The 2000 NCAA Division I-A football season ended with the

Oklahoma Sooners The Oklahoma Sooners are the sport, athletic teams that represent the University of Oklahoma, located in Norman, Oklahoma, Norman. The 19 men's and women's varsity teams are called the "Sooners", a reference to a nickname given to the early part ...

claiming their seventh national championship and their thirty-seventh conference championship, the first of each since the departure of head coach Barry Switzer. Oklahoma coach

Bob Stoops Robert Anthony Stoops (born September 9, 1960) is an American football coach. He was the head football coach at the University of Oklahoma from 1999 through the 2016 season, and on an interim basis during the 2021 Alamo Bowl. He led the Oklahom ...

was in his second season as head coach, having been the

defensive coordinator A defensive coordinator is a coach responsible for a gridiron football (American football) team's defense. Generally, the defensive coordinator, the offensive coordinator and the special teams coordinator represent the second level of a team's c ...

Steve Spurrier Stephen Orr Spurrier (born April 20, 1945) is an American former football quarterback and coach who played in the National Football League (NFL) for 10 seasons before coaching for 38 years, primarily in college. He is often referred to by his ...

's 1996 National Champion Florida Gators, and also having helped

Bill Snyder William D. Snyder (born October 7, 1939) is a retired college football coach and former player. He served as the head football coach at Kansas State University from 1989 to 2005 and again from 2009 to 2018. Snyder initially retired from the p ...

turn the Kansas State Wildcats around in the early 1990s. Stoops erased a three-game losing streak against rival

Texas Texas (, ; Spanish: ''Texas'', ''Tejas'') is a state in the South Central region of the United States. At 268,596 square miles (695,662 km2), and with more than 29.1 million residents in 2020, it is the second-largest U.S. state by ...

by a score of 63–14, one of the worst defeats in Texas' football history. Despite the lopsided victory, this game marked a return of the

Red River Shootout The Oklahoma–Texas football rivalry is a college football rivalry game between border rivals Oklahoma and Texas. The two teams first played each other in 1900, and the rivalry has been renewed annually and uninterrupted since 1929 for a tot ...

to a rivalry game with national title implications. The BCS title game was not without controversy, as the system shut fourth-ranked

Washington Washington commonly refers to: * Washington (state), United States * Washington, D.C., the capital of the United States ** A metonym for the federal government of the United States ** Washington metropolitan area, the metropolitan area centered o ...

out of the championship game, despite being the only team who had beaten each No. 2

Miami Miami ( ), officially the City of Miami, known as "the 305", "The Magic City", and "Gateway to the Americas", is a coastal metropolis and the county seat of Miami-Dade County in South Florida, United States. With a population of 442,241 at ...

and No. 5 Oregon State and having the same 10–1 record as No. 3

Florida State Florida State University (FSU) is a public research university in Tallahassee, Florida. It is a senior member of the State University System of Florida. Founded in 1851, it is located on the oldest continuous site of higher education in the sta ...

during the regular season. 10–1

, who handed No. 3 Florida State their only loss, was ranked higher in both the AP Writers' Poll and the ESPN/USA Today Coaches' Poll, and had the same record as the Seminoles, was also seen as a possible title contender.

Virginia Tech Virginia Tech (formally the Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University and informally VT, or VPI) is a public land-grant research university with its main campus in Blacksburg, Virginia. It also has educational facilities in six re ...

also was left out of the BCS bowls, despite being ranked higher than one of the at-large teams, Notre Dame. The South Carolina Gamecocks broke a 21-game losing streak, stretching back into 1998, to go 8–4 including a win over Ohio State in the Outback Bowl. Two new bowl games began in the 2000 season: the Silicon Valley Bowl, which had a contractual tie-in with the WAC, and the Galleryfurniture.com Bowl.

