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.

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All-time

	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

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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

1,172

Chiles

RUSH

334

Komolafe

REC

425

Wilde

Team Rankings

PPG

35.4

38th

OPP PPG

16.2

25th

RUSH YDS/G

203.0

35th

PASS YDS/G

234.4

76th

2026 Big 10 Standings

	TEAM	CONF	OVERALL
8	Nebraska	2-1	5-1
9	Minnesota	2-1	4-2
10	Northwestern	1-1	4-1
11	Oregon	1-1	3-2
12	Illinois	1-2	3-3

Schedule

DATE	MATCHUP			TIME (ET)
Sat 10/17	NW	@	MSU	12:00 PM
Sat 10/24	RUTG	@	NW	12:00 PM
Sat 10/31	NW	@	ORE	1:00 PM
Sat 11/7	IOWA	@	NW	1:00 PM
Sat 11/14	NW	@	OSU	1:00 PM

Last Game

Ball State

1 - 5

Final

Northwestern

4 - 1

Sat 10 Oct 2026

CFB 2026 Leaders

Pass Yards Leaders

2,257

Atkinson

2,045

Maiava

1,868

Jackson

Rush Yards Leaders

835

Riley

828

Roberts

793

Cook

Rec Yards Leaders

932

Legree

916

Smith

720

Hernandez

Pass TD Leaders

21

Atkinson

18

Maiava

17

Taylor

Rush TD Leaders

12

Baugh

12

Hawkins

10

Daniels

Rec TD Leaders

12

Legree

11

Smith

9

Dixon

QB Rating Leaders

212.2

Mensah

200.5

Hoover

198.6

Stockton

Sack Leaders

9.5

Simmons

8.0

Umanmielen

7.0

Esqillion

CFB 2026 Rankings

PPG Rankings

49.6

46.2

44.2

44.0

43.4

42.8

Opp PPG Rankings

9.8

10.3

10.6

11.0

11.8

13.0

Total Yards Rankings

554.8

533.8

531.6

524.8

522.3

521.4

Rush Yards Rankings

333.2

325.6

299.4

295.5

263.6

253.2

Pass Yards Rankings

391.2

347.0

341.0

337.8

334.4

322.4

Sack Leaders

24.0

22.0

20.0

19.0

CFB 2026 Standings

	Pac-12	W	L	PCT
1	Boise State	5	1	.833
2	Oregon State	4	2	.667
3	Fresno State	4	2	.667
4	San Diego State	2	4	.333
5	Utah State	2	4	.333
6	Colorado State	2	3	.400
7	Texas State	2	3	.400
8	Washington State	1	5	.167

	Big 12	W	L	PCT
1	BYU	5	0	1.000
2	Texas Tech	5	0	1.000
3	Utah	5	0	1.000
4	Baylor	4	1	.800
5	Oklahoma State	4	1	.800
6	Arizona	5	1	.833
7	Houston	5	1	.833
8	Cincinnati	4	1	.800
9	Arizona State	3	2	.600
10	Iowa State	3	3	.500
11	UCF	3	3	.500
12	Kansas State	3	2	.600
13	Colorado	2	3	.400
14	Kansas	2	3	.400
15	TCU	2	3	.400
16	West Virginia	3	3	.500

	Mid-American	W	L	PCT
1	Eastern Michigan	4	3	.571
2	Ohio	4	2	.667
3	Western Michigan	4	2	.667
4	Bowling Green	2	4	.333
5	Buffalo	3	3	.500
6	Toledo	4	2	.667
7	Central Michigan	3	3	.500
8	Miami (OH)	3	3	.500
9	UMass	4	2	.667
10	Kent State	2	4	.333
11	Akron	1	5	.167
12	Ball State	1	5	.167
13	Sacramento State	1	5	.167

	Southeastern	W	L	PCT
1	Georgia	6	0	1.000
2	Alabama	5	1	.833
3	Kentucky	5	1	.833
4	Mississippi State	4	1	.800
5	Missouri	5	1	.833
6	Tennessee	5	1	.833
7	Ole Miss	4	1	.800
8	Oklahoma	3	2	.600
9	Florida	4	2	.667
10	Texas	4	1	.800
11	LSU	4	2	.667
12	Auburn	3	2	.600
13	South Carolina	3	3	.500
14	Texas A&M	3	3	.500
15	Vanderbilt	3	3	.500
16	Arkansas	2	4	.333

	Big 10	W	L	PCT
1	Indiana	6	0	1.000
2	UCLA	5	0	1.000
3	Ohio State	5	1	.833
4	Wisconsin	4	1	.800
5	USC	6	1	.857
6	Purdue	3	3	.500
7	Iowa	5	1	.833
8	Nebraska	5	1	.833
9	Minnesota	4	2	.667
10	Northwestern	4	1	.800
11	Oregon	3	2	.600
12	Illinois	3	3	.500
13	Michigan	3	2	.600
14	Rutgers	1	4	.200
15	Penn State	3	3	.500
16	Washington	3	3	.500
17	Maryland	2	4	.333
18	Michigan State	2	4	.333

	American Athletic	W	L	PCT
1	Memphis	5	1	.833
2	UTSA	5	1	.833
3	North Texas	4	2	.667
4	Florida Atlantic	4	1	.800
5	East Carolina	3	2	.600
6	Army	3	2	.600
7	UAB	3	3	.500
8	Temple	2	4	.333
9	South Florida	4	2	.667
10	Navy	2	3	.400
11	Tulane	2	3	.400
12	Tulsa	3	3	.500
13	Rice	1	5	.167
14	Charlotte	0	6	.000

	Atlantic Coast	W	L	PCT
1	Miami	5	0	1.000
2	Wake Forest	5	1	.833
3	Clemson	3	2	.600
4	Pittsburgh	5	1	.833
5	SMU	4	1	.800
6	Virginia	4	2	.667
7	California	3	3	.500
8	Georgia Tech	2	3	.400
9	Louisville	3	3	.500
10	Duke	4	1	.800
11	North Carolina	3	2	.600
12	Virginia Tech	4	2	.667
13	Florida State	3	3	.500
14	NC State	3	3	.500
15	Stanford	2	4	.333
16	Boston College	2	3	.400
17	Syracuse	2	3	.400

	Mountain West	W	L	PCT
1	UNLV	4	2	.667
2	New Mexico	4	1	.800
3	North Dakota State	5	1	.833
4	Air Force	4	1	.800
5	Wyoming	3	3	.500
6	San Jose State	3	3	.500
7	Nevada	2	3	.400
8	Northern Illinois	0	5	.000
9	UTEP	1	5	.167
10	Hawai'i	1	5	.167

	Independent	W	L	PCT
1	Notre Dame	6	0	1.000
2	UConn	3	3	.500

	Conference USA	W	L	PCT
1	Jacksonville State	5	2	.714
2	Liberty	5	1	.833
3	Western Kentucky	3	4	.429
4	Florida International	3	3	.500
5	Middle Tennessee	3	3	.500
6	Missouri State	2	4	.333
7	New Mexico State	2	4	.333
8	Delaware	2	4	.333
9	Kennesaw State	1	5	.167
10	Sam Houston	1	5	.167

	Sun Belt	W	L	PCT
1	James Madison	6	0	1.000
2	South Alabama	4	2	.667
3	Georgia State	4	1	.800
4	Louisiana Tech	3	2	.600
5	Troy	3	2	.600
6	Louisiana	4	2	.667
7	Georgia Southern	2	4	.333
8	Coastal Carolina	2	4	.333
9	Old Dominion	2	4	.333
10	Appalachian State	3	2	.600
11	Southern Miss	1	4	.200
12	Louisiana-Monroe	0	5	.000
13	Marshall	3	3	.500
14	Arkansas State	2	4	.333