There's something about a shocking upset in a bowl game that captures even the most casual college football fan's attention. NCAA aficionados watched one of the biggest stunners in bowl game history Tuesday, as the Michigan Wolverines pulled out a 19-13 ReliaQuest Bowl win over an Alabama Crimson Tide team that entered as 16.5-point favorites.
Where does this stunner rank among the biggest bowl upsets of all-time? And what other powerhouse schools failed to win outright despite being a two-touchdown bowl game favorite?
Here's a look at the biggest bowl upsets of all-time, in chronological order:
1978 Orange Bowl
Arkansas (+18) def. Oklahoma 31-6
Long before college football and legal sports betting both exploded in popularity, upsets weren't celebrated quite as dramatically – but the Razorbacks' shocking Orange Bowl win over the powerhouse Sooners still owns the distinction as the largest upset in terms of spread.
The reason for the gigantic chasm? First-year Arkansas head coach Lou Holtz suspended three players for violating team rules – and two, running back Ben Cowins and wide receiver Donny Bobo, combined to score 25 regular season touchdowns.
No superstars? No problem: The Razorbacks forced No. 2 Oklahoma into four turnovers while getting a pair of ground scores from rusher Roland Sales to complete the shocker.
1990 Liberty Bowl
Air Force (+17) def. Ohio State 23-11
Neither team set their respective conferences on fire, but it surprised no one that the Ohio State Buckeyes were massive favorites since they were still a ranked team. Their Air Force Falcons opponent finished a disappointing sixth out of nine in the Western Atlantic Conference.
However, Ohio State looked disjointed from the start, managing just a field goal and a safety over the first three quarters – while the Falcons eventually turned to their top-tier rush attack to break things open as quarterback Rob Perez ran in a pair of scores as part of a 92-yard ground performance. Cornerback Carlton McDonald then put the game away with a 40-yard interception return as Air Force secured its fifth bowl win all-time.
Perez won Liberty Bowl MVP honors despite completing just one pass on three attempts for a total of 11 yards.
1998 Humanitarian Bowl
Idaho (+16.5) def. Southern Mississippi 42-35
The second edition of the bowl game that would later become the Famous Idaho Potato Bowl (you'll hear that name again later) was an instant classic.
The Idaho Vandals, who were widely expected to be one of the worst Division I teams, went 9-3 before stunning Southern Miss on the strength of four touchdown passes from redshirt freshman quarterback John Welsh and six Golden Eagles' turnovers.
Southern Miss running back Derrick Nix had 126 rushing yards and three scores, but fumbled twice – including a back-breaking turnover at midfield with 2:30 left that secured Idaho's upset.
1998 Sun Bowl
TCU (+17.5) def. USC 28-19
The TCU Horned Frogs headed to El Paso as massive underdogs, gifted a bowl invite due to the Big Ten not having enough eligible teams. They left with one of the biggest wins in school history, and a satisfying end to a 41-year bowl victory drought.
TCU used a vaunted rush attack led by Basil Mitchell (19 carries, 185 yards, 2 TDs) to open up an early three-score lead, and held the Trojans to a bowl game-record minus-23 ground yards to overcome future NFL star Carson Palmer's 280 passing yards for USC.
The arrow pointed up for the Horned Frogs from there, as they made bowl appearances each of the next five seasons.
2002 Hawaii Bowl
Tulane (+14.5) def. Hawaii 36-28
Favored by two converted touchdowns and fueled by a hometown crowd, the inaugural Hawaii Bowl was supposed to be a triumphant season ender for the Hawaii Rainbow Warriors. Future NFL backup quarterback J.P. Losman made sure it wasn't.
Losman ran in a pair of TDs and threw for another to lead the Tulane Green Wave to a massive upset at Aloha Stadium. Tulane running back Mewelde Moore added a 25-yard scoring run, which iced the Christmas Day win with a late safety.
Tulane probably deserved better than what oddsmakers were dishing out, going 7-1 in American Athletic Conference play entering bowl season.
2013 Holiday Bowl
Texas Tech (+16.5) def. Arizona State 37-23
Karma was on the side of the Texas Tech Red Raiders, who opened their season 7-0 but promptly followed that up by dropping five straight – due in large part to closing out the second half of their schedule with four games against AP-ranked teams.
If that weren't enough, they entered the Holiday Bowl as the postseason's biggest underdogs. But quarterback Davis Webb's three first-half touchdown passes gave Texas Tech a big early lead, and Reginald Thomas III's 90-yard kickoff return TD quelled a second-half Arizona Sun Devils' threat.
