Reliving Some Of The Best Upsets Of The College Football Season

The 2025 college football season was a wacky one for sure, and one need look no further than the College Football Playoff for proof, as Indiana, of all teams, is making an improbable run to the national championship game.

While nothing will ever top the insanity that was the 2007 season, this year came close in terms of its penchant for upsets, so I thought today, with the season starting to wind down and only a few meaningful games left on the docket, it would be fun to revisit some of the best upsets 2025 had to offer.

These are in no particular order, but all of them are more than deserving of being included on this list.

Florida State — Alabama (August 30)

Let's start this list off with a bang, as Florida State welcomed a top-10 Alabama team to Doak Campbell Stadium and physically dominated them.

This was absolutely shocking at the time. The Seminoles were coming off a 2-10 season while the Crimson Tide, in contrast, were expected to compete for the SEC championship.

In hindsight, this result seems even more strange, considering that Bama made their way to the College Football Playoff while FSU couldn't even make it to a bowl game.

It just goes to show you that anything can happen in college football in the early weeks of the season.

Bama may not have taken Florida State seriously and paid for it with sloppy play and poor execution.

Shocking, nonetheless.

USF – Boise State (August 28)

While Florida State over Bama was the big upset of the opening weekend, USF bludgeoning Boise State by four touchdowns a couple days earlier was just as shocking.

When you consider the fact that the Bulls had been a relative sleeper up to this point and the Broncos were coming off a College Football Playoff appearance, I don't know if many people had this on their bingo card.

Sure, Boise State lost a lot of production from their playoff team, including Heisman finalist Ashton Jeanty, but to see them get physically beaten in addition to how unprepared they looked was shocking.

It wasn't unbelievable that USF won, but the score which they did win by was the most surprising part.

Mississippi State – 12 Arizona State (September 6)

A hallmark of a classic and memorable upset includes a crazy ending, and the final moments of Mississippi State's upset over Arizona State delivered that in spades.

After building a 17-3 lead at halftime, the Bulldogs squandered their 14-point advantage and were staring down the barrel of a massive collapse before quarterback Blake Shapen calmly delivered a strike to Brenen Thompson, taking the lead for good with just 30 seconds remaining.

Arizona State, much like Boise State, was coming off a playoff appearance and were one of the contenders for the Big 12 heading into the season.

Mississippi State was projected to be a bottom feeder in the SEC by contrast, and although they only wound up winning one conference game, they have one of the most memorable wins of the season in this non-conference upset.

SMU – 10 Miami (November 1)

Coming into this one, the Miami Hurricanes were sitting at 6-1, squarely in the ACC title hunt, and looking to strengthen their case for a CFP bid.

SMU, on the other hand, had just come off a shocking loss to Wake Forest in which their usually high-powered offense could only muster 12 points.

The prevailing thought was that the Mustangs would be just another step on the ladder for the Canes en route to their first ever playoff appearance.

Then the game started, and it was abundantly clear Miami had their hands full.

SMU was able to dictate the game through the air, throwing for 365 yards, while their defense forced two costly turnovers from Hurricanes QB Carson Beck.

The game needed overtime to be decided, and after SMU punched in the decisive touchdown, many were left wondering if Miami had blown their golden opportunity to make the big dance.

Luckily for their fans, the Hurricanes were still able to run the table and earn a postseason bid, but at the time, this felt like a death blow.

UCLA – 7 Penn State (October 4)

This upset was so shocking it ended James Franklin's career at Penn State and kick-started the wildest coaching carousel in recent memory.

Coming into the game, Penn State was looking to get its season back on track, and while an overtime loss to a top-five Oregon team isn't a death sentence, the Nittany Lions needed to right the ship.

And who better to do that against than a winless UCLA team that had just fired their own head coach?

Wrong!

Interim coach Tim Skipper and offensive coordinator Jerry Neuheisel diced up the Nittany Lions to the tune of 42 points, ending Penn State's College Football Playoff dreams and ousting Franklin in the process.

In a year of massive upsets and memorable finishes, this one between UCLA and Penn State may take the cake as the most shocking result of the year.

Did I forget an upset? Let me know which game you think should have been included by emailing me austin.perry@outkick.com.