Upsets of the Decade

The Hogs upset over #1 LSU ranks 6th on our list

Top 10 Upsets This Decade

This decade saw more upsets than any other in College Football History. No longer are there automatic wins in college football. The rise of programs like Boise State, TCU, Fresno State, and others have created insanity at the top of the polls often in the last 10 years. This is our list of the top 10 upsets this decade.

1. Appalachian State 34 Michigan 32(Sept 1, 2007)- The Wolverines entered the season opener as the #5 team in the FBS. Michigan was coming off an 11-2 Rose Bowl season in 2006 and was picked by many as a national championship contender. Appalachian State was #1 in the FCS, but never before had a team in 1-AA beaten a top 10 FBS school. Michigan was down late, but a long pass completion from Chad Henne to Mario Manningham setup the Wolverines for a game winning 37 yard field goal attempt. The kicked was blocked and the fans in the Big House were shocked.

2. Stanford 24 Southern California 23(Oct 6, 2007)- Entering the game the Cardinal was nearly a 6 TD underdog. Jim Harbaugh even called the Trojans the best college football team in history. On this one night, the Trojans weren't even the best team at the Coliseum. A Tavita Pritchard to Mark Bradford 10 yard TD pass with 49 seconds left on 4th and goal setup the win for Stanford.

3. Kansas State 35 Oklahoma 7(Dec 6, 2003)- It's not that the Wildcats were that bad, it's just that Oklahoma was thought of as that good. OU had been dominating entering the 2003 Big XII Championship game. Many called The Sooners the best team ever. The Wildcats defense shutdown a Sooner offense that had scored 580 points going into this game. Despite the loss, OU still went to play for the BCS National Championship.

4. North Carolina 41 Florida State 9(Sept 22, 2001)- The first game for both teams after 9-11 resulted in a huge upest. Florida State entered the game undefeated and ranked #5, while North Carolina was 0-3. This was only the Seminoles 3rd loss in 10 season as an ACC member and it was John Bunting's first win as UNC's coach.

5. Boise State 43 Oklahoma 42(Jan 1, 2007)- While Boise State was undefeated, few thought the school that had only been in the FBS for 10 years would challenge the mighty Sooners. The Broncos used creative play calling to put the game in OT. Head Coach Chris Petersen decided to use a Statue of Liberty play on a 2 point conversion attempt to give the Broncos its first BCS victory.

6. Arkansas 50 LSU 48(Nov 23, 2007)- LSU entered the game ranked #1 and Arkansas coach Houston Nutt was about to coach his last game as a Hog. Darren McFadden ran for 206 yards and Peyton Hillis scored 4 TDs for the Hogs. The game went in triple OT and a Matterrel Richardson INT sealed the deal for the Hogs. Despite the loss, the Tigers went on to win the National Championship.

7. Colorado 62 Nebraska 36(Nov 23, 2001)- The Huskers were 11-0 and looked like they would finish with an undefeated regular season for the 4th time since 2001. Colorado was 9-2 and needed an upset win to win the Big XII North. The Buffs had only beaten Nebraska 3 times since 1968 and the win was their first over NU since 1990.

8. South Carolina 21 Georgia 10(Sept 9, 2009)- Georgia was ranked #10 and Quincy Carter was a legit Heisman Candidate. The Gamecocks had only 1 win in their last 22 games and had an 18 game SEC losing streak. Charlie Strong's defense intercepted Carter 5 times and the goal posts came down at Williams Brice Stadium.

9. Syracuse 38 Louisville 35(Sep 22, 2009)- Louisville entered the game as a 37.5 point favorite and was coming off a season where they won the Orange Bowl. Syracuse had only won 5 games since 2004. While it would be 3 years later that Kragthorpe was fired, this game was the start of the fall of Louisville football.

10. Pitt 13 West Virginia 9(Dec 1, 2007)- All WVU needed to do to get in the BCS Championship game was to beat a 4 win Pitt team. In a season that saw several crazy upsets, this game would continue the insanity. WVU went into the game averaging over 40 points per game, but somehow was held to 9 points.