college football team with worst point differential in a season

The Northwestern Wildcats have the lowest point differential by a team in a season, with a -423-point differential in 1981.

	TEAM	DIFF	SEASON	GP	W	L	T	TD	PTS	PPG	OPP PTS	OPP PPG	1DWN	3DWN%	4DWN%
1	Northwestern	-423	1981	11	0	11	0		82	7.5	505	45.9
2	Temple	-412	1993	11	1	10	0		115	10.5	527	47.9
3	Washington State	-405	2008	13	2	11	0	20	165	12.7	570	43.8	184
4	UTEP	-402	1973	11	0	11	0		142	12.9	544	49.5
5	UMass	-395	2019	12	1	11	0	31	237	19.8	632	52.7	190	34.4	37.9
6	Temple	-391	2005	11	0	11	0	13	107	9.7	498	45.3	165
7	Louisiana	-377	1997	11	1	10	0		176	16.0	553	50.3
8	Kansas	-370	2015	12	0	12	0	24	183	15.3	553	46.1	212	36.5	26.9
9	Temple	-365	2006	12	1	11	0	18	131	10.9	496	41.3	138
10	SMU	-363	2014	12	1	11	0	15	133	11.1	496	41.3	179	32.4	50.0
11	Kent State	-362	2024	12	0	12	0	22	167	13.9	529	44.1	156	18.5	38.1
12	New Mexico	-356	2011	12	1	11	0	18	144	12.0	500	41.7	187
13	Colorado	-349	2022	12	1	11	0	22	185	15.4	534	44.5	191	31.7	36.7
14	New Mexico	-348	1988	12	2	10	0		170	14.2	518	43.2
15	Northwestern	-348	1978	11	0	10	1		92	8.4	440	40.0
16	Idaho	-343	2013	12	1	11	0	8	218	18.2	561	46.8	74	31.9	28.6
17	New Mexico	-342	2010	12	1	11	0	24	190	15.8	532	44.3	188
18	UConn	-339	2018	12	1	11	0	36	266	22.2	605	50.4	250	42.1	54.2
19	Colorado	-338	2012	12	1	11	0	28	214	17.8	552	46.0	206
20	Colorado State	-338	1981	12	0	12	0		164	13.7	502	41.8
21	Minnesota	-337	1983	11	1	10	0		181	16.5	518	47.1
22	San José State	-336	2017	13	2	11	0	24	206	15.8	542	41.7	225	30.9	40.0
23	Hardin-Simmons	-334	1961	10	0	10	0		43	4.3	377	37.7
24	Utah State	-332	2006	12	1	11	0	18	130	10.8	462	38.5	170
25	North Texas	-331	2008	12	1	11	0	30	240	20.0	571	47.6	247

Unlock 2x data

StatMuse has team, season-level data for point differential going back to the 1956 season.

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More Northwestern Stats

Team Leaders

PASS

2,400

Stone

RUSH

941

Komolafe

REC

880

Wilde

Team Rankings

PPG

22.5

114th

OPP PPG

20.9

36th

RUSH YDS/G

167.1

66th

PASS YDS/G

181.8

138th

2025 Big 10 Standings

	TEAM	CONF	OVERALL
9	Washington	5-4	9-4
10	Nebraska	4-5	7-6
11	Northwestern	4-5	7-6
12	Penn State	3-6	7-6
13	UCLA	3-6	3-9

Schedule

DATE	MATCHUP			TIME (ET)
Sat 9/5	SDST	@	NW	1:00 PM
Sat 9/19	COLO	@	NW	1:00 PM
Fri 9/25	NW	@	IND	8:00 PM
Fri 10/2	PSU	@	NW	8:00 PM
Sat 10/10	BALL	@	NW	1:00 PM

Last Game

Central Michigan

0 - 1

Final

Northwestern

1 - 0

Fri 26 Dec 2025

CFB 2025 Leaders

Pass Yards Leaders

4,379

Mestemaker

3,973

Mensah

3,937

Chambliss

Rush Yards Leaders

1,659

Cook

1,649

Hardy

1,567

Lacy

Rec Yards Leaders

1,291

Scudero

1,278

Bell

1,264

Young

Pass TD Leaders

41

Mendoza

34

Mensah

34

Mestemaker

Rush TD Leaders

25

Hawkins

24

Lacy

18

Hellums

Rec TD Leaders

15

Sarratt

14

Brown

13

Cooper

QB Rating Leaders

182.9

Mendoza

177.5

Sayin

170.4

Pavia

Sack Leaders

14.5

Bailey

14.5

Tucker

12.5

Smith

CFB 2025 Rankings

PPG Rankings

45.1

42.0

41.6

41.3

40.5

39.8

Opp PPG Rankings

9.3

11.7

11.8

13.3

14.8

15.4

Total Yards Rankings

512.4

489.7

488.7

482.9

472.8

472.1

Rush Yards Rankings

285.6

266.3

261.4

254.9

246.7

241.5

Pass Yards Rankings

340.2

318.0

313.3

309.6

296.0

292.8

Sack Leaders

50.0

46.0

45.0

43.0

41.0

CFB 2025 Standings

	Atlantic Coast	W	L	PCT
1	Duke	9	5	.643
2	Virginia	11	3	.786
3	Miami	13	2	.867
4	Pittsburgh	8	5	.615
5	SMU	9	4	.692
6	Georgia Tech	9	4	.692
7	California	7	6	.538
8	Clemson	7	6	.538
9	NC State	8	5	.615
10	Louisville	9	4	.692
11	Wake Forest	9	4	.692
12	Stanford	4	8	.333
13	Florida State	5	7	.417
14	North Carolina	4	8	.333
15	Virginia Tech	3	9	.250
16	Boston College	2	10	.167
17	Syracuse	3	9	.250