Rules changes

The following rules changes were passed by the NCAA Rules Committee in 2000: * The definition of an illegal block is expanded to include any high-low or low-high combination block by any two offensive players when the initial contact clearly occurs beyond the neutral zone. * Crack-back blocks are now prohibited from any offensive player in motion in any direction (previously it was in motion toward the ball) and the restricted zone is now 10 yards beyond the neutral zone in all directions. * Offensive teams in the process of substituting or simulated substituting are prohibited from rushing to the line of scrimmage to snap the ball to give the defense a disadvantage. The penalty for a first offense is five yards, additional violations are considered unsportsmanlike conduct (15 yards). * Defensive players lined up within one yard of the line of scrimmage are prevented from rushing up to the line with the obvious intent of causing an offensive player to false start. * Passers who are not within five yards of the sideline from the original position of the ball (aka the " tackle box") are allowed to throw the ball so it lands beyond the neutral zone without penalty.

Conference and program changes

Two teams upgraded from Division I-AA, thus increasing the number of Division I-A schools from 114 to 116. *Nevada left the Big West Conference to become the ninth member of the Western Athletic Conference. *Two new teams joined Division I-A football this season: the

University of Connecticut The University of Connecticut (UConn) is a public land-grant research university in Storrs, Connecticut, a village in the town of Mansfield. The primary 4,400-acre (17.8 km2) campus is in Storrs, approximately a half hour's drive from H ...

and the

University of South Florida The University of South Florida (USF) is a public research university with its main campus located in Tampa, Florida, and other campuses in St. Petersburg and Sarasota. It is one of 12 members of the State University System of Florida. USF i ...

Regular season top 10 matchups

Rankings reflect the

AP Poll The Associated Press poll (AP poll) provides weekly rankings of the top 25 NCAA teams in one of three Division I college sports: football, men's basketball and women's basketball. The rankings are compiled by polling 62 sportswriters and br ...

. Rankings for Week 9 and beyond will list BCS Rankings first and

second. Teams that failed to be a top 10 team for one poll or the other will be noted. *Week 6 **No. 7

defeated No. 1

, 27–24 ( Miami Orange Bowl,

Miami, Florida Miami ( ), officially the City of Miami, known as "the 305", "The Magic City", and "Gateway to the Americas", is a coastal metropolis and the county seat of Miami-Dade County in South Florida, United States. With a population of 442,241 at ...

) *Week 7 **No. 8 Oklahoma defeated No. 2 Kansas State, 41–31 ( KSU Stadium, Manhattan, Kansas) *Week 9 **No. 2/3 Oklahoma defeated No. 1/1

Nebraska Nebraska () is a state in the Midwestern region of the United States. It is bordered by South Dakota to the north; Iowa to the east and Missouri to the southeast, both across the Missouri River; Kansas to the south; Colorado to the sout ...

, 31–14 (

Oklahoma Memorial Stadium Gaylord Family Oklahoma Memorial Stadium, also known as Owen Field or The Palace on the Prairie, is the football stadium on the campus of the University of Oklahoma in Norman, Oklahoma. It serves as the home of the Oklahoma Sooners football team. ...

Norman, Oklahoma Norman () is the third-largest city in the U.S. state of Oklahoma, with a population of 128,097 as of 2021. It is the largest city and the county seat of Cleveland County, and the second-largest city in the Oklahoma City metropolitan area, be ...

) *Week 10 **No. 3/4 Florida State defeated No. 13/10 Clemson, 54–7 ( Doak Campbell Stadium, Tallahassee, Florida) **No. 5/3 Miami defeated No. 2/2

, 41–21 ( Miami Orange Bowl,

) *Week 12 **No. 3/3 Florida State defeated No. 4/4

Florida Florida is a state located in the Southeastern region of the United States. Florida is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the northwest by Alabama, to the north by Georgia, to the east by the Bahamas and Atlantic Ocean, and ...

, 30–7 ( Doak Campbell Stadium, Tallahassee, Florida) *Week 14 **No. 1/1 Oklahoma defeated No. 9/8 Kansas State, 27–24 ( 2000 Big 12 Championship Game,

Arrowhead Stadium Arrowhead Stadium is an American football stadium in Kansas City, Missouri. It primarily serves as the home venue of the Kansas City Chiefs of the National Football League (NFL). The stadium has been officially named GEHA Field at Arrowhead Stad ...

