The Most Chaotic Seasons in College Football History

From rankings controversies, to the year of the upset, and a national champion from the WAC.

College football isn’t known for its Cinderella stories. It’s dominated by the big boys—the Alabama’s, Georgia’s, Ohio State’s, and Oklahoma’s. What sets the sport apart is its unmatched appetite for chaos. In most sports, a champion is crowned with certainty. In college football, they’re often crowned with confusion, whether it’s multiple teams claiming titles, infamous officiating and coaching blunders, or conspiracies surrounding computer formulas. The absurdity is part of the experience, even when the ultimate outcome can feel preordained.

For better or worse, the expansion to a 12-team playoff might put an end to the madness. Sure, the 13th and 14th teams might argue they deserved a chance, but now, more than ever, anointed champions will have the confidence that they defeated the best the sport had to offer. It’s a simple concept, but it took college football a long time, and whole lot of controversy, to get here.  

With these changing tides, it’s a perfect time to revisit the most chaotic seasons in modern college football history. By “modern”, I mean beginning in 1968, when the AP Poll began releasing its final rankings after bowl season. Yes, prior to that, college football would crown national champions before the season had even concluded! And that’s the tip of the iceberg when it comes to the whacky history of this sport. The last 56 seasons brought the creation of five different systems to impose order. None succeeded.

I ranked the most chaotic seasons over that timeframe using the following metrics:

1. Poll Variance: I compared final AP Poll standings to preseason rankings. The larger the variance between the two, the more chaotic the broader outcomes of the season were.

2. Upset Frequency: Out of the total games played in each season, I tracked how often lower-ranked, or unranked teams, upset higher-ranked teams. No, I did not use Vegas spreads to determine upsets.

3. Upset Magnitude: The weight of an upset was greater if an unranked team beat the top-ranked team compared to, say, No. 25 beating No. 23.

4. Late Season Chaos: How silly did the end of the season get? Were there shocking upsets or hotly debated moments that influenced the national title picture?

Any questions before we start? Let’s get into it! Several great seasons barely missed the cut, so we’ll begin with honorable mentions before counting down the top 10.

Honorable Mentions

1974: Oklahoma, despite receiving a postseason ban due to NCAA sanctions, was named AP national champion. A split title occurred when USC, after beating Notre Dame and Ohio State, claimed the UPI (Coaches) title, which didn’t rank teams on probation.

1968: The AP crowned Ohio State as national champions after they beat top-ranked USC in the Rose Bowl. However, the UPI had already awarded Ohio State the title before the bowl game was even played.

1997: Michigan won the AP Poll, but Nebraska topped the Coaches Poll after both teams finished undefeated, resulting in a split title. The Big Ten and Pac-10's obligations to the Rose Bowl prevented a head-to-head matchup between the two teams.

1981: Clemson defeated Nebraska in the Orange Bowl, while Georgia and Alabama suffered surprising upsets in their bowl matchups, leaving the Tigers as undisputed national champions.

1982: Penn State’s controversial win over Nebraska early in the season had massive implications. Penn State went on to beat Georgia for the national title, while Nebraska finished third, their only loss to Penn State.

10. 1994

The 1994 season had the highest upset frequency of any evaluated year, with lower-ranked teams beating higher-ranked teams in 9.9% of games. Preseason No. 3 Notre Dame was hit hardest, ending the season unranked. After No. 1 Florida lost to Auburn in mid-October, Nebraska took the top spot and never looked back.

Despite Nebraska’s dominance, the national title race wasn’t without controversy. Penn State also finished undefeated as Big Ten champions but was required to play No. 12 Oregon in the Rose Bowl instead of facing Nebraska. Nebraska instead played No. 3 Miami in the Orange Bowl. Miami led 17-7 late in the third quarter, but Nebraska rallied with 17 unanswered points to secure coach Tom Osborne’s first national title, redeeming their heartbreaking title game loss to Florida State the previous year.

Despite Penn State’s Rose Bowl victory and perfect season, both major polls awarded Nebraska the national championship, preventing a third split title since 1990. In response, the NCAA replaced the Bowl Coalition with the Bowl Alliance, but it failed to address the issue, as the Big Ten and Pac-10 still held their Rose Bowl obligations until the BCS system arrived in 1998.

