Teams ranked No. 1 in the Associated Press college football poll are 587-40-7 against unranked opponents. Of those 40 losses, there’s little doubt that Saturday’s Vanderbilt 40, No. 1 Alabama 35 is among the most shocking — especially considering the Commodores’ recent lack of No. 1 upsets and history of losing.

Prior to Saturday, AP No. 1 teams had gone 134-1 against unranked opponents since Oregon State upset USC on a Thursday night in September 2008. That Beavers win marked the third time in five games that No. 1s lost to unranked teams. Since then, Alabama’s only loss was to Texas A&M in 2021.

And then along came Vandy, who had never beaten a top-five AP team before — let alone No. 1 — and hadn’t beaten the Crimson Tide in 40 years.

All hope is not lost for Alabama, especially in the debut season of the 12-team College Football Playoff. Four AP No. 1 teams have lost to an unranked opponent and subsequently won the national title:

But regardless of what happens next, Alabama’s first season under Kalen DeBoer will go down as a historic upset, just as its first season under Nick Saban will go down in history for a loss to Louisiana-Monroe.

How shocking was Vanderbilt’s victory? Let’s rank AP No. 1 teams’ most stunning losses to unranked opponents.

1. Duquesne 21, No. 1 Pitt 13 (October 21, 1939)

The first is perhaps the most surprising.

Pitt finished in the top eight for the first three years of the AP Poll’s existence, including winning the 1937 national title. Preseason polls did not exist until 1950, but when the first 1939 poll was published, Pitt was a deserved number 1.

Duquesne had gone 4-6 the year before, had a new coach in Aldo Donelli and had played only forgettable games against Illinois Wesleyan, Waynesburg and Manhattan (winning all three) before the cross-city rivalry game against Pitt in mid-October. Still, the Dukes pulled off a stunner en route to an 8-0-1 season that ended with a tie against Detroit. They finished in 10th place, while Pitt limped to 5–4 and did not finish in the rankings again until 1955.

2. Purdue 28, No. 1 Notre Dame 14 (October 7, 1950)

Notre Dame dominated the 1940s, winning four national titles in a dynasty under Frank Leahy – including in 1949. Purdue was 14-21-1 from 1946 to 1949. And so when the 1950s rolled around and Notre Dame claimed No. 1 in the first preseason poll, there was no reason to think the Boilermakers were a threat.

But Purdue shocked the world in South Bend, handing Notre Dame its first loss since Dec. 1, 1945, ending a 39-game unbeaten streak. Purdue went on to win only one more game, finishing 2-7. Notre Dame ended up at 4-4-1, and Leahy’s Irish were never quite the same.

3. TCU 6, No. 1 Texas 0 (November 18, 1961)

Texas was on its way to its first national title under Darrell Royal with a No. 1 ranking and an 8-0 record heading into the game against Southwest Conference cellar-dweller TCU. The Horned Frogs had gone 4-4-2 the year before, and they were 2-4-1 when they traveled to Austin in November 1961.

The Longhorns came up empty after three drives inside the TCU 10-yard line, and a 50-yard touchdown pass from Sonny Gibbs to Buddy Iles in the second quarter was all the Horned Frogs needed. It was the only loss for Texas, which won the Cotton Bowl and finished No. 3. TCU finished 3-5-2.

4. Mississippi State 6, No. 1 Alabama 3 (November 1, 1980)

Call it the beginning of the end of the Bear Bryant era in Alabama. The Crimson Tide won back-to-back national titles in 1978-79, and they were eyeing a third in a row after a 7-0 start in 1980. Mississippi State was 6-2, but the Bulldogs had gone 0-22 . against Bryant coach Alabama teams.

The Bulldogs held the Tide without a touchdown and ended their 28-game winning streak with their first SEC loss in four years.

5. Vanderbilt 40, No. 1 Alabama 35 (Oct. 5, 2024)

Consider Vanderbilt’s place in the college football hierarchy: the butt of jokes in the SEC, 0-60 all-time against top-five teams, 0-10 against No. 1 teams. Vandy has never appeared in the AP top five and has never finished in the top 10. It is a founding member of the SEC but has never won the conference title.

In the eyes of the SEC’s bluebloods, Vanderbilt football exists to lose — and to provide a breather after emotional games like, say, Alabama’s dramatic win over Georgia.

Perhaps Alabama’s aura of invincibility had already been shattered by Saban’s retirement, but the Crimson Tide still rose to No. 1 after beating the Bulldogs behind DeBoer, who nearly led Washington to a surprise national title last season. Vanderbilt was 2-2 with a loss to Georgia State and went winless in SEC play in three of the past four seasons.

The point spread was purely 22.5 – low by Alabama-Vandy standards – but that doesn’t make Saturday’s result any less shocking.