The win was particularly sweet for first-year head coach Kliff Kingsbury, who'd eventually parlay his success in Lubbock into the No. 1 job with the NFL's Arizona Cardinals.
2013 Sugar Bowl
Louisville (+14.5) def. Florida 33-23
With Teddy Bridgewater announcing just after Christmas 2024 that he'd return to the NFL – and re-sign with the Detroit Lions – it's a good time to remember the collegiate performance that helped galvanize his standing as a future first-round pick.
With the Louisville Cardinals up 14-3 in the waning moments of the first half, Bridgewater padded the advantage with a 15-yard TD strike to future NFL wideout DeVante Parker. The Florida Gators answered with a last-second touchdown, but botched an onside kick to open the third quarter, setting the stage for Bridgewater's second TD throw of the game.
Bridgewater, who finished with 266 passing yards en route to winning MVP honors, went on to be the Minnesota Vikings' final pick in the first round of the 2013 NFL Draft.
2014 Fiesta Bowl
UCF (+17) def. Baylor 52-42
Head coach George O'Leary hit another level in 2013, leading the UCF Knights to a school-record 11-1 regular-season mark (including its first perfect run in conference play). And with the Knights bowl-eligible after an initial ban was overturned, the stars were aligned for a legendary Fiesta Bowl showing.
The Baylor Bears answered UCF every time the Knights pulled ahead in the opening half, and the teams entered the third quarter's halfway point tied at 28. That's when UCF QB Blake Bortles took over, running for one score and passing for another to give the Knights a 14-point advantage they wouldn't relinquish.
Bortles was named offensive MVP after outduelling Baylor counterpart Bryce Petty, who had 30 TD passes against just two interceptions in the regular season.
2014 Sugar Bowl
Oklahoma (+17) def. Alabama 45-31
The Trevor Knight-vs.-Blake Bell quarterback discourse lit up more than a few Oklahoma Sooners' chat channels back in the day – but head coach Bob Stoops' decision to roll with Knight against Alabama HC Nick Saban and the two-time defending champions was a stroke of genius.
Stoops picked a largely unproven Knight over Bell, who had a far superior season under center. But none of it mattered against the Crimson Tide, who had no answer for Knight (348 passing yards, four touchdowns) and didn't do themselves any favors by turning the ball over five times.
Things worked out for both QBs in the end: Knight orchestrated one of the biggest upset wins in college football history, while Bell entered the NFL as a tight end and won three Super Bowl rings.
2016 Famous Idaho Potato Bowl
Idaho (+16) def. Colorado State 61-50
Everybody knew the Colorado State Rams could put points on the board. Nobody expected the Idaho Vandals to do it even better.
After grinding through a scoreless first quarter (yes, that actually happened), the teams combined to light up the scoreboard for 111 points over the final 45 minutes – including a bowl-record 84 combined second half points. Three straight 20+-point quarters were the difference for the Vandals, who dramatically bounced back from a 4-8 showing in 2015 while improving to 3-0 in bowl games.
Idaho quarterback Matt Linehan earned the game MVP award after throwing for 381 yards and four touchdowns.
2018 Peach Bowl
UCF (+15) def. Auburn 34-27
This was a true heavyweight slugfest, with the Knights the lone remaining unbeaten FBS team and the Auburn Tigers coming off two wins over No. 1-ranked opponents in a 14-day span. UCF took advantage of an uncharacteristically sloppy Auburn performance to pull off a Peach Bowl stunner.
Down 20-13 late in the third quarter, UCF QB McKenzie Milton found Otis Anderson on a 12-yard TD strike, then connected with Dredrick Snelson on an eight-yard score early in the fourth to put the Knights ahead for good. Milton was named Peach Bowl offensive MVP after generating three total touchdowns.
UCF claimed a national championship following the win, but it's a safe bet it would have faced a similarly massive spread if it had played either Clemson or Alabama.
2024 ReliaQuest Bowl
Michigan (+16.5) def. Alabama 19-13
The latest entry on the list might come as a surprise to those simply scouring the history books and seeing that the Michigan Wolverines were the defending national champions.
But a lot changed in Ann Arbor in 2024 – and while Michigan was still a solid team, it wasn't given much of a chance against always-dangerous Alabama. But the Wolverines sent the staggered Crimson Tide to a deep early deficit on the strength of three turnovers, and kept the pressure on quarterback Jalen Milroe to squeak by after Alabama racheted up the defensive intensity itself.
Perhaps those contending the Crimson Tide should have been included in the College Football Playoff will re-think their stance after this stunning upset.