Kansas City, Missouri Kansas City (abbreviated KC or KCMO) is the largest city in Missouri by population and area. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, the city had a population of 508,090 in 2020, making it the List of United States cities by populat ...

)

Conference standings

Bowl games

BCS bowls

Orange Bowl The Orange Bowl is an annual American college football bowl game played in the Miami metropolitan area. It has been played annually since January 1, 1935, making it, along with the Sugar Bowl and the Sun Bowl, the second-oldest bowl game in ...

: No. 1 Oklahoma (BCS No. 1) 13, No. 3

(BCS No. 2) 2 * Rose Bowl: No. 4

(Pac 10 co-champ) 34, No. 14 Purdue (Big Ten co-Champ) 24 *

Fiesta Bowl The Fiesta Bowl is an American college football bowl game played annually in the Phoenix metropolitan area. From its beginning in 1971 until 2006, the game was hosted at the Sun Devil Stadium in Tempe, Arizona. Since 2007, the game has been pl ...

: No. 5 Oregon State (At Large ac 10 co-champ 41, No. 10 Notre Dame (At Large) 9 *

Sugar Bowl The Sugar Bowl is an annual American college football bowl game played in New Orleans, Louisiana. Played annually since January 1, 1935, it is tied with the Orange Bowl and Sun Bowl as the second-oldest bowl games in the country, surpassed only ...

: No. 2

(Big East Champ) 37, No. 7

(SEC Champ) 20

Other New Year's Day bowls

Cotton Bowl Classic The Cotton Bowl Classic (also known as the Cotton Bowl) is an American college football bowl game that has been held annually in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex since January 1, 1937. The game was originally played at its namesake stadium in ...

: No. 11 Kansas State (Big 12 runner-up) 35, No. 21

Tennessee Tennessee ( , ), officially the State of Tennessee, is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. Tennessee is the List of U.S. states and territories by area, 36th-largest by ...

21 * Florida Citrus Bowl: No. 17

Michigan Michigan () is a state in the Great Lakes region of the upper Midwestern United States. With a population of nearly 10.12 million and an area of nearly , Michigan is the 10th-largest state by population, the 11th-largest by area, and t ...

(Big Ten co-champ) 31, No. 20 Auburn (SEC runner-up) 28 * Gator Bowl: No. 6

41, No. 16 Clemson 20 * Outback Bowl:

South Carolina )''Animis opibusque parati'' ( for, , Latin, Prepared in mind and resources, links=no) , anthem = " Carolina";" South Carolina On My Mind" , Former = Province of South Carolina , seat = Columbia , LargestCity = Charleston , LargestMetro = ...

24, No. 19

Ohio State The Ohio State University, commonly called Ohio State or OSU, is a public land-grant research university in Columbus, Ohio. A member of the University System of Ohio, it has been ranked by major institutional rankings among the best public ...

December bowl games

* Holiday Bowl: No. 8

Oregon Oregon () is a U.S. state, state in the Pacific Northwest region of the Western United States. The Columbia River delineates much of Oregon's northern boundary with Washington (state), Washington, while the Snake River delineates much of it ...

(Pac 10 co-champ) 35, No. 12

30 *

Peach Bowl The Peach Bowl is an annual college football bowl game played in Atlanta, Georgia since December 1968. Since 1997, it has been sponsored by Chick-fil-A and is officially known as the Chick-fil-A Peach Bowl. From 2006 to 2013, it was officially ...

: LSU 28, No. 15 Georgia Tech 14 * MicronPC.com Bowl: NC State 38,

Minnesota Minnesota () is a state in the upper midwestern region of the United States. It is the 12th largest U.S. state in area and the 22nd most populous, with over 5.75 million residents. Minnesota is home to western prairies, now given over t ...

