The 1998 NCAA Division I-A football season, play of

college football College football is gridiron football that is played by teams of amateur Student athlete, student-athletes at universities and colleges. It was through collegiate competition that gridiron football American football in the United States, firs ...

in the United States organized by the

National Collegiate Athletic Association The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) is a nonprofit organization that regulates College athletics in the United States, student athletics among about 1,100 schools in the United States, and Simon Fraser University, 1 in Canada. ...

at the Division I-A level, began in late summer 1998 and culminated with the major

bowl game In North America, a bowl game, or simply bowl, is one of a number of postseason college football games primarily played by NCAA Division I Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) teams. For most of its history, the FBS did not use a playoff tourname ...

s in early January 1999. It was the first season of the

Bowl Championship Series The Bowl Championship Series (BCS) was a college football post-season selection system that created four or five bowl game match-ups involving eight or ten of the top ranked teams in the NCAA Division I Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) of America ...

(BCS), which saw the

Tennessee Volunteers The Tennessee Volunteers and Lady Volunteers are the 20 male and female varsity intercollegiate athletics programs that represent the University of Tennessee in Knoxville, Tennessee. The Volunteers compete in Division I of the National Colleg ...

win the national championship, one year after star quarterback

Peyton Manning Peyton Williams Manning (born March 24, 1976) is an American former professional American football, football quarterback who played in the National Football League (NFL) for 18 seasons. Nicknamed "the Sheriff", he spent 14 seasons with the In ...

left for the

National Football League The National Football League (NFL) is a Professional gridiron football, professional American football league in the United States. Composed of 32 teams, it is divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National ...

(NFL). Tennessee defeated the

Florida State Seminoles The Florida State Seminoles are the athletic teams representing Florida State University (FSU) located in Tallahassee, Florida. They compete as a member of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) NCAA Division I, Division I, prima ...

, 23–16, in the

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

Tempe, Arizona Tempe ( ; ''Oidbaḍ'' in O'odham language, O'odham) is a city in Maricopa County, Arizona, United States, with the Census Bureau reporting a 2020 population of 180,587. The city is named after the Vale of Tempe in Greece. Tempe is located in t ...

, to secure the inaugural BCS National Championship. The BCS combined elements of the old

Bowl Coalition The College Football Bowl Coalition was formed through an agreement among NCAA Division I-A college football bowl games and conferences for the purpose of better scheduling a national championship game between the top two teams and to provide qua ...

and the

Bowl Alliance The Bowl Alliance was an agreement among college football bowl games (specifically the Sugar, Orange, and Fiesta Bowls) for the purpose of trying to match the top two teams in a national championship game and to provide quality bowl game match ...

it replaced. The agreement existed between the

Rose A rose is either a woody perennial plant, perennial flowering plant of the genus ''Rosa'' (), in the family Rosaceae (), or the flower it bears. There are over three hundred Rose species, species and Garden roses, tens of thousands of cultivar ...

, Fiesta,

Sugar Sugar is the generic name for sweet-tasting, soluble carbohydrates, many of which are used in food. Simple sugars, also called monosaccharides, include glucose Glucose is a sugar with the Chemical formula#Molecular formula, molecul ...

, and

Orange Orange most often refers to: *Orange (fruit), the fruit of the tree species '' Citrus'' × ''sinensis'' ** Orange blossom, its fragrant flower ** Orange juice *Orange (colour), the color of an orange fruit, occurs between red and yellow in the vi ...

bowl games, with the

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

diminishing in status since the breakup of the

Southwest Conference The Southwest Conference (SWC) was an NCAA Division I college athletic conference in the United States that existed from 1914 to 1996. Composed primarily of schools from Texas, at various times the conference also included schools from Oklaho ...

. Like the Bowl Alliance, a national championship game would rotate between the four bowls, with the top two teams facing each other. These teams were chosen based upon a BCS poll, combining the AP Poll, the

Coaches Poll In the United States, the Coaches Poll is a weekly ranking of the top 25 NCAA Division I Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) college football, Division I college basketball, and Division I college baseball teams. The football version of the poll has ...

