Comments on: College Football’s Biggest Upsets

By: Atomic Teeth » Blog Archive » How the Tigers Can Win, Part 2

Atomic Teeth » Blog Archive » How the Tigers Can Win, Part 2 — Fri, 05 Dec 2008 03:08:56 +0000

[...] by contrast, looks miniscule. For a more in depth look at college football upsettery, check out Huckleberry’s post on the topic over at Barking Carnival. It would be interesting to know whether a Mizzou win would even come [...]

By: Huckleberry

Huckleberry — Mon, 18 Aug 2008 14:20:28 +0000

No, the second list is all the games from the links I provided plus the extra couple of games. Games from the first list weren’t in that one.

By: Statalyzer

Statalyzer — Mon, 18 Aug 2008 14:17:11 +0000

Your second table includes a bunch of games that aren’t ties or D1AA games but nevertheless are not on the first list, even though you said the second list was everything on the first list plus the SMU-A&M tie and the Appalachian St-Michigan upset. What is the actual criteria for the 2nd list that adds the other 11 games? Losing team wasn’t considered top 1000?

By: dedfischer

dedfischer — Tue, 12 Aug 2008 18:04:02 +0000

Has anybody else been catching any of those SWC Season Recaps from the 60s and 70s on Fox Sports SW? I saw the one for 1966 the other day and called my parents to make sure they caught. It featured the Tech/Ark game at the very end. There was/were car/cars parked on the sidelines. My dad said he used to drive that old thing to haul guests of honor around before the game. It was just weird seeing a guy streak down the sideline for a TD and then he passes a Cadillac.

By: Huckleberry

Huckleberry — Tue, 12 Aug 2008 17:58:50 +0000

Well, Arkansas was definitely a top team then. They had been upset by Baylor, who finished 5-5, earlier in the year. But from 1964 until the bowl game after the 1965 season they had won 21 games in a row.

I’m sure that colors his memory of the game. Meanwhile, Tech had gone on a 5-game losing streak earlier in the year and the 3 teams they’d beaten finished with a combined total record of 8-20-1.

By: dedfischer

dedfischer — Tue, 12 Aug 2008 17:49:21 +0000

It’s also funny that every time he tells the story, Tech’s record at the time gets worse and worse. I was convinced they were 0-36 through 9 games that year.

By: dedfischer

dedfischer — Tue, 12 Aug 2008 17:36:59 +0000

That would be the one. I actually need to correct myself, it was labeled “The Upset of the Century” for a while. Looks like my dad is a hot, mouth liar. I feel like the dude in Big Fish.

By: Huckleberry

Huckleberry — Tue, 12 Aug 2008 17:24:15 +0000

1958 Texas over Oklahoma is 70.88%. Seems like it should be higher to me as well.

I believe 1966 is the game you’re talking about, ded. It rates a 79.67%. Arkansas was 8-1 going into the game and Tech was 3-6.

By: dedfischer

dedfischer — Tue, 12 Aug 2008 16:02:24 +0000

Huckleberry, could you see where that one ranks, it might have been 1968, not for sure? I would like to let my dad know exactly where it stands based on sufficient statistical analysis.

By: dedfischer

dedfischer — Tue, 12 Aug 2008 16:00:34 +0000

My dad maintains that the biggest upset in history (and labeled “The Upset of The Decade” for some time) was Tech’s 1966 win over Arkansas to knock them out of the national title hunt. He reminds my mother about 4 times a year that she skipped the game to go Christmas shopping with her little Chi-O friends because Tech sucked that season and it was cold outside. Followed by a loud thrashing of a retro Saddle Tramp bell.