30 *

Sun Bowl The Sun Bowl is a college football bowl game that has been played since 1935 in the southwestern United States at El Paso, Texas. Along with the Sugar Bowl and Orange Bowl, it is the second-oldest bowl game in the country, behind the Rose ...

Wisconsin Wisconsin () is a state in the upper Midwestern United States. Wisconsin is the 25th-largest state by total area and the 20th-most populous. It is bordered by Minnesota to the west, Iowa to the southwest, Illinois to the south, Lake M ...

21, UCLA 20 *

Alamo Bowl The Alamo Bowl is an NCAA Division I Football Bowl Subdivision college football bowl game played annually since 1993 in the Alamodome in San Antonio, Texas. Since 2010 it matches the second choice team from the Pac-12 Conference and the secon ...

: No. 9

66, No. 18 Northwestern (Big Ten co-champ) 17 * Insight.com Bowl: Iowa State 37,

Pittsburgh Pittsburgh ( ) is a city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, United States, and the county seat of Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, Allegheny County. It is the most populous city in both Allegheny County and Wester ...

29 *

Liberty Bowl The Liberty Bowl is an annual American college football bowl game played in late December or early January since 1959. For its first five years, it was played at Philadelphia Municipal Stadium in Philadelphia before being held at Atlantic Cit ...

: No. 23 Colorado State (MWC champ) 22, No. 22 Louisville (C-USA champ) 17 *

Aloha Bowl The Aloha Bowl was a National Collegiate Athletic Association Football Bowl Subdivision (then known as Division I-A) college football bowl game played in Honolulu, Hawaii at Aloha Stadium. History The Aloha Bowl was established in 1982 by Ma ...

Boston College Boston College (BC) is a private Jesuit research university in Chestnut Hill, Massachusetts. Founded in 1863, the university has more than 9,300 full-time undergraduates and nearly 5,000 graduate students. Although Boston College is classified ...

31, Arizona State 17 *

Oahu Bowl The Oahu Bowl was a National Collegiate Athletic Association Football Bowl Subdivision (then known as Division I-A) bowl game played in Honolulu, Hawaii at Aloha Stadium. Played on Christmas Day or Christmas Eve, the Oahu Bowl was sponsored by t ...

: No. 24 Georgia 37,

Virginia Virginia, officially the Commonwealth of Virginia, is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Southeastern regions of the United States, between the Atlantic Coast and the Appalachian Mountains. The geography and climate of the Commonwealth are ...

14 * Independence Bowl: Mississippi State 43, Texas A&M 41 (OT) * Music City Bowl:

West Virginia West Virginia is a state in the Appalachian, Mid-Atlantic and Southeastern regions of the United States.The Census Bureau and the Association of American Geographers classify West Virginia as part of the Southern United States while the ...

49,

Mississippi Mississippi () is a state in the Southeastern region of the United States, bordered to the north by Tennessee; to the east by Alabama; to the south by the Gulf of Mexico; to the southwest by Louisiana; and to the northwest by Arkansas. Miss ...

38 * Las Vegas Bowl:

UNLV The University of Nevada, Las Vegas (UNLV) is a public land-grant research university in Paradise, Nevada. The campus is about east of the Las Vegas Strip. It was formerly part of the University of Nevada from 1957 to 1969. It includes th ...

31,

Arkansas Arkansas ( ) is a landlocked state in the South Central United States. It is bordered by Missouri to the north, Tennessee and Mississippi to the east, Louisiana to the south, and Texas and Oklahoma to the west. Its name is from the O ...

14 * Motor City Bowl: Marshall (MAC champ) 25,

Cincinnati Cincinnati ( ) is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Hamilton County. Settled in 1788, the city is located at the northern side of the confluence of the Licking and Ohio rivers, the latter of which marks the state line w ...

14 * Humanitarian Bowl:

Boise State Boise State University (BSU) is a public research university in Boise, Idaho. Founded in 1932 by the Episcopal Church, it became an independent junior college in 1934 and has been awarding baccalaureate and master's degrees It became a pub ...

