Biggest College Bowl Game Upsets Anything

Biggest College Bowl Game Upsets By   [95 more lists]

The biggest college bowl game upsets include dozens of college football games that defied all expert predictions and shocked the country. One fine NCAA Football team went in with every expectation of bringing home a victory but they either failed or were simply overpowered by their opponent and went home upset. These games might not have played out how everyone expected, but more often than not it made these games even more exciting.

Even before NCAA Division I football started using the Bowl Championship Series, at the end of each season teams play in bowl games rather than participate in a standard playoff system. To become eligible, teams must win at least half of their games but even after that requirement is met, the bowl game match-ups are still up to the sponsors. Normally, this creates games with well-matched opponents but sometimes, especially in these cases, one team enters as a clear favorite. In case you haven't already guessed, sometimes that favorite crashes and burns.

That was the case for all of these bowl game upsets but just like some bowl games are more meaningful than others, some of these upsets are more memorable as well. Take the 2007 BCS National Championship Game for example. The top-ranked Ohio State Buckeyes entered with a win streak of 19 games and were the clear-cut favorite against the Florida Gators. Head coach Urban Meyer and Heisman Trophy-winning quarterback Tim Tebow never got that memo as they ran right over the Buckeyes 41-14 to win the National Championship.

Other games have not come with national championship consequences but that didn't make the upset any easier to deal with for the losing players. Close games, such as those who go into overtime, are especially tough for the upset players, such as the 2000 Sugar Bowl between the Alabama Crimson Tide and the Michigan Wolverines. Then-Michigan quarterback Tom Brady led the Wolverines back from two 14-point deficits to force overtime but it was a missed field goal from the Alabama kicker in the extra session that cost the Crimson Tide the game.

Whether teams are heavily favored to win a college bowl game and lose or dominate the entire contest only to fall from one bad play, these college bowl game upsets will be remembered as the best of the best.

Print Blog View 16 Views: 53978    Items: 29
Rank     Name
  1. 1
    Up 1304
    Down 319

    2007 Fiesta Bowl

    Boise State 43 - Oklahoma 42
  2. 2
    Up 925
    Down 333

    1986 Sugar Bowl

    Tennessee 35 - Miami 7
  3. 3
    Up 112
    Down 39

    1990 Liberty Bowl

    added by: maccyjg
    Air Force 23, Ohio State 11
  4. 4
    Up 614
    Down 277

    2009 Sugar Bowl

    Utah 31 - Alabama 17
  5. 5
    Up 161
    Down 129

    1951 Sugar Bowl

    added by: buster_d
    UK 13 - Oklahoma 7
  6. 6
    Up 12

    1995 SUGAR BOWL

    added by: NickMarica
    Virginia Tech 28, Texas 10. Virtually no one gave Tech a chance in this game, and they outplayed Texas....
  7. 7
    Up 339
    Down 300

    2008 Fiesta Bowl

    West Virginia 48 - Oklahoma 28
  8. 8
    Up 94
    Down 85

    1975 fiesta bowl

    added by: dldewitt
    arizona state 17 - oklahoma 14
  9. 9
    Up 192
    Down 198

    1978 Orange Bowl

    added by: Ozarkbilly
    Arkansas 31 - Oklahoma 6 6th ranked Arkansas upsets 2nd ranked Oklahoma, Arkansas is an '18 point underdog' in this game. Lou Holtz in his 1st year as head coach at Arkansas pulls off the upset! Roland Sales and Ron Calcagni in the first period and shut down the Sooners' offense for a 31-6 Orange Bowl victory.
  10. 10
    Up 246
    Down 260

    1987 Fiesta Bowl

    Penn State 14 - Miami 10
  11. 11
    Up 273
    Down 298

    2011 Rose Bowl

    TCU 21 - Wisconsin 19
  12. 12
    Up 100
    Down 111

    1990 Orange Bowl

    added by: mdillinger88
    Colorado 10 Notre Dame 9
  13. 13
    Up 141
    Down 160

    1978 Orange Bowl

    added by: Ozarkbilly
    Ark. 31 - Okla. 6
  14. 14
    Up 231
    Down 270
    West Virginia 38 - Georgia 35
  15. 15
    Up 206
    Down 263

