IRON COLLEGE FOOTBALL / On this day /November 17

November 17 in college football

Every November 17 in Iron's archive: the ranked teams that lost to unranked ones, the ranked matchups, and the games worth retelling. Every result links to its game card.

Unranked over ranked on November 17

The 28 such results, best rank beaten first; the top 14 are listed.

SeasonWinnerRanked loserWhere
2012 Baylor Bears 52 #1 Kansas State Wildcats 24 At home
1962 Georgia Tech 7 #1 Alabama 6 At home
1984 Navy 38 #2 South Carolina 21 At home
2007 Texas Tech Red Raiders 34 #4 Oklahoma Sooners 27 At home · Jones AT&T Stadium
2016 Houston 36 #5 Louisville 10 At home · TDECU Stadium · Houston, Texas
1962 Oklahoma 13 #6 Missouri 0 At home
1984 UCLA 29 #7 USC 10 At home
1990 Maryland 35 #8 Virginia 30 On the road
2018 Oklahoma State 45 #9 West Virginia 41 At home · Boone PickensStadium · Stillwater, Okla.
1984 Mississippi State 16 #9 LSU 14 At home
1962 Michigan State 31 #9 Northwestern 7 On the road · Evanston, IL
1945 Temple 14 #10 Holy Cross 6 On the road
1945 Michigan State 33 #12 Penn State 0 At home
1973 Iowa State 17 #14 Missouri 7 At home

Ranked vs ranked on November 17

27 meetings in all; the ten with the highest-ranked team are listed.

SeasonWinnerLoserWhere
2001 #1 Miami 59 #14 Syracuse 0 At home
1990 #18 Penn State 24 #1 Notre Dame 21 On the road
1984 #6 Oklahoma 17 #1 Nebraska 7 On the road
1956 #1 Tennessee 27 #19 Ole Miss 7 At home
1945 #1 Army 61 #6 Pennsylvania 0 On the road
2012 #13 Stanford Cardinal 17 #2 Oregon Ducks 14 On the road
1979 #2 Ohio State 18 #13 Michigan 15 On the road
2018 #3 Notre Dame 36 #12 Syracuse 3 At home · Yankee Stadium · Bronx, NY
1973 #3 Oklahoma 48 #18 Kansas 20 At home
1956 #17 Minnesota 14 #3 Michigan State 13 At home · Minneapolis, MN

One-score finishes between ranked teams

Decided by three points or fewer.

Top-10 teams routed

The widest losses by a team ranked in the top ten.

SeasonWinnerRanked loserMargin
1945 #1 Army 61 #6 Pennsylvania 0 61 pts
2012 Baylor Bears 52 #1 Kansas State Wildcats 24 28 pts
2016 Houston 36 #5 Louisville 10 26 pts
1962 Michigan State 31 #9 Northwestern 7 24 pts
1984 UCLA 29 #7 USC 10 19 pts

Biggest comebacks

Deficit the winner erased. Measured from in-game margins where play data exists, cross-checked against quarter scores; a row prints only when the quarter lines corroborate it, so this list starts in 2000.

SeasonWinnerLoserTrailed by
2018 Holy Cross Crusaders 32 Georgetown Hoyas 31 26 ptsin game
2018 Montana State Bobcats 29 Montana Grizzlies 25 22 ptsin game
2001 #6 Tennessee 38 Kentucky 35 21 ptsin game
2018 Hawaii 35 UNLV 28 18 ptsin game
2018 Temple 27 South Florida 17 17 ptsin game

Highest-scoring games

Combined points, both teams.

Biggest crowds

Announced attendance.