9. 2000

On the surface, the 2000 college football season seems straightforward—Oklahoma finished as the only undefeated team in the country and won the national championship. But the path was far from smooth. For starters, Oklahoma wasn’t expected to contend for a title. In Bob Stoops’ second year, following a modest 7-5 debut, Oklahoma entered the season ranked 19th, behind conference rivals Kansas State, Texas, and Nebraska. However, the Sooners shocked everyone, beating each of those teams by double digits in consecutive games during the season to take the top spot.

What elevates this season is one of the more chaotic national championship races of the BCS era. By the end of the regular season, with Oklahoma locked into the Orange Bowl, No. 2 Miami, No. 3 Florida State and No. 4 Washington all had legitimate claims as their opponent. Complicating matters further, Florida State had lost to Miami, and Miami had lost to Washington. Despite the head-to-head results, the BCS system controversially picked Florida State to face Oklahoma. The Sooners dominated, winning 13-2, while Miami and Washington won the Sugar Bowl and Rose Bowl, respectively.

A 4-team playoff would have certainly cleared things up that season.

8. 2001

A recurring theme in college football is the constant exposure of a flawed national championship system. Fresh off the prior season’s controversy, the 2001 season served as another prime example. After being snubbed the previous year, Miami entered the season on a mission. This time they executed the perfect strategy to avoid the inner workings of a computer dictating their fate—never lose. The chaos spared no one else.

Oklahoma, the defending champions, stumbled against No. 3 Nebraska in late October but remained in the title picture before a shocking loss to unranked Oklahoma State to close the regular season. Meanwhile, Nebraska’s title hopes took a major hit after suffering a 62-36 stomping to No. 14 Colorado. Colorado went on to win the Big 12 conference championship, beating No. 3 Texas. In the SEC, Tennessee beat No. 2 Florida, opening the door for the Volunteers to face Miami for the national championship, but they faltered in the SEC Championship Game against No. 21 LSU.

The wreckage left two prime candidates for the BCS computers to choose from: No. 2 Oregon, who rebounded from a mid-season loss to Stanford to win the Pac-10, and No. 3 Colorado, fresh off an epic late-season surge to the Big 12 title. But since college football makes zero sense whatsoever, the BCS formula chose No. 4 Nebraska, who had been idle since their blowout loss to Colorado. Miami crushed them 37-14 to win the national title, and Oregon hammered Colorado 38-16 in the Fiesta Bowl, further fueling debate over who should have faced Miami.  

That said, I doubt anyone was beating that Miami juggernaut, which boasted 38 future NFL draft picks.

7. 1985

How dramatic can a season have been if Oklahoma, the #1 ranked team in the preseason, ended up winning the national championship? What makes 1985 unique is the unpredictability that unfolded beneath them. Five of the final top-10 teams—Michigan, Tennessee, Texas A&M, Air Force, and Miami—started the season unranked. Meanwhile, highly touted programs like preseason No. 2 Auburn, No. 3 SMU, and No. 6 USC finished outside the top 25.

The season was defined by massive upsets, with seven top-five teams losing to unranked opponents by the end of October.  By the end of the regular season, No. 1 Penn State, No. 2 Miami, and No. 3 Oklahoma remained in the title race. However, instead of a Penn State-Miami showdown, the Orange Bowl chose Oklahoma to face Penn State, with Miami playing Tennessee in the Sugar Bowl. After Tennessee shocked Miami in a 35-7 upset, Oklahoma secured the championship with a 25-10 victory over Penn State.

In a season where no contenders finished unblemished, it’s fitting that the Sooners survived even the loss of starting quarterback Troy Aikman to sit atop the college football world.

6. 1983

The 1983 season is remembered for Miami’s stunning rise from unranked to national champions. Miami looked the part of an unranked team to start the season, losing their opener to Florida 28-3. From there, they bounced back, beating ranked teams like Notre Dame and West Virginia to enter the top-five by November. Despite the turnaround, a national title seemed out of reach, as they trailed four teams, including undefeated Nebraska and Texas, heading into bowl season.

Miami drew No. 1 Nebraska in the Orange Bowl. After No. 2 Texas and No. 4 Illinois both lost their bowl games, the Hurricanes had a shot at the title if they could defeat the heavily favored Cornhuskers, who had spent the entirety of the season with the top ranking. In a legendary game, Miami held a 31-17 lead before Nebraska scored two late touchdowns, cutting the deficit to one with under a minute remaining. Instead of kicking the extra point for a likely unanimous national championship, Nebraska went for a two-point conversion and Miami stuffed it to win 31-30. Despite No. 3 Auburn’s Sugar Bowl win, their monumental upset compelled both polls to select Miami as champions, leaving Auburn bitter over a missed championship opportunity.