(Big West champ) 38, UTEP (WAC co-champ) 23 * Mobile Alabama Bowl: Southern Miss 28, No. 13 TCU (WAC co-champ) 21 *

Silicon Valley Classic The Silicon Valley Classic, sponsored by Mubadala Investment Company, is a week-long tennis tournament on the WTA Tour held on the campus of San Jose State University in San Jose, California, United States. Started in 1971, the tournament is the ol ...

Air Force An air force – in the broadest sense – is the national military branch that primarily conducts aerial warfare. More specifically, it is the branch of a nation's armed services that is responsible for aerial warfare as distinct from an ...

37, Fresno State 34 * Galleryfurniture.com bowl:

East Carolina East Carolina University (ECU) is a public research university in Greenville, North Carolina. It is the fourth largest university in North Carolina. Founded on March 8, 1907, as a teacher training school, East Carolina has grown from its origi ...

40,

Texas Tech Texas Tech University (Texas Tech, Tech, or TTU) is a public research university in Lubbock, Texas. Established on , and called Texas Technological College until 1969, it is the main institution of the five-institution Texas Tech University Sys ...

Final polls

Heisman Trophy voting

The Heisman Memorial Trophy Award is given to the Most Outstanding Player of the year. *Winner: Chris Weinke, Florida State (1628 points) *2. Josh Heupel, Oklahoma (1552 points) *3. Drew Brees, Purdue (619 points) *4. LaDainian Tomlinson, TCU (566 points) *5.

Damien Anderson Damien Ramone Anderson (born July 17, 1979) is a former American college and professional football player who was a running back in the National Football League (NFL) and Canadian Football League (CFL). He played college football for Northwester ...

, Northwestern (101 points)

Other major awards

* Maxwell Award (College Player of the Year) – Drew Brees, Purdue * Walter Camp Award (Back) – Josh Heupel, Oklahoma * Davey O'Brien Award (Quarterback) – Chris Weinke,

* Johnny Unitas Golden Arm Award (Senior quarterback) – Chris Weinke,

* Doak Walker Award (Running back) – LaDainian Tomlinson, TCU *

Fred Biletnikoff Award The Fred Biletnikoff Award is presented annually to the most outstanding receiver in American college football by the Tallahassee Quarterback Club Foundation, Inc. (TQCF), an independent not-for-profit 501(c)(3) organization. The award was crea ...

(Wide receiver) –

Antonio Bryant Antonio Bryant (born March 9, 1981) is a former American football wide receiver in the National Football League (NFL). He played college football for University of Pittsburgh, and was recognized as an All-American and Fred Biletnikoff Awar ...

* Bronko Nagurski Trophy (Defensive player) – Dan Morgan,

* Chuck Bednarik Award – Dan Morgan,

Dick Butkus Award The Butkus Award, instituted in 1985 by the Downtown Athletic Club of Orlando, is given annually to the top linebackers at the high school, collegiate and professional levels of football. The award, named in honor of College Football Hall of Fame ...

(Linebacker) – Dan Morgan,

* Lombardi Award (Lineman or Linebacker) –

Jamal Reynolds Idris Jamal Reynolds (born February 20, 1979) is an American former college and professional football player who was a defensive end in the National Football League (NFL) for three seasons during the early 2000s. He played college football ...

* Outland Trophy (Interior lineman) – John Henderson,

, DT * Jim Thorpe Award (Defensive back) – Jamar Fletcher,

* Lou Groza Award (Placekicker) –

Jonathan Ruffin Jonathan Ruffin (born August 1, 1981) is an American football placekicker who played three seasons in the Arena Football League (AFL). He played high school football at Ridgewood Preparatory School and college football for the University of Cinc ...

Paul "Bear" Bryant Award The American Heart Association (AHA) Paul "Bear" Bryant Awards are an annual awards banquet that is hosted each year in January, in Houston, Texas, by the AHA.For a list of American Heart Association offices, by state, go to: There are two aw ...

–

, Oklahoma

References

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