	Southeastern	W	L	PCT
1	Georgia	12	2	.857
2	Alabama	11	4	.733
3	Ole Miss	13	2	.867
4	Texas A&M	11	2	.846
5	Texas	10	3	.769
6	Oklahoma	10	3	.769
7	Vanderbilt	10	3	.769
8	Missouri	8	5	.615
9	Tennessee	8	5	.615
10	LSU	7	6	.538
11	Kentucky	5	7	.417
12	Florida	4	8	.333
13	Auburn	5	7	.417
14	Mississippi State	5	8	.385
15	South Carolina	4	8	.333
16	Arkansas	2	10	.167

	Big 10	W	L	PCT
1	Indiana	15	0	1.000
2	Ohio State	12	2	.857
3	Oregon	13	2	.867
4	Michigan	9	4	.692
5	USC	9	4	.692
6	Iowa	9	4	.692
7	Illinois	9	4	.692
8	Minnesota	8	5	.615
9	Washington	9	4	.692
10	Nebraska	7	6	.538
11	Northwestern	7	6	.538
12	Penn State	7	6	.538
13	UCLA	3	9	.250
14	Rutgers	5	7	.417
15	Wisconsin	4	8	.333
16	Maryland	4	8	.333
17	Michigan State	4	8	.333
18	Purdue	2	10	.167

	Mountain West	W	L	PCT
1	UNLV	10	4	.714
2	New Mexico	9	4	.692
3	San Diego State	9	4	.692
4	Boise State	9	5	.643
5	Fresno State	9	4	.692
6	Hawaii	9	4	.692
7	Utah State	6	7	.462
8	Air Force	4	8	.333
9	Wyoming	4	8	.333
10	Nevada	3	9	.250
11	San José State	3	9	.250
12	Colorado State	2	10	.167

	American Athletic	W	L	PCT
1	North Texas	12	2	.857
2	Tulane	11	3	.786
3	Navy	11	2	.846
4	South Florida	9	4	.692
5	East Carolina	9	4	.692
6	Memphis	8	5	.615
7	Army	7	6	.538
8	UTSA	7	6	.538
9	Temple	5	7	.417
10	Florida Atlantic	4	8	.333
11	Rice	5	8	.385
12	UAB	4	8	.333
13	Tulsa	4	8	.333
14	Charlotte	1	11	.083

	Independent	W	L	PCT
1	Notre Dame	10	2	.833
2	UConn	9	4	.692

	Big 12	W	L	PCT
1	Texas Tech	12	2	.857
2	BYU	12	2	.857
3	Utah	11	2	.846
4	Houston	10	3	.769
5	Arizona	9	4	.692
6	Arizona State	8	5	.615
7	Iowa State	8	4	.667
8	Kansas State	6	6	.500
9	TCU	9	4	.692
10	Cincinnati	7	6	.538
11	Baylor	5	7	.417
12	Kansas	5	7	.417
13	UCF	5	7	.417
14	West Virginia	4	8	.333
15	Colorado	3	9	.250
16	Oklahoma State	1	11	.083

	Pac-12	W	L	PCT
1	Washington State	7	6	.538
2	Oregon State	2	10	.167

	Mid-American	W	L	PCT
1	Western Michigan	10	4	.714
2	Miami (OH)	7	7	.500
3	Ohio	9	4	.692
4	Toledo	8	5	.615
5	Central Michigan	7	6	.538
6	Akron	5	7	.417
7	Buffalo	5	7	.417
8	Kent State	5	7	.417
9	Eastern Michigan	4	8	.333
10	Ball State	4	8	.333
11	Bowling Green	4	8	.333
12	Northern Illinois	3	9	.250
13	UMass	0	12	.000

	Sun Belt	W	L	PCT
1	JMU	12	2	.857
2	Troy	8	6	.571
3	Old Dominion	10	3	.769
4	Southern Miss	7	6	.538
5	Coastal Carolina	6	7	.462
6	Louisiana	6	7	.462
7	Georgia Southern	7	6	.538
8	Arkansas State	7	6	.538
9	Marshall	5	7	.417
10	Texas State	7	6	.538
11	Appalachian State	5	8	.385
12	South Alabama	4	8	.333
13	Georgia State	1	11	.083
14	Louisiana-Monroe	3	9	.250

	Conference USA	W	L	PCT
1	Kennesaw State	10	4	.714
2	Jacksonville State	9	5	.643
3	Western Kentucky	9	4	.692
4	Louisiana Tech	8	5	.615
5	Missouri State	7	6	.538
6	FIU	7	6	.538
7	Delaware	7	6	.538
8	Liberty	4	8	.333
9	Middle Tennessee	3	9	.250
10	New Mexico State	4	8	.333
11	UTEP	2	10	.167
12	Sam Houston	2	10	.167