The 13 Biggest Slides College Football Teams In The Top 25 Have Ever Experienced After A Loss

You’re doing something right as a college football team if you end up in the Top 25 poll that’s organized by the Associated Press, which (with apologies to the coaches poll) has been viewed as the gold standard since it was introduced close to 90 years ago. Every program wants to see its name near the top of the list, but it’s much easier to see it plummet toward the bottom in the wake of an unexpected loss.

Massive upsets involving a team that had seemingly no business beating one of the best squads in the country are one of the many things that make college football so beloved, and those unexpected losses can wreak havoc on the number that was next to a team in the AP’s Top 25 before they fell victim to one.

No college football teams have experienced a more dramatic drop in the AP’s Top 25 after a loss than these squads

These numbers come courtesy of the College Poll Archive, which points to the 1968 season as the start of the AP poll’s “modern era” (it’s worth noting the Top 25 was the Top 20 until it expanded to the current number in 1989). As a result, this only reflects the meteoric drops stemming back to that point.

No team stands alone here, so I’m using the spot where they were ranked before the loss at the tiebreaker to highlight the biggest falls from grace (although that’s not enough to differentiate all of them).

13. Louisville: 15 Spots

Louisville endured decades of mediocrity before experiencing a resurgence at the start of the millennium, and Bobby Petrino helmed one of the most impressive seasons in the history of he program when they went 11-1 in 2004.

The Cardinals ended up at #12 heading into 2005 and had improved to #9 by the time they made the trek to Tampa to face off against USF following a 2-0 start. Unfortunately, they were bullied by the Bulls in a big way and dropped all the way to #24 after a 45-14 drubbing (they were able to crawl back to #19 after finishing with a 9-3 record).

T-10. Arizona State: 15 Spots

There isn’t a single entry on this list that’s more of a throwback than this one, as Arizona State fell victim to what was then a historic slide all the way back in 1976.

The Sun Devils won a national championship the previous year after going undefeated and were #3 prior to their season opener against #17 UCLA. However, the Bruins got a 28-10 victory to hand ASU the first of four straight losses during a forgettable season where the defending champs went 4-7 and finished firmly unranked.

T-10. Oklahoma: 15 Spots

It feels a bit weird to include a team that fell victim to a slide in 2020 given the circumstances surrounding that season, but Oklahoma committed to what was essentially a full schedule and was sitting at #3 after moving up a couple of spots following a win over Missouri State in their first game.

The Sooners had two weeks to prepare for their showdown with Kansas State (which had lost to Arkansas State to open up the season), but it wasn’t enough to get ready for a Wildcats team that earned a 38-35 win on the road and dropped the home team to #18.

Oklahoma was able to claw back to #6 by the end of the year after going 9-2 during what ended up being Lincoln Riley’s final ride in Norman.

T-10. USC: 15 Spots

Ted Tollner led USC to a 9-3 record in 1984 after going 4-6-1 in his first year as head coach, and it seemed like the Trojans were trending in the right direction after ending up at #6 ahead of his third season in Los Angeles.

They improved to #3 with a victory over #11 Illinois in the first game of the season and welcomed Baylor for their first home a couple of weeks later. The Bears flipped the script with a 20-13 win, and the Trojans dropped to #18 before falling out of the Top 25 with a loss to Arizona State the following week during what ended up being a 6-6 showing.

T-7. Notre Dame: 15 Spots

Notre Dame had a period of sustained success after Lou Holtz led them to what remains their most recent national championship in 1988, but the program stumbled in a big way in 1994 by going 6-5-1 a year after posting an 11-1 record.

The Fighting Irish were expected to rebound in 1995 and started that season at #9. Their season opener with Northwestern seemed like a bit of an afterthought compared to some of the tougher games on the schedule, but the Wildcats played spoiler by coming into South Bend and leaving with a 17-15 upset.

That effectively killed Notre Dame’s title hopes in the crib, but they did end up at #11 after going 9-3.

T-7. Clemson: 16 Spots

There’s only one school on this list that makes multiple appearances, and Clemson has the dubious distinction of being the one responsible.

Both of these falls transpired within the span of three seasons, and both saw Clemson sitting at #9 when things went awry. The most recent setback occurred during the very first game in 2023, as the Tigers were immediately exposed as frauds when they headed to Duke and were handed a 28-7 loss by an unranked Blue Devils team.

Clemson fell to #25 and then out of the Top 25 entirely before making an appearance toward the end of the season en route to finishing at 9-4 and #20.

T-7. Clemson (again): 16 Spots

Clemson started at #3 in 2021 but fell a few spots after losing to #5 Georgia in the season opener. The Tigers bounced back with wins over South Carolina State and Georgia Tech, and they were double-digit favorites and sitting at #9 when they hit the road to face off against NC State at the end of September.

However, the Wolfpack put up a fight and ultimately walked away with a 27-21 win in double overtime to send Clemson plummeting down to #25. The Tigers did manage to win eight of their last nine games and finished the season at #14.