Michigan State 16, No. 1 Ohio State 13 (Nov. 9, 1974)

It’s hard to choose between Spartan stunners against the Buckeyes.

In 1998, Nick Saban wasn’t Nick Saban yet. He had gone 19-16-1 in his first three seasons at Michigan State, and his 1998 squad was 4-4 when it traveled to Ohio State, which was ranked No. 1 all season behind Andy Katzenmoyer and had a dominant defense. The Spartans were 27-point underdogs – a few points more than Vanderbilt on Saturday – and fell behind 17-3. But behind two touchdowns and five field goals, they dashed Ohio State’s BCS title dreams.

Twenty-four years earlier, 4-3-1 Michigan State stopped Ohio State – in the spirit of a streak of four consecutive Rose Bowl trips – with big plays and a controversial goal-line stand. The Buckeyes crossed the goal line for what some thought was a game-winning touchdown on the final play, but the officials waved it away and ruled time had expired, much to the chagrin of an irate Woody Hayes.

7. Holy Cross 55, No. 1 Boston College 12 (November 28, 1942)

The No. 1 team lost to an unranked foe two weeks in a row in 1942. First came Auburn’s 27-13 victory against Georgia and Heisman winner Frankie Sinkwich. Then came an even bigger – and historically dominant – disruption.

Boston College had risen to No. 1 thanks to its loss to Georgia, but was eliminated 55-12 by Holy Cross, which was just 4-4-1. More than 80 years later, this is the largest margin of defeat for an AP No. 1 team at 43 points, easily surpassing Penn State’s 34-point victory against No. 1 Pitt in 1981.

8. UCLA 20, No. 1 Nebraska 17 (September 9, 1972)

UCLA had gone 2-7-1 in 1971. Nebraska had won its second consecutive national title. With the return of eventual Heisman winner Johnny Rodgers and a preseason No. 1 ranking, Nebraska was a heavy favorite over UCLA to open the 1972 season.

But in his first game as the starting quarterback, future Emmy-nominated actor Mark Harmon pulled off the upset of UCLA, highlighted by Efren Herrera’s game-winning field goal with 22 seconds left.

9. Syracuse 17, No. 1 Nebraska 9 (September 29, 1984)

Syracuse was unranked from 1961 through 1986. It didn’t even appear in the poll from 1972 through 1986. Nebraska was the opposite, a pollster that produced 15 straight top-12 finishes in the 1984 season.

The Huskers had shut out Syracuse 63–7 en route to losing the national title after a missed two-point attempt against Miami the year before, and despite losing several stars, they were No. 1 when they visited Syracuse on September 29, 1984. as favorites with 24.5 points. Syracuse pulled off the upset, ending Nebraska’s 23-game regular-season winning streak while holding the Huskers — who defeated No. 8 UCLA 42-3 the game before — to just 214 yards.

10. Washington State 34, No. 1 UCLA 31 (October 29, 1988)

Washington State had gone 10-21-2 over the past three years, and was just 4-3 — and coming off back-to-back losses — in Dennis Erickson’s second season. UCLA was undefeated and had already defeated No. 2 Nebraska behind star quarterback Troy Aikman.

An upset looked even more unlikely when UCLA took a 27-6 lead in the third quarter. But Washington State scored 21 points in the third quarter and turned it into an unexpected thriller with an 81-yard touchdown to tie the score at 27. In the fourth, with Washington State leading by four, Aikman led UCLA to the 6 -yard line. , but his final two passes fell incomplete and Washington State defeated UCLA on the road for the first time in 30 years.

The Cougars won and finished 9-3, catapulting Erickson to Miami, where he led the Hurricanes to two of the next three national titles.

11. Arizona 13, No. 1 USC 10 (October 10, 1981)

The 1981 season was like few others. AP No. 1 teams combined to go 7-6, with four of those losses coming against unranked opponents. Most shockingly, Arizona toppled USC.

USC running back Marcus Allen went on to win the Heisman Trophy, and the team had seemingly already proven its mettle with a win against No. 2 Oklahoma. Arizona hasn’t been a factor since joining the Pac-10 in 1978, including some losses to the Trojans.

USC jumped to a 10-point lead with the help of Allen’s 74-yard touchdown, but failed to score in the final three quarters. Arizona took the lead in the third quarter, closing the door on the Trojans’ title hopes. The Wildcats finished just 6-5, while USC won 9-3.

12. Illinois 20, No. 1 Michigan State 13 (October 27, 1956)

The Illini join 1950 Purdue as the two worst teams to beat No. 1. They finished just 2-5-2, while Michigan State recorded a Rose Bowl victory in 1955. Illinois provided the unrest behind Abe Woodson’s exploits. who scored all three touchdowns – including 70- and 82-yarders.

(Top photo of Michigan State’s 1998 win against Ohio State: Damian Strohmeyer/Sports Illustrated via Getty Images)