCLA on the road for the first time in 30 years.
The Cougars won out to finish 9-3, catapulting Erickson to Miami, where he led the Hurricanes to two of the next three national titles.
11. Arizona 13, No. 1 USC 10 (Oct. 10, 1981)
The 1981 season was like few others. AP No. 1 teams combined to go 7-6, with four of those losses to unranked opponents. The most shocking was Arizona toppling USC.
USC running back Marcus Allen went on to win the Heisman Trophy, and the team had already seemingly proven its mettle with a win against No. 2 Oklahoma. Arizona had been a non-factor since joining the Pac-10 in 1978, including a pair of blowout losses to the Trojans.
USC jumped out to a 10-point lead with the help of Allen’s 74-yard touchdown, but it failed to score in the final three quarters. Arizona pulled ahead in the third quarter and shut the door on the Trojans’ title hopes. The Wildcats finished just 6-5, while USC went 9-3.
12. Illinois 20, No. 1 Michigan State 13 (Oct. 27, 1956)
The Illini join 1950 Purdue as the two worst teams to defeat No. 1. They finished just 2-5-2, while Michigan State was coming off a Rose Bowl win in 1955. Illinois pulled off the upset behind the heroics of Abe Woodson, who scored all three touchdowns — including 70- and 82-yarders.
| Season | Winner | No. 1 team | Pts |
|---|---|---|---|
|
2024
|
 Vanderbilt |
Alabama
|
40-35
|
|
2021
|
 Texas A&M |
Alabama
|
41-38
|
|
2008
|
 Oregon State |
USC
|
27-21
|
|
2007
|
 Arkansas |
LSU
|
50-48
|
|
2007
|
 Illinois |
Ohio State
|
28-21
|
|
2002
|
Texas A&M |
Oklahoma
|
30-26
|
|
2001
|
 Auburn |
Florida
|
23-20
|
|
1998
|
 Michigan State |
Ohio State
|
28-24
|
|
1990
|
Michigan State |
Michigan
|
28-27
|
|
1990
|
 Stanford |
Notre Dame
|
36-31
|
|
1988
|
 Washington State |
UCLA
|
34-30
|
|
1985
|
 Tennessee |
Auburn
|
38-20
|
|
1984
|
 Syracuse |
Nebraska
|
17-9
|
|
1982
|
 Notre Dame |
Pittsburgh
|
31-16
|
|
1981
|
 Miami |
Penn State
|
17-14
|
|
1981
|
Arkansas |
Texas
|
42-11
|
|
1981
|
 Arizona |
USC
|
13-10
|
|
1981
|
 Wisconsin |
Michigan
|
21-14
|
|
1980
|
 Mississippi State |
Alabama
|
6-3
|
|
1977
|
 Minnesota |
Michigan
|
16-0
|
|
1976
|
 Purdue |
Michigan
|
16-14
|
|
1974
|
Michigan State |
Ohio State
|
16-13
|
|
1972
|
 UCLA |
Nebraska
|
20-17
|
|
1967
|
Oregon State |
Southern California
|
3-0
|
|
1964
|
 USC |
Notre Dame
|
20-17
|
|
1964
|
 Kentucky |
Mississippi
|
27-21
|
|
1962
|
 Georgia Tech |
Alabama
|
7-6
|
|
1962
|
UCLA |
Ohio State
|
9-7
|
|
1961
|
 TCU |
Texas
|
6-0
|
|
1961
|
Minnesota |
Michigan State
|
13-0
|
|
1960
|
 Kansas |
Missouri
|
23-7
|
|
1960
|
Purdue |
Minnesota
|
23-14
|
|
1957
|
Purdue |
Michigan State
|
20-13
|
|
1956
|
Illinois |
Michigan State
|
20-13
|
|
1952
|
 Ohio State |
Wisconsin
|
23-14
|
|
1950
|
Purdue |
Notre Dame
|
28-14
|
|
1943
|
 Great Lakes Navy |
Notre Dame
|
19-14
|
|
1942
|
Boston College
|
55-12
|
|
|
1942
|
Auburn |
Georgia
|
27-13
|
|
1939
|
Pittsburgh
|
21-13
|
(Top photo from Michigan State’s 1998 win against Ohio State: Damian Strohmeyer / Sports Illustrated via Getty Images)
