College Football Sees Unprecedented Saturday of Top-Ranked Upsets
Five of the top seven teams in the AP Top 25 lost on the same regular-season Saturday for the first time in history.
College football witnessed an unprecedented Saturday of upsets, with five of the top seven teams in the Associated Press Top 25 poll suffering losses. This marks the first time in history that so many highly ranked teams have fallen on the same regular-season day.
The last comparable event occurred on January 2, 1989, when five of the top eight teams lost. This recent wave of upsets was significantly driven by the Southeastern Conference (SEC), which saw No. 1 Georgia, No. 6 Alabama, and No. 7 Texas all defeated. These teams were all favored by at least a touchdown.
Additional upsets included No. 2 Notre Dame losing to No. 8 BYU and No. 5 Indiana falling to Ohio State. It was the first time since 2012 that both the No. 1 and No. 2 ranked teams lost on the same regular-season day. In 2012, Oregon lost to Stanford and Kansas State was defeated by Baylor.
The widespread upsets are expected to significantly alter the AP poll and College Football Playoff seeding projections. Taking advantage of the shakeup, No. 3 Miami moved into the top spot in the rankings after a dramatic double-overtime victory against rival Florida State. The Hurricanes' win, however, also concluded in controversy.
The recent trend of top-ranked teams losing to unranked opponents continued, with Texas and Georgia's defeats marking the first time this has happened in consecutive weeks since 1990, when Notre Dame lost to Stanford and Michigan was upset by Michigan State.
In 1989, five of the top eight teams lost on the same day: No. 3 West Virginia, No. 5 USC, No. 6 Nebraska, No. 7 Auburn, and eighth-ranked Arkansas all stumbled in bowl games.
SEC Heavyweights Fall
The simultaneous losses by Georgia, Alabama, and Texas on a single Saturday had not occurred since October 26, 1996, according to SEC records. This flurry of defeats within the conference raises questions about the recent decision by SEC coaches to resist a nine-game league schedule.
The timing of these major upsets coincides with the SEC reportedly agreeing to a move that will lead to a 24-team playoff format, a significant shift that brings college football closer to the structure favored by the Big Ten Conference.