    2003 Fiesta Bowl

    Ohio State 31 - Miami 24
  16. 16
    Up 204
    Down 276

    2006 Rose Bowl

    Texas 41 - USC 38
  17. 17

    1984 Orange Bowl

    added by: John Sayer
    Miami 31 - Nebraska 30
  18. 18
    Up 221
    Down 301

    2007 BCS National Championship Game

    Florida 41 - Ohio State 14
  19. 19
    Up 169
    Down 229

    2007 Hawai'i Bowl

    East Carolina 41 - Boise State 38
  20. 20
    Up 157
    Down 221

    2008 Capital One Bowl

    Michigan 41 - Florida 35
  21. 21
    Up 126
    Down 190

    2000 Orange Bowl

    Michigan 35 - Alabama 34
  22. 22
    Up 96
    Down 173

    1999 Rose Bowl

    Wisconsin 38 - UCLA 31
  23. 23
    Up 88
    Down 159

    1998 Alamo Bowl

    Purdue 37 - Kansas State 34
  24. 24
    Up 103
    Down 190

    1997 Sugar Bowl

    Florida 52 - Florida State 20
  25. 25
    Up 87
    Down 164

    1984 Cotton Bowl

    Georgia 10 - Texas 9
  26. 26
    Up 81
    Down 175

    2003 Insight Bowl

    California 52 - Virginia Tech 49
  27. 27
    Up 86
    Down 192

    1992 Sugar Bowl

    Notre Dame 39 - Florida 28
  28. 28
    Up 29
    Down 72

    2011

    added by: bob00rog
  29. 29
    Up 26
    Down 151

    2002 Sugar Bowl

    LSU 47 - Illinois 34
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    1. R20X
      1992 Sugar Bowl at 1/10/2012 7:26 AM
      CRAZY
    2. swbjesjr
      Biggest College Bowl Game Upsets at 1/08/2012 7:36 AM
      What about 1984 Orange Bowl Miami 31 Nebraska 30?
    3. AZFAN
      Biggest College Bowl Game Upsets at 1/07/2012 8:28 PM
      1994 Fiesta Bowl-Arizona 29-Miami 0
    4. Sonny Sideup
      Biggest College Bowl Game Upsets at 1/07/2012 5:54 PM
      Boise lost vs TCU in Hawaii and won vs OK in Fiesta in both 2007? c'mon man!
    5. Biff
      Biggest College Bowl Game Upsets at 1/07/2012 1:41 PM
      When Clemson - who started the season unranked - beat Nebraska in the 1982 Orange Bowl - that was the most unbelievable game. They immediately went on probation but that win jump started a great decade of ACC dominance.
    6. kenned
      Biggest College Bowl Game Upsets at 1/07/2012 10:50 AM
      Seems like Oklahoma is a tad overrated?
    7. Harley
      Biggest College Bowl Game Upsets at 1/07/2012 10:10 AM
      Unlike most of you, I was at one of these games... the UCLA vs Wisconsin game. Most of the stadium was Wisconsin fans as UCLA fans sold their tickets to them (seriously). An amazing game and UCLA had a chance there at the end but an unglorious end to a glorious decade (the decade of dominance).
    8. Pac Man
      Biggest College Bowl Game Upsets at 1/07/2012 4:36 AM
      1968 Rose bowl USC w/ O.J. vs Sophmotre laden Ohio State. USC heavliy favored, took opening K/O for T/D, kasy time they scored.
    9. BfootballCon
      Biggest College Bowl Game Upsets at 1/07/2012 1:10 AM
      what of Washington's thumping of Nebraska last year?
    10. Mike1227
      Biggest College Bowl Game Upsets at 1/06/2012 9:15 PM
      What about the 1992 Sugar Bowl Alabama upsets Miami 34-13 and wins National Championship.
      1. BATMAN5139
        Biggest College Bowl Game Upsets at 1/06/2012 10:37 PM
        1992 sugar bowl NOTRE DAME BEAT FLORIDA 39-28
    11. HauliBandit
      Biggest College Bowl Game Upsets at 1/06/2012 5:03 PM
      Oklahoma sure is the victim of alot of upsets according to this list. Can you say Overated?
      1. Balls to the Wall
        Biggest College Bowl Game Upsets at 1/06/2012 5:28 PM
        Look how many big games they have played in. Any time they lose it's an upset because we all expect them to win every game.
    12. Dave
      2011 at 1/06/2012 4:40 PM
      what about WVU as underdog and breaking several records.
    13. Jason26764
      Biggest College Bowl Game Upsets at 1/06/2012 3:24 PM
      Where is West Virginia over Clemson at Orange Bowl?
      1. crowboy93
        Biggest College Bowl Game Upsets at 1/08/2012 3:57 AM
        Clemson is like 2-14 in bowl games, no way is that an upset for a team who constantly chokes in the big game.

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