The 2000 NCAA Division I-A football season ended with the Oklahoma Sooners beating the defending national champion Florida State Seminoles to claim the Sooners' seventh national championship and their thirty-seventh conference championship, the first of each since the 1988 departure of head coach Barry Switzer.
The BCS title game, held at the Orange Bowl that year, was not without controversy, as the system shut fourth-ranked Washington out of the championship game, despite being the only team who had beaten each No. 2 Miami and No. 5 Oregon State and having the same 10–1 record as No. 3 Florida State during the regular season. 10–1 Miami, 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 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.
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.
Nebraska was voted No. 1 in the preseason AP Poll, followed by defending national champion Florida State at No. 2. Alabama and Wisconsin, last year’s winners of the SEC and Big Ten, were third and fourth, with Big East runner-up Miami at No. 5.
August 26: The only highly ranked team to play this week was No. 2 Florida State, who defeated Brigham Young 29-3 in the Pigskin Classic. The top five remained the same in the next AP Poll.
August 31-September 2: No. 1 Nebraska defeated San Jose State 49-13, and No. 2 Florida State was idle. No. 3 Alabama lost 35-24 at UCLA; the Crimson Tide turned out to be dramatically overrated to start the season, as they ended up finishing last in the SEC West with a 3-8 record. No. 4 Wisconsin beat Western Michