worst point differential in a college football 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

807

Chiles

RUSH

143

Sawchuk

REC

245

Wilde

Team Rankings

PPG

32.7

60th

OPP PPG

18.0

40th

RUSH YDS/G

146.0

107th

PASS YDS/G

269.0

40th

2026 Big 10 Standings

	TEAM	CONF	OVERALL
11	Penn State	0-1	3-1
12	Washington	0-1	3-1
13	Northwestern	0-1	2-1
14	Illinois	0-1	2-2
15	Maryland	0-1	2-2

Schedule

DATE	MATCHUP			TIME (ET)
Fri 10/2	PSU	@	NW	8:00 PM
Sat 10/10	BALL	@	NW	12:30 PM
Sat 10/17	NW	@	MSU	1:00 PM
Sat 10/24	RUTG	@	NW	1:00 PM
Sat 10/31	NW	@	ORE	1:00 PM

Last Game

Northwestern

2 - 1

Final

Indiana

4 - 0

Fri 25 Sep 2026

CFB 2026 Leaders

Pass Yards Leaders

1,499

Maiava

1,453

Jennings

1,423

Atkinson

Rush Yards Leaders

644

Sheppard

600

Baugh

592

Riley

Rec Yards Leaders

617

Smith

585

Legree

564

Toney

Pass TD Leaders

14

Taylor

14

Mensah

14

Maiava

Rush TD Leaders

11

Baugh

9

Hawkins

9

Knight

Rec TD Leaders

7

Duff

7

Dixon

7

Smith

QB Rating Leaders

228.2

Mensah

209.1

Stockton

204.6

Hoover

Sack Leaders

7.5

Simmons

7.0

Umanmielen

6.5

Hopkins

CFB 2026 Rankings

PPG Rankings

54.8

53.5

51.8

48.0

47.5

45.0

Opp PPG Rankings

8.0

8.3

8.5

9.0

9.8

10.3

Total Yards Rankings

588.8

550.8

548.3

533.3

532.8

523.8

Rush Yards Rankings

355.7

333.7

332.3

294.8

281.5

281.3

Pass Yards Rankings

392.5

365.3

365.0

361.3

347.3

346.5

Sack Leaders

18.0

17.0

15.0

CFB 2026 Standings

	Southeastern	W	L	PCT
1	Alabama	4	0	1.000
2	Florida	4	0	1.000
3	Georgia	4	0	1.000
4	Mississippi State	4	0	1.000
5	Texas	4	0	1.000
6	Ole Miss	3	1	.750
7	Auburn	3	1	.750
8	Kentucky	3	1	.750
9	LSU	3	1	.750
10	Missouri	3	1	.750
11	Tennessee	3	1	.750
12	Vanderbilt	3	1	.750
13	Arkansas	2	2	.500
14	Oklahoma	2	2	.500
15	South Carolina	2	2	.500
16	Texas A&M	2	2	.500

	Pac-12	W	L	PCT
1	Boise State	3	1	.750
2	Fresno State	3	1	.750
3	Colorado State	2	2	.500
4	Oregon State	2	2	.500
5	Texas State	2	2	.500
6	San Diego State	1	3	.250
7	Utah State	1	3	.250
8	Washington State	1	3	.250

	Big 10	W	L	PCT
1	UCLA	4	0	1.000
2	Indiana	4	0	1.000
3	Iowa	4	0	1.000
4	Nebraska	4	0	1.000
5	Minnesota	3	1	.750
6	Ohio State	3	1	.750
7	Oregon	3	1	.750
8	Wisconsin	3	1	.750
9	USC	4	1	.800
10	Michigan	3	1	.750
11	Penn State	3	1	.750
12	Washington	3	1	.750
13	Northwestern	2	1	.667
14	Illinois	2	2	.500
15	Maryland	2	2	.500
16	Michigan State	2	2	.500
17	Purdue	1	3	.250
18	Rutgers	1	3	.250

	Big 12	W	L	PCT
1	Cincinnati	4	0	1.000
2	Texas Tech	4	0	1.000
3	Utah	4	0	1.000
4	BYU	3	0	1.000
5	Baylor	3	1	.750
6	Oklahoma State	3	1	.750
7	UCF	3	1	.750
8	Arizona State	2	1	.667
9	Arizona	3	1	.750
10	Houston	3	1	.750
11	Kansas State	3	1	.750
12	West Virginia	3	1	.750
13	Colorado	2	2	.500
14	Iowa State	2	2	.500
15	TCU	2	2	.500
16	Kansas	1	2	.333

	Mid-American	W	L	PCT
1	UMass	4	0	1.000
2	Kent State	2	2	.500
3	Eastern Michigan	2	3	.400
4	Toledo	3	1	.750
5	Buffalo	2	2	.500
6	Central Michigan	2	2	.500
7	Miami (OH)	2	2	.500
8	Ohio	2	2	.500
9	Western Michigan	2	2	.500
10	Akron	1	3	.250
11	Bowling Green	0	4	.000
12	Ball State	1	3	.250
13	Sacramento State	1	4	.200

	Atlantic Coast	W	L	PCT
1	Miami	4	0	1.000
2	Clemson	3	1	.750
3	Duke	4	0	1.000
4	Pittsburgh	4	0	1.000
5	Virginia Tech	4	0	1.000
6	Virginia	3	1	.750
7	Wake Forest	3	1	.750
8	Louisville	2	2	.500
9	SMU	3	1	.750
10	California	2	2	.500
11	Stanford	2	2	.500
12	North Carolina	2	1	.667
13	Boston College	2	2	.500
14	Florida State	2	2	.500
15	NC State	2	2	.500
16	Georgia Tech	1	3	.250
17	Syracuse	1	2	.333

	Independent	W	L	PCT
1	Notre Dame	4	0	1.000
2	UConn	2	2	.500

	American Athletic	W	L	PCT
1	South Florida	4	0	1.000
2	Florida Atlantic	3	1	.750
3	UAB	2	2	.500
4	Army	2	1	.667
5	Memphis	3	1	.750
6	Tulsa	3	1	.750
7	UTSA	3	1	.750
8	East Carolina	2	2	.500
9	North Texas	2	2	.500
10	Tulane	2	2	.500
11	Rice	1	3	.250
12	Charlotte	0	4	.000
13	Temple	1	3	.250
14	Navy	1	2	.333

	Conference USA	W	L	PCT
1	Jacksonville State	3	2	.600
2	Liberty	3	1	.750
3	Delaware	2	2	.500
4	Florida International	2	2	.500
5	Kennesaw State	1	3	.250
6	Missouri State	1	3	.250
7	New Mexico State	1	3	.250
8	Sam Houston	1	3	.250
9	Western Kentucky	1	3	.250
10	Middle Tennessee	2	2	.500

	Sun Belt	W	L	PCT
1	James Madison	4	0	1.000
2	Louisiana	3	1	.750
3	Appalachian State	3	1	.750
4	South Alabama	2	2	.500
5	Georgia State	3	1	.750
6	Marshall	3	1	.750
7	Arkansas State	2	2	.500
8	Troy	2	2	.500
9	Georgia Southern	1	3	.250
10	Louisiana Tech	1	2	.333
11	Southern Miss	1	3	.250
12	Coastal Carolina	1	3	.250
13	Old Dominion	1	3	.250
14	Louisiana-Monroe	0	4	.000

	Mountain West	W	L	PCT
1	North Dakota State	4	0	1.000
2	UNLV	2	2	.500
3	Wyoming	2	2	.500
4	Air Force	2	1	.667
5	New Mexico	3	1	.750
6	San Jose State	2	2	.500
7	UTEP	1	3	.250
8	Northern Illinois	0	4	.000
9	Nevada	1	3	.250
10	Hawai'i	1	3	.250