, and a computer component. The computer factored in things such as strength of schedule, margin of victory, and quality wins without taking into account time (in other words, a loss early in the season and a loss late in the season were on equal footing). Like the Bowl Coalition, the BCS bowls not hosting the national championship game would retain their traditional conference tie-ins. The first run of the Bowl Championship Series was not without controversy as

Kansas State Kansas State University (KSU, Kansas State, or K-State) is a public land-grant research university with its main campus in Manhattan, Kansas, United States. It was opened as the state's land-grant college in 1863 and was the first public inst ...

finished third in the final BCS standings, but was not invited to a BCS bowl game.

Ohio State The Ohio State University (Ohio State or OSU) is a public land-grant research university in Columbus, Ohio, United States. A member of the University System of Ohio, it was founded in 1870. It is one of the largest universities by enrollme ...

(ranked 4th) and two-loss

Florida Florida ( ; ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It borders the Gulf of Mexico to the west, Alabama to the northwest, Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia to the north, the Atlantic ...

(8th) received the at-large bids instead. Also,

Tulane The Tulane University of Louisiana (commonly referred to as Tulane University) is a private research university in New Orleans, Louisiana, United States. Founded as the Medical College of Louisiana in 1834 by a cohort of medical doctors, it be ...

went undefeated, but finished 10th in the BCS standings and was not invited to a BCS bowl because of their low strength of schedule.

Rule changes

The following rule changes were adopted by the NCAA Rules Committee during their 1998 meeting: * Defensive players are allowed to recover and advance backward passes. Previously the defense was only allowed to ''recover'' but not advance backward passes. * Illegal touching of a forward pass by an ineligible receiver is a five-yard penalty from the previous spot but no loss-of-down. * Defensive players may not rough an offensive player in position to receive a backward pass (i.e. trail man on option play). * Standardized uniform recognition regarding memorializing of deceased or severely ill teammates/coaches. * Eyeshields must be clear. * The titles of side judge and field judge were swapped, with the field judge now working on the same side of the field as the line judge (and ruling on placements with the back judge), and the side judge on the same side as the head linesman. Coincidentally, the NFL swapped the titles of back judge and field judge to match the NCAA prior to its 1998 season.

Conference and program changes

With no teams upgrading from Division I-AA, the number of Division I-A schools was fixed at 112. *

Army An army, ground force or land force is an armed force that fights primarily on land. In the broadest sense, it is the land-based military branch, service branch or armed service of a nation or country. It may also include aviation assets by ...

broke away from almost one hundred years of tradition as an independent, joining

Conference USA Conference USA (CUSA) is a collegiate athletic conference of member institutions in the Southern and Western United States. The conference participates in the NCAA's Division I in all sports. CUSA's offices are located in Dallas, Texas. Mem ...

. *The Western Athletic Conference realigned their Divisions. Pod two and Pod three swap the Divisions

Regular season

August–September

The AP voters selected

as the top-ranked team to begin the season, followed by No. 2

Florida State Florida State University (FSU or Florida State) is a Public university, public research university in Tallahassee, Florida, United States. It is a senior member of the State University System of Florida and a preeminent university in the s ...

and No. 3

. Last year’s co-champions,

Nebraska Nebraska ( ) is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. It borders South Dakota to the north; Iowa to the east and Missouri to the southeast, both across the Missouri River; Ka ...

and

Michigan Michigan ( ) is a peninsular U.S. state, state in the Great Lakes region, Great Lakes region of the Upper Midwest, Upper Midwestern United States. It shares water and land boundaries with Minnesota to the northwest, Wisconsin to the west, ...

, were ranked No. 4 and No. 5 respectively. August 29–31: No. 2 Florida State beat No. 14

Texas A&M Texas A&M University (Texas A&M, A&M, TA&M, or TAMU) is a public university, public, Land-grant university, land-grant, research university in College Station, Texas, United States. It was founded in 1876 and became the flagship institution of ...

23–14 in the

Kickoff Classic The Kickoff Classic was a season-opening college football game played at Giants Stadium in East Rutherford, New Jersey from 1983 to 2002. History In 1978, the New Jersey Sports and Exposition Authority (NJSEA), which operated and scheduled e ...

while No. 4 Nebraska defeated Louisiana Tech 56–27 in the

Eddie Robinson Classic The Eddie Robinson Classic was a college football "kickoff" game played in late August from 1997 through 2002 at various sites. The game was named after legendary Grambling coach Eddie Robinson. Until 2002, the NCAA only allowed for teams to play a ...

