Vanderbilt's 40-35 win over No. 1 Alabama on Saturday was one of the biggest upsets in SEC history. Alabama entered the Vanderbilt game riding high off a 41-34 victory over Georgia in Week 5, which vaulted the Tide to the top of the AP Top 25. The Commodores, meanwhile, were 0-60 against top-five opponents, and 50 of those losses came by double-digits. Their last win over Alabama came in 1984; the Crimson Tide had won the last 23 matchups.
Vanderbilt pulled off the upset by controlling the clock and keeping the ball on the ground. The Commodores rushed for 167 yards as a team, with 120 coming from quarterback Diego Pavia and running back Sedrick Alexander. Pavia finished 16 of 20 for 252 yards through the air and threw two touchdown passes.
The upset marks the first time the top-ranked team in the country fell to an unranked foe since Texas A&M defeated ... Alabama ... 41-38 in 2021. Here is a peak at every upset loss a No. 1 ranked team (in either the AP poll or Coaches Poll) has suffered to an unranked opponent since 2007.
Oct. 5, 2024: Vanderbilt 40, No. 1 Alabama 35 (AP)
Less than a week after Kalen DeBoer delivered the biggest win of the post-Nick Saban era over Georgia, his team was on the wrong side of one of the biggest upsets in the history of the storied conference. How did Vanderbilt pull off the upset? They controlled the clock. The Commodores ran the football 54 times (compared to only 21 pass attempts) and won the time of possession (42:08 to 17:52) in lopsided fashion. Seven of Vanderbilt's nine drives were at least seven players and six took at least four minutes of the clock. It resulted in a signature win for coach Clark Lea and company.
Oct. 9, 2021: Texas A&M 41, No. 1 Alabama 38 (AP)
Texas A&M quarterback Zach Calzada connected with Ainias Smith for a 25-yard touchdown with three minutes remaining to tie the game, and Seth Small drilled a 28-yard field goal at the buzzer to seal the upset. The loss marked former Tide coach Nick Saban's first against a former assistant (Jimbo Fisher).
Nov. 17, 2012: Baylor 52, No. 1 Kansas State 24 (AP)
Kansas State went into the weekend in the driver's seat to reach the BCS Championship Game but lost to Baylor in blowout fashion. Kansas State star quarterback Collin Klein threw three interceptions, and Baylor running backs Lache Seastrunk and Glasco Martin ran for more than 100 yards to seal the win. Baylor won its final three games - including a 49-19 victory over UCLA in the Holiday Bowl.
Oct. 22, 2011: Texas Tech 41, No. 1 Oklahoma 38 (Coaches)
Oklahoma ranked No. 3 in the AP poll but was the top-ranked team in the Coaches Poll before facing Texas Tech at home. Texas Tech quarterback Seth Doege threw for 441 yards and four touchdowns, and despite a late rally from the Sooners, the Red Raiders walked away with a monumental win.
Sept. 25, 2008: Oregon State 27, No. 1 USC 21 (AP)
Oregon State running back Jacquizz Rodgers ran for 186 yards and two touchdowns, and Oregon State pulled off the massive upset over its (now former) Pac-12 rival. The Beavers took a 21-0 lead into the halftime intermission and never looked back.
Dec. 1, 2007: Pitt 13, No. 1 West Virginia 9 (Coaches)
The 2007 college football season was full of chaos at the top, and one of the final dominoes to fall was Pitt's stunning rivalry win over West Virginia on the road. The Mountaineers trailed by six in the final minutes of regulation but went four-and-out on their final two possessions.
Nov. 23, 2007: Arkansas 50, No. 1 LSU 48 (AP)
Arkansas' clash on the road against LSU took triple overtime to decide a winner. Arkansas running back Peyton Hillis scored the go-ahead touchdown in the third overtime. LSU scored on a 9-yard touchdown pass from Matt Flynn to Brandon LaFell in response, but the 2-point conversion was unsuccessful.
Nov. 10, 2007: Illinois 28, No. 1 Ohio State 21(AP)
Illinois' defense forced three turnovers and quarterback Juice Williams tossed four touchdown passes to seal the upset over Ohio State. It also marked the first (and only time) Illinois defeated the No. 1 ranked team in the country since 1956. Illinois went on to reach the Rose Bowl that season.
Oct 6, 2007: Stanford 24, No. 1 USC 23 (Coaches)
One of the biggest upsets in the modern college football era occurred in 2007 when Stanford knocked off USC at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum. Stanford came into the game as a 41-point underdog, but Tavita Pritchard's 10-yard touchdown pass to Mark Bradford with 48 seconds left sealed the win. The 2007 season was Jim Harbaugh's first at the helm of the Stanford program.
