Northern Illinois went into South Bend as 28.5-point underdogs for its Week 2 matchup versus Notre Dame. A rout seemed like a near-certainty for the No. 5 team in the nation coming off a season-opening victory over Texas A&M.
However, the Huskies flipped that script by stunning the Fighting Irish in a 16–14 upset on a field goal by Kanon Woodill with 31 seconds remaining in the game.
Northern Illinois’ win was certainly impressive when taking the rankings into consideration. And a program from the Mid-American Conference (MAC) defeating one of college football’s traditional powers is notable. But how impressive was the Huskies’ win in terms of point spread?
Surprisingly, a 28.5 point upset isn’t even among the top 10 biggest point spread upsets of all time. But it is among the top 15 biggest point spread upsets of the past 45 years. Three previous teams have won as 28.5-point underdogs, according to Action Network:
Illinois over Wisconsin (2019)
Pitt over West Virginia (2007)
Nicholls State over Western Michigan (2013)
Two of those might not seem quite as impressive since they were conference matchups. But FCS Nicholls State out of the Southland Conference defeating MAC program Western Michigan is worth circling.
The biggest point-spread upset in college football history is Howard defeating UNLV, 43–40, in 2017. The Bison were 45.5-point underdogs in that matchup. In 2007, Stanford upset USC, 24–23, as 40.5-point underdogs. (No, that wasn’t the “What’s your deal?” game, which happened two years later.)
Syracuse beat Louisville (2007) and Texas State defeated Houston (2012) as 36.5-point underdogs. UTEP upset BYU in 1985 and Temple beat Virginia Tech in 1998 as 36-point underdogs. And to finish out the top five, Central Michigan defeated Western Michigan as 35.5-point underdogs in 2000.
Not being among the top five – or even top 10 – biggest point-spread upsets in college football probably isn’t much consolation to Notre Dame fans. But at least Fighting Irish fans can say there were worse upsets.