. Most other teams had not begun their schedules, so no new poll was taken until the following week. September 5: No. 1 Ohio State won 34–17 at No. 11

West Virginia West Virginia is a mountainous U.S. state, state in the Southern United States, Southern and Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States.The United States Census Bureau, Census Bureau and the Association of American ...

. No. 2 Florida State was idle. No. 3 Florida opened their schedule with a 49–10 victory over The Citadel, while No. 4 Nebraska beat Alabama-Birmingham 38–7. No. 5 Michigan was upset 36–20 at No. 22 Notre Dame. No. 6

blanked Indiana State 66–0 and moved up in the next poll: No. 1 Ohio State, No. 2 Florida State, No. 3 Florida, No. 4 Nebraska, and No. 5 Kansas State. September 12: No. 1 Ohio State shut out Toledo 49–0. No. 2 Florida State fell 24–7 at North Carolina State, just their second loss in ACC play since joining the conference in 1992. No. 3 Florida beat Northeast Louisiana 42–10, No. 4 Nebraska won 24–3 at California, No. 5 Kansas State blew out Northern Illinois 73–7, and No. 6

UCLA The University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) is a public land-grant research university in Los Angeles, California, United States. Its academic roots were established in 1881 as a normal school then known as the southern branch of the C ...

defeated No. 23

Texas Texas ( , ; or ) is the most populous U.S. state, state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. It borders Louisiana to the east, Arkansas to the northeast, Oklahoma to the north, New Mexico to the we ...

49–31. The next poll featured No. 1 Ohio State, No. 2 Florida, No. 3 Nebraska, No. 4 UCLA, and No. 5 Kansas State. September 19: No. 1 Ohio State beat No. 21

Missouri Missouri (''see #Etymology and pronunciation, pronunciation'') is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. Ranking List of U.S. states and territories by area, 21st in land area, it border ...

35–14. The biggest game of the weekend took place in Knoxville between No. 2 Florida and No. 6

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. It borders Kentucky to the north, Virginia to the northeast, North Carolina t ...

. The Volunteers had lost to the Gators each of the past five years, despite having Hall of Famer

under center in four of those games. This time they finally came away with the victory, as Florida missed a 32-yard field goal in overtime to seal a 20–17 Tennessee triumph. No. 3 Nebraska was idle, No. 4 UCLA won 42–24 at Houston, and No. 5 Kansas State defeated Texas 48–7. The next poll featured No. 1 Ohio State, No. 2 Nebraska, No. 3 UCLA, No. 4 Tennessee, and No. 5 Kansas State. September 26: No. 1 Ohio State was idle. No. 2 Nebraska overwhelmed No. 9

Washington Washington most commonly refers to: * George Washington (1732–1799), the first president of the United States * Washington (state), a state in the Pacific Northwest of the United States * Washington, D.C., the capital of the United States ** A ...

55–7. No. 3 UCLA’s game against

Miami Miami is a East Coast of the United States, coastal city in the U.S. state of Florida and the county seat of Miami-Dade County, Florida, Miami-Dade County in South Florida. It is the core of the Miami metropolitan area, which, with a populat ...

was postponed due to a hurricane, a situation which would have repercussions later in the season. No. 4 Tennessee defeated Houston 42–7, and No. 5 Kansas State blew out Northeast Louisiana 62–7. The next poll featured No. 1 Ohio State, No. 2 Nebraska, No. 3 Tennessee, No. 4 UCLA, and No. 5 Kansas State.

October

October 3: No. 1 Ohio State opened conference play with a 28–9 victory over No. 7

Penn State #Redirect Pennsylvania State University The Pennsylvania State University (Penn State or PSU) is a Public university, public Commonwealth System of Higher Education, state-related Land-grant university, land-grant research university with ca ...

. No. 2 Nebraska needed a fourth-quarter punt return for a touchdown and a game-ending goal line stand to get past Oklahoma State 24–17. No. 3 Tennessee won 17–9 at Auburn, No. 4 UCLA beat Washington State 49–17, and No. 5 Kansas State was idle. The next poll featured No. 1 Ohio State, No. 2 Nebraska, No. 3 UCLA, No. 4 Tennessee, and No. 5 Kansas State. October 10: No. 1 Ohio State shut out Illinois 41–0. No. 2 Nebraska suffered their first regular-season loss to a conference opponent since 1992, falling 28–21 to No. 18 Texas A&M. No. 3 UCLA visited No. 10

Arizona Arizona is a U.S. state, state in the Southwestern United States, Southwestern region of the United States, sharing the Four Corners region of the western United States with Colorado, New Mexico, and Utah. It also borders Nevada to the nort ...

for a 52–28 victory. No. 4 Tennessee also had an easy time against a highly-ranked foe, beating No. 7

Georgia Georgia most commonly refers to: * Georgia (country), a country in the South Caucasus * Georgia (U.S. state), a state in the southeastern United States Georgia may also refer to: People and fictional characters * Georgia (name), a list of pe ...

by a 22–3 score. After outscoring their first four opponents 249-21, No. 5 Kansas State was forced into a defensive battle against No. 14

Colorado Colorado is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States. It is one of the Mountain states, sharing the Four Corners region with Arizona, New Mexico, and Utah. It is also bordered by Wyoming to the north, Nebraska to the northeast, Kansas ...

, but the Wildcats still prevailed 16–9. No. 6 Florida beat No. 11

LSU Louisiana State University and Agricultural and Mechanical College, commonly referred to as Louisiana State University (LSU), is an American Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Baton Rouge, Louis ...

22–10 to move back into the top five: No. 1 Ohio State, No. 2 UCLA, No. 3 Tennessee, No. 4 Kansas State, and No. 5 Florida. October 17: No. 1 Ohio State defeated Minnesota 45–15. No. 2 UCLA ran out to a 17-point lead against No. 11

Oregon Oregon ( , ) is a U.S. state, state in the Pacific Northwest region of the United States. It is a part of the Western U.S., with the Columbia River delineating much of Oregon's northern boundary with Washington (state), Washington, while t ...

but allowed the Ducks to come all the way back; the lead changed hands several times before the Bruins finally won 41–38 on a field goal in overtime. No. 3 Tennessee was idle, No. 4 Kansas State beat Oklahoma State 52–20, and No. 5 Florida breezed past Auburn 24–3. The top five remained the same in the next poll. October 24: No. 1 Ohio State won 36–10 at Northwestern, No. 2 UCLA visited California for a 28–16 victory, No. 3 Tennessee beat Alabama 35–18, and No. 4 Kansas State crushed Iowa State 52–7. No. 5 Florida was idle, and No. 6 Florida State’s 34–7 win at No. 20

Georgia Tech The Georgia Institute of Technology (commonly referred to as Georgia Tech, GT, and simply Tech or the Institute) is a public research university and institute of technology in Atlanta, Georgia, United States. Established in 1885, it has the lar ...

was impressive enough to move the Seminoles ahead of their in-state rivals in the next AP Poll: No. 1 Ohio State, No. 2 UCLA, No. 3 Tennessee, No. 4 Kansas State, and No. 5 Florida State. The first-ever BCS standings were released on October 26 and featured UCLA in the top spot, followed by Ohio State in second and the next three teams in the same order as the AP Poll. October 31: AP No. 1 Ohio State posted another dominant win, 38–7 at Indiana. BCS No. 1 UCLA trailed by 10 points in the fourth quarter against a Stanford team with a 1–6 record, but the Bruins scored two late touchdowns for a 28–24 victory. UCLA’s close shave against inferior competition caused them to drop in both the BCS and the human polls. No. 3 Tennessee won 49–14 at South Carolina and No. 4 Kansas State visited Kansas for a 54–6 triumph. No. 5 Florida State beat North Carolina 39–13, but No. 6 Florida’s 38–7 blowout of No. 11 Georgia led the voters to switch the two teams again. The AP and BCS had the same top five: No. 1 Ohio State, No. 2 Tennessee, No. 3 UCLA, No. 4 Kansas State, and No. 5 Florida.

November

November 7: No. 1 Ohio State, having won all of their previous games by at least 17 points, was heavily favored to beat Michigan State at home. The Buckeyes held a 24–9 lead in the third quarter, but the Spartans (under the direction of up-and-coming head coach

Nick Saban Nicholas Lou Saban Jr. ( ; born October 31, 1951) is an American sportscaster and former Professional gridiron football, professional and college football coach. He serves as an analyst for ESPN's ''College GameDay (football TV program), Colleg ...

) responded with 19 unanswered points and sealed their 28–24 victory with an interception in the end zone on Ohio State’s last drive. No. 2 Tennessee defeated Alabama-Birmingham 37–13. No. 3 UCLA had another close call, needing a last-minute touchdown to beat Oregon State 41–34. No. 4 Kansas State won 49–6 at Baylor, No. 5 Florida visited Vanderbilt for a 45–13 win, and No. 6 Florida State handled No. 12

Virginia Virginia, officially the Commonwealth of Virginia, is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern and Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States between the East Coast of the United States ...

45–14. The AP’s top five were No. 1 Tennessee, No. 2 Kansas State, No. 3 UCLA, No. 4 Florida, and No. 5 Florida State. The BCS also had Tennessee at No. 1, but placed UCLA over KSU and Florida State above Florida. The Coaches Poll further muddied the waters by placing Tennessee and Kansas State in a tie for first. November 14: No. 1 Tennessee trailed No. 10

Arkansas Arkansas ( ) is a landlocked state in the West South Central region of the Southern United States. It borders Missouri to the north, Tennessee and Mississippi to the east, Louisiana to the south, Texas to the southwest, and Oklahoma ...

by double digits at the half, and the Razorbacks still led by four points with three minutes left. But a snap went over their punter’s head for a safety, and a fumble on Arkansas’ next possession enabled a Volunteers touchdown drive for a 28–24 win (the third time in three weeks that a No. 1 team played a game with that score). No. 2 Kansas State beat No. 11 Nebraska 40–30 to clinch the Big 12 North title and end the Cornhuskers’ 29-game winning streak over the Wildcats, one of the longest in NCAA history. No. 3 UCLA won 36–24 at Washington, No. 4 Florida defeated South Carolina 33–14, and No. 5 Florida State visited Wake Forest for a 24–7 victory. The AP and BCS top five remained the same, but Kansas State now stood alone at No. 1 in the Coaches Poll. November 21: No. 1 Tennessee clinched a spot in the SEC Championship Game by defeating Kentucky 59–21. No. 2 Kansas State completed an undefeated regular season with a 31–25 victory over No. 19 Missouri. No. 3 UCLA beat USC 34–17 and earned the outright Pac-10 title. No. 4 Florida fell 23–12 at No. 5 Florida State. After their crushing defeat two weeks earlier, No. 7 Ohio State found some solace in a 31–16 win over No. 11 Michigan, the team which had dealt them several upset losses in recent years. The next AP Poll featured No. 1 Tennessee, No. 2 Kansas State, No. 3 UCLA, No. 4 Florida State, and No. 5 Ohio State. The BCS standings kept their previous top four and elevated Texas A&M, champion of the Big 12 South, to fifth place. November 28: No. 1 Tennessee put an exclamation mark on their regular season with a 41–0 shutout of Vanderbilt. No. 2 Kansas State and No. 3 UCLA were idle, and No. 4 Florida State and No. 5 Ohio State had finished their schedules. The AP and Coaches top five remained the same, but the BCS standings moved Ohio State to No. 5 when Texas A&M lost their regular season finale 26–24 at Texas.

December

December 5: Despite being ranked first in the Coaches Poll and second in the AP ratings, Kansas State was No. 3 in the BCS standings and needed a loss by one of the teams ahead of them in order to have a shot at the championship. The game between UCLA and Miami—a makeup of the hurricane-canceled contest from September—turned out to be just what the Wildcats needed: the Bruins blew a 17-point second-half lead as Edgerrin James ran for a Miami record 299 yards and led the Hurricanes to a 49–45 win. As time was running out on UCLA, Kansas State held a 17–3 lead over No. 10 Texas A&M in the second quarter of the

Big 12 Championship Game The Big 12 Championship Game is a college football game held by the Big 12 Conference between the best and the second-best Big 12 team. The game was played each year since the conference's formation in 1996 until 2010 and returned during the 201 ...

, and the crowd roared at the announcement of Miami’s victory. However, the Aggies chipped away at the Wildcats’ lead and tied the score at 27 with one minute to play. Kansas State quarterback Michael Bishop completed a 55-yard Hail Mary with time running out, but the receiver was tackled just short of the goal line and the game went into overtime. The teams traded field goals until A&M’s Branndon Stewart threw a 32-yard touchdown pass to Sirr Parker that gave the Aggies a 36–33 double-overtime triumph and ended Kansas State’s dreams of an unlikely championship. The day almost went three-for-three on upsets as No. 23

Mississippi State Mississippi State University for Agriculture and Applied Science, commonly known as Mississippi State University (MSU), is a public land-grant research university in Mississippi State, Mississippi, United States. It is classified among "R ...

held a slim lead over No. 1 Tennessee in the fourth quarter of the

SEC Championship Game The SEC Championship Game is an annual American football game that has determined the Southeastern Conference's season champion since 1992. For its first 32 seasons, the championship game pitted the Eastern Division regular season champion again ...

. However, the Volunteers scored a touchdown on a long pass by Tee Martin, forced a fumble on the next play, and immediately picked up another TD on another throw by Martin. The game ended 24–14 in favor of Tennessee, and the final AP Poll of the regular season featured No. 1 Tennessee, No. 2 Florida State, No. 3 Ohio State, No. 4 Kansas State, and No. 5 Arizona. The final BCS standings were topped by Tennessee, Florida State, Kansas State, Ohio State, and UCLA in that order. The

would feature a battle for the national championship between No. 1 Tennessee—the only undefeated team from the major conferences—and No. 2 Florida State, the highest-rated of several one-loss teams. (The Seminoles had previously defeated Miami and Texas A&M, the two teams which had just ended UCLA and Kansas State’s perfect seasons.) The Rose Bowl featured the traditional Pac-10 vs. Big Ten matchup between No. 6 UCLA and No. 9

Wisconsin Wisconsin ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Great Lakes region, Great Lakes region of the Upper Midwest of the United States. It borders Minnesota to the west, Iowa to the southwest, Illinois to the south, Lake Michigan to the east, Michig ...

. No. 3 Ohio State, who had tied the Badgers for the conference title, went to the

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 ...

against No. 8 Texas A&M. The final at-large BCS spot went to No. 7 Florida, who would face Big East champion No. 18

Syracuse Syracuse most commonly refers to: * Syracuse, Sicily, Italy; in the province of Syracuse * Syracuse, New York, USA; in the Syracuse metropolitan area Syracuse may also refer to: Places * Syracuse railway station (disambiguation) Italy * Provi ...

in the

Orange Bowl The Orange Bowl is an annual American college football bowl game played in the Miami metropolitan area. Played annually since 1935 Orange Bowl, January 1, 1935, it is tied with the Sugar Bowl and the Sun Bowl as the second-oldest bowl games in ...

. Controversially, No. 4 Kansas State was left out of the BCS bowls despite their high ranking, instead being sent to play unranked Purdue in the

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 second ...

. No. 10

was undefeated, but their light schedule eliminated them from championship consideration; the Green Wave would match up against Brigham Young in the

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 ...

Regular-season top-10 matchups

Rankings reflect the AP Poll. Rankings for Week 8 and beyond will list BCS Rankings first and AP Poll second. Teams that failed to be a top-10 team for one poll or the other will be noted. *Week 3 **No. 6

defeated No. 2

, 20–17 ^OT (

Neyland Stadium Neyland Stadium ( ) is a sports stadium in Knoxville, Tennessee, United States. It serves primarily as the home of the Tennessee Volunteers football team, but is also used to host large conventions and has been a site for several National Footba ...

Knoxville, Tennessee Knoxville is a city in Knox County, Tennessee, United States, and its county seat. It is located on the Tennessee River and had a population of 190,740 at the 2020 United States census. It is the largest city in the East Tennessee Grand Division ...

) *Week 4 **No. 2

defeated No. 9

, 55–7 ( Memorial Stadium,

Lincoln, Nebraska Lincoln is the List of capitals in the United States, capital city of the U.S. state of Nebraska. The city covers and had a population of 291,082 as of the 2020 census. It is the state's List of cities in Nebraska, second-most populous city a ...

) *Week 5 ** No. 1

defeated No. 7

28–9, (

Ohio Stadium Ohio Stadium is an American football stadium in Columbus, Ohio, on the campus of Ohio State University. It primarily serves as the home venue of the Ohio State Buckeyes football team and is also the site for the university's Spring Commencemen ...

Columbus, Ohio Columbus (, ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of cities in Ohio, most populous city of the U.S. state of Ohio. With a 2020 United States census, 2020 census population of 905,748, it is the List of United States ...

) *Week 6 ** No. 3

defeated No. 10

52–28, (

Arizona Stadium Arizona Stadium is an outdoor college football stadium in the southwestern United States, located on the campus of the University of Arizona in Tucson, Arizona. It is the home field of the Arizona Wildcats of the Big 12 Conference. Origin ...

Tucson, Arizona Tucson (; ; ) is a city in Pima County, Arizona, United States, and its county seat. It is the second-most populous city in Arizona, behind Phoenix, Arizona, Phoenix, with a population of 542,630 in the 2020 United States census. The Tucson ...

) ** No. 4 Tennessee defeated No. 7

22–3, (

Sanford Stadium Dooley Field at Sanford Stadium is the on-campus playing venue for football at the University of Georgia in Athens, Georgia, United States (also known as UGA). The 93,033-seat stadium is the ninth-largest American football stadium in the NCAA ...

Athens, Georgia Athens is a consolidated city-county in the U.S. state of Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia. Downtown Athens lies about northeast of downtown Atlanta. The University of Georgia, the state's flagship public university and an Research I university, ...

) *Week 11 **No. 1/1 Tennessee defeated No. 7/10

, 28–24 (

) *Week 12 **No. 4/5

defeated No. 5/4 Florida, 23–12 (

Doak Campbell Stadium Doak S. Campbell Stadium (in full Bobby Bowden Field at Doak S. Campbell Stadium), popularly known as "Doak", is a football stadium on the campus of Florida State University in Tallahassee, Florida, United States. It is the home field of the Flo ...

Tallahassee, Florida Tallahassee ( ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital city of the U.S. state of Florida. It is the county seat of and the only incorporated municipality in Leon County, Florida, Leon County. Tallahassee became the capital of Fl ...

) *Week 14 **No. 8/10

defeated No. 3/2

, 36–33 ^2OT ( 1998 Big 12 Championship Game,

Trans World Dome The Dome at America's Center is a multi-purpose stadium used for concerts, major conventions, and sporting events in downtown St. Louis, Missouri, United States. Previously known as the Trans World Dome from 1995 to 2001 and the Edward Jones Dom ...

St. Louis, Missouri St. Louis ( , sometimes referred to as St. Louis City, Saint Louis or STL) is an Independent city (United States), independent city in the U.S. state of Missouri. It lies near the confluence of the Mississippi River, Mississippi and the Miss ...

)

Conference standings

Rankings

The top 25 from the AP and USA Today/ESPN Coaches Polls.

Preseason polls

BCS final rankings

Final polls

Bowl games

Rankings are from the AP Poll.

Heisman Trophy voting

''The

Heisman Trophy The Heisman Memorial Trophy ( ; also known simply as the Heisman) is awarded annually since 1935 to the top player in college football. It is considered the most prestigious award in the sport and is presented by the Heisman Trophy Trust followin ...

is given to the year's most outstanding player''

Other major awards

Maxwell Award The Maxwell Award is presented annually to the college football player judged by a panel of sportscasters, sportswriters, and National Collegiate Athletic Association head coaches and the membership of the Maxwell Football Club to be the best all ...

(College Player of the Year) -

Ricky Williams Errick Miron (born Errick Lynne Williams Jr.; May 21, 1977), known professionally as Ricky Williams, is an American former professional football running back who played for 11 seasons in the National Football League (NFL) and one season in the ...

Walter Camp Award The Walter Camp Player of the Year Award is given annually to the collegiate American football player of the year, as decided by a group of National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division I FBS head coaches and sports information direc ...