6. LSU: 16 Spots

Les Miles had essentially managed to pick up where Nick Saban left off at LSU following the changing of the guard that went down in 2007. The luster had begun to wear off a bit by the time the season got underway in 2016, but the Tigers were ranked #5 heading into their season opener against Wisconsin at Lambeau Field.

The Badgers were able to harness the power of the rowdy crowd that flocked to Green Bay and pulled out to a 13-0 lead less than five minutes into the third quarter. The Tigers were able to claw back and take a 14-13 lead a little more than six minutes later, but Wisconsin ended back up on top at 16-14 with a little less than four minutes to go in the contest.

LSU tried to mount a game-winning drive only for Brandon Harris to throw a game-sealing interception with a minute left. The Tigers dropped to #21 as a result, and Miles was fired a few weeks later following a loss to Auburn that dropped the team to 2-2.

5. Penn State: 16 Spots

This entry requires us to travel way back in time yet again, as Penn State earned its spot here due to what transpired during the very first week of the 1983 season.

The Nittany Lions were sitting at #4 after Joe Paterno led the program to an 11-1 record and its first-ever national championship the following year, and it didn’t seem like a stretch to suggest the team had what it took to defend its crown and bring another title back to Happy Valley.

However, that was very much contingent on Penn State’s ability to earn a victory over a top-ranked Nebraska team in a neutral site game at Giants Stadium. Unfortunately, the Cornhuskers crushed those hopes and dreams with the lopsided 44-6 win that dropped their opponent to #20.

That was the first of three straight losses for a Penn State team that finished at 8-4-1 and redeemed itself with victories over #3 Alabama and #4 West Virginia before ending what turned out to be a pretty strange season at #17.

4. West Virginia: 17 Spots

West Virginia was dealing with some turmoil heading into the season in 2008 after Rich Rodriguez defected to Michigan. However, first-year head coach Bill Stewart had plenty of talent to work with to the point where the Mountaineers were ranked at #8 when his inaugural campaign began.

That number remained unchanged after WVU got a win over Villanova in a warm-up game, and it seemed like that descriptor also could have been applied to its Week 2 showdown with East Carolina. However, the Pirates didn’t get that memo ahead of a game where they got a 24-3 win on their home turf.

The losing team fell to #21 and then out of the Top 25 entirely after dropping to 1-2 with a loss to Colorado. West Virginia was able to salvage the season by going 9-4, but the #23 they received in the final AP poll was a far cry from where they began.

3. Ole Miss: 17 Spots

Ole Miss opened its season in 2009 with a couple of cupcake contests with Memphis and Southern Louisiana. The Rebels had started at #8, but they’d improved to #4 courtesy of that 2-0 start. South Carolina, on the other hand, was sitting at 2-1 with a loss to #21 Georgia sandwiched between wins over NC State and FAU.

The Gamecocks had home-field advantage on their side in the SEC opener and took advantage, pulling out to a 16-3 lead midway through the third quarter before earning a 16-10 victory over a Rebels squad that fell to #21 when the next AP Poll dropped. Ole Miss spent the remainder of the season on the cusp of the Top 25 and ultimately finished at #20 after going 9-4.

T-1. Cal: 18 Spots

Ole Miss wasn’t the only team to fall victim to a massive upset at the end of September that year, as another one had already gotten the same treatment a couple of days before.

Jeff Tefford managed to help Cal stage a pretty dramatic turnaround when he took the reins from Tom Holmoe in 2002, and the Golden Bears were three years removed from a 10-3 campaign and coming off a 9-4 season when they headed into 2009 ranked at #12.

The Golden Bears got off to a 3-0 start with wins over Maryland, Eastern Washington, and Minnesota, and had improved to #6 heading into their showdown with Oregon. The Ducks had been #16 heading into their opener against Boise State, but they dropped out of the Top 25 with the loss before rebounding with wins against Purdue and #18 Utah.

Cal was treated to one of the most stunning thrashings that a team in the Top 10 has ever endured, as fans who flocked to Autzen Stadium got to watch the home team wipe the floor with a visiting squad that left Eugene on the wrong side of the 42-3 bloodbath.

The Golden Bears ended up going 8-5 and finished the season unranked in the wake of a loss that marked a turning point for a program that really hasn’t been the same since then.

T-1. Texas A&M: 18 Spots

Texas A&M headed into the 2022 season with clear eyes, full hearts, and the can’t lose attitude linked to a recruiting class that costs the Aggies tens of millions of dollars in NIL money and put them at #6 heading into the year.

The team coasted to a 31-0 win over Sam Houston to start at 1-0 and didn’t expect to have much trouble with an Appalachian State squad that was listed as an 18-point underdog. Unfortunately, the Mountaineers gave the Aggies the same treatment Michigan had gotten 15 years prior by pulling off the 17-14 upset.

Texas A&M subsequently dropped to #24 and ended up finishing unranked with the 5-7 record the team posted by the time Jimbo Fisher’s second-to-last season in College Station came to a merciful end.