5. 1970

The 1970 season remains the silliest national title race in modern college football history. For all the failings of the recent systems put in place to award championships, it’s important to remember that it was way, way worse during this time. Back then, the Coaches Poll awarded its national champion before bowl games, while the AP Poll did so after. The National Football Foundation (NFF) poll added further chaos by also weighing in at the end of the regular season. This outdated system led to several split titles, given that champions were named at entirely different points of the season. We all know how much our understanding of a season can veer off course in even one week.  

At the end of the regular season, undefeated Texas was crowned by the UPI (Coaches) poll, while the NFF split their vote between Texas and Ohio State, the nation’s other undefeated team. Of course, both Texas and Ohio State lost their bowl games, allowing No. 3 Nebraska to claim the AP national title after defeating LSU in the Orange Bowl. As a result, 1970 ended with a distinction no others in the modern era can claim—three, yes THREE, national champions.

4. 2008

Finally, a season that a 90’s baby can remember with some level of teenage clarity. The 2008 season is memorable for its chaotic championship race, and the simultaneous emergence of three smaller conference teams: Utah, TCU, and Boise State. Utah, then playing in the Mountain West conference, capped an undefeated season by stunning No. 4 Alabama in the Sugar Bowl and finished 2^nd (!!!) in the final AP Poll.

(Side note: there was nothing better than a Saban-era ‘Bama team mailing in any bowl game that lacked championship stakes. I swear they treated the Sugar Bowl like the Meineke Car Care Bowl.)

TCU, also from Mountain West, ended the season ranked No. 7, with losses only to Utah and Oklahoma. In one of the quirkier bowl season matchups of all time, the Horned Frogs edged No. 9 Boise State in the Poinsettia Bowl, spoiling Boise’s perfect season.

Alongside our loveable trio of BCS busters was a lot of mayhem in the major conferences, headlined by the Big 12 and SEC. No. 2 Florida and No. 1 Alabama battled in the SEC Championship, with Tim Tebow’s Gators securing a spot in the BCS title game. In the Big 12, a love triangle formed between Oklahoma, Texas and Texas Tech, each beating the other in a dramatic series of games. Despite Texas beating Oklahoma head-to-head, a computer tiebreaker selected Oklahoma to face Florida in the national championship, with Florida triumphing 24-14 to win it all.

3. 2007

As a young college football fan, I didn't realize how fortunate I was to witness the back-to-back 2007 and 2008 seasons. This period hooked me on the sport for life. In terms of both frequency and magnitude, 2007 was the all-time year of the upset, highlighted by the biggest shocker of all in Week 1: Appalachian State defeating No. 5 Michigan in the Big House, becoming the first FCS team to beat a ranked FBS team. Fortunately for the Wolverines, their pain would be shared by many of the nation’s top teams, with 12 additional top-5 squads losing games to unranked opponents that season.

One of the most memorable narratives was the curse of the No. 2 team. During the final nine weeks of the regular season, teams ranked 2nd lost seven times, culminating in an unhinged national title race. The first major contender to fall was preseason No. 1 USC, who suffered a shocking home loss to unranked Stanford in early October, followed by a loss to No. 5 Oregon, effectively ending their title hopes. This opened the door for several unexpected contenders, who then each fell in excruciating fashion:

• Boston College entered November ranked No. 2, then subsequently lost to unranked Florida State and Maryland teams.

• No. 2 Kansas faced No. 3 Missouri in the regular season’s final week, with Missouri winning 36-28 to claim the top ranking. Missouri then lost to No. 9 Oklahoma in the Big 12 title game, dashing their BCS title dreams.

• West Virginia, merely needing a home win against a 4-7 Pitt team to secure a BCS title game spot, fell flat as 28-point favorites, losing 13-9.

Meanwhile Ohio State lost to unranked Illinois in mid-November, dropping from No. 1 to No. 7. After beating Michigan in Ann Arbor the following week, they benefited from sitting idle, as all the teams ahead of them lost. Next thing you know, they had reclaimed the No. 1 ranking and a spot in the BCS title game. LSU, despite losing their second game in the regular season finale to unranked Arkansas in triple overtime—historically a death blow in the BCS race—bounced back to beat Tennessee in the SEC Championship game. They then then leapfrogged Missouri and West Virginia after their late losses to make the title game.