(Back) -

Davey O'Brien Award The Davey O'Brien Award, officially the Davey O'Brien National Quarterback Award, named after Davey O'Brien, is presented annually to the collegiate American football player judged by the Davey O'Brien Foundation to be the best of all National C ...

(Quarterback) - Michael Bishop, Kansas St. *

Johnny Unitas Golden Arm Award The Johnny Unitas Golden Arm Award is given annually in the United States to the nation's top upperclassman quarterback in college football. Candidates are judged on accomplishments on the field as well as on their character, scholastic achievem ...

(Senior Quarterback) -

Cade McNown Cade Brem McNown (born January 12, 1977) is an American former professional football quarterback who played in the National Football League (NFL) for four seasons. He played college football for the UCLA Bruins, winning the Johnny Unitas Award ...

Doak Walker Award The Doak Walker Award honors the top running back in college football in the United States. Established in 1990, it is named in honor of Doak Walker, a former running back who played for the SMU Mustangs from 1945 to 1949 and in the National Foot ...

(Running Back) -

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 creat ...

(Wide Receiver) -

Troy Edwards Troy Edwards (born April 7, 1977) is an American former professional football player who was a wide receiver for seven seasons in the National Football League (NFL). He played college football for the Louisiana Tech Bulldogs, became one of ...

Louisiana Tech Louisiana Tech University (Louisiana Tech, La. Tech, or simply Tech) is a public research university in Ruston, Louisiana, United States. It is part of the University of Louisiana System and classified among "R2: Doctoral Universities – Hig ...

Bronko Nagurski Trophy The Bronko Nagurski Trophy has been awarded annually since 1993 to the collegiate American football defensive player adjudged by the membership of the Football Writers Association of America (FWAA) to be the best in the National Collegiate Athle ...

(Defensive Player) - Champ Bailey,

Chuck Bednarik Award The Chuck Bednarik Award is presented annually to the defensive player of the year in college football as judged by the Maxwell Football Club to be the best in the United States. The award is named for Chuck Bednarik, a former college and profess ...

- Dat Nguyen,

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) - Chris Claiborne,

USC USC may refer to: Education United States * Universidad del Sagrado Corazón, Santurce, Puerto Rico * University of South Carolina, Columbia, South Carolina ** University of South Carolina System, a state university system of South Carolina * ...

Lombardi Award The Rotary Lombardi Award is an award for college football in the United States. Awarded by the Rotary Club of Houston, Texas annually to the college football player "who best embodies the values and spirit of NFL's legendary coach Vince Lombard ...

(Lineman or Linebacker) - Dat Nguyen,

Outland Trophy The Outland Trophy is awarded to the best college football College football is gridiron football that is played by teams of amateur Student athlete, student-athletes at universities and colleges. It was through collegiate competition that g ...

(Interior Lineman) - Kris Farris,

Jim Thorpe Award The Jim Thorpe Award, named in memory of multi-sport athlete Jim Thorpe, has been awarded to the top defensive back in college football College football is gridiron football that is played by teams of amateur Student athlete, student-athle ...

(Defensive Back) - Antoine Winfield, Ohio St. *

Lou Groza Award The Lou Groza Award is presented annually to the top college football placekicker in the United States by the Palm Beach County, Florida, Palm Beach County Sports Commission. The award is named after former Ohio State Buckeyes and Cleveland Browns ...

(Placekicker) -

Sebastian Janikowski Sebastian Paweł Janikowski (; born March 2, 1978) is a Polish former professional player of American football who was a placekicker for 18 seasons in the National Football League (NFL), primarily with the Oakland Raiders. He played college fo ...

, Florida St. *

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. There are two awards. One of them—the Paul "Bear" Bryant Coach of the Year Award� ...

Bill Snyder William D. Snyder (born October 7, 1939) is an American 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 fro ...

, Kansas St. *

Football Writers Association of America The Football Writers Association of America (FWAA) is an organization of college football media members in the United States founded in 1941. It is composed of approximately 1,200 professional sports writers from both print and Internet media out ...

Coach of the Year Award -

Phillip Fulmer Phillip Edward Fulmer Sr. (born September 1, 1950) is a former American football player, coach, and athletic director at the University of Tennessee. He served as head coach of the Tennessee Volunteers football team from 1992 to 2008, compiling ...

References

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