The title game itself was forgettable, with LSU cruising to a 38-24 victory, but the path to their coronation is unforgettable. To this day, they remain the only 2-loss national champion in the BCS/CFP era.

2. 1990

The 1990 season: when freaking Colorado and Georgia Tech of all teams split the national title. This is dismissive of the Colorado program at the time, which nearly won the title in 1989 and started the season ranked in the top 5. Georgia Tech, however, emerged from obscurity, unranked to begin the season after a 7-4 finish in 1989. The season was also marked by a high frequency of upsets, with nearly 10% of games resulting in lower or unranked teams beating higher-ranked opponents.

Even Colorado wasn’t immune to the upset fever. Their championship hopes almost vanished in the first six weeks of the season. They kicked off the year by tying No. 8 Tennessee, then lost to No. 21 Illinois in Week 3, and barely squeaked out a win against unranked Missouri in the infamous “Fifth Down Game”, where a refereeing error allowed Colorado an extra down on their game-winning drive. After that close call, they rolled to the Big Eight conference title, notably defeating No. 3 Nebraska along the way.  

Georgia Tech also had a mid-season setback, tying unranked North Carolina, but rebounded with a significant win at No. 1 Virginia. Heading into bowl season, a matchup between No. 1 Colorado and No. 2 Georgia Tech in the Orange Bowl seemed logical. However, college football stayed true to itself, and the Orange Bowl selected No. 5 Notre Dame to face Colorado instead. Georgia Tech played No. 19 Nebraska, who had faltered after their loss to Colorado, in the Citrus Bowl.

On New Year’s Day 1991, Georgia Tech rolled Nebraska 45-21 in the early afternoon and staked their championship claim. Colorado then narrowly defeated Notre Dame 10-9, benefiting from a last-minute touchdown return called back due to a penalty.

After the bowl games, the AP Poll crowned Colorado national champions, but things got spicy with the Coaches Poll. Both teams had beaten Nebraska, and after the Citrus Bowl loss, Nebraska coach Tom Osborne switched his championship vote from Colorado to Georgia Tech. This critical change of heart allowed Georgia Tech to win the poll by a single vote, resulting in a split national title. One might wonder if Coach Osborne’s decision was influenced by the bitter rivalry between Colorado and Nebraska at the time.

The following season also ended with a split national title between Miami and Washington, leading to the formation of the Bowl Coalition, aimed at matching the top-two teams in a title-clinching bowl game. If you’ve read this far, you know that system didn’t quite work. But hey, at least they tried!

1. 1984

A story, in two photos:

Is that…the BYU Cougars…as undisputed national champions? They must have had an incredible season and beaten a bunch of awesome teams to win it all, right? AHA, there it is: a Week 1 victory at No. 3 Pittsburgh. Wait a second—Pitt finished the season 3-7-1? Let’s keep looking for that signature win over a top team then. Hmm, not finding one in the regular season, but surely they faced someone elite during bowl season. Oh, they played in the Holiday Bowl against Michigan, there it is. But wait, it looks like Michigan was 6-5 and unranked in that game.

*Takes a deep, deep breath*

 WHAT THE HELL HAPPENED!!!???

Can you find another championship in any sport where the victor didn’t face a single contender throughout the season? I’ve looked, and nothing compares to BYU’s national title. Look, I don’t hold it against them at all, I’m happy that this happened in the grand scheme. It’s just that, if college football had any sense, BYU would have had the chance to validate their season against a top team like Oklahoma or Washington. Instead, the WAC conference champion was tied to the Holiday Bowl, meaning the national title was technically decided on December 21^st, weeks before the season ended.

I’ve now developed two new goals in life. First, I want to find a Washington fan and ask them about their 1984 season. That team scored a huge win over No. 2 Oklahoma in the Orange Bowl, yet pollsters looked past them in favor of a team whose best win was against an 8-4 Air Force squad. In a sport where unclaimed titles exist, 1984 Washington is the most legitimate ‘unclaimed’ champion ever. Second, I want to understand why the voting criteria has changed over the years. If the logic applied to 1984 had held, teams like 2006 Boise State, 2008 Utah and 2017 UCF should have also won national titles—or at least been given a shot to compete for one.

The lesson, as always: even when college football learns from its past mistakes, it still can’t perfect the process of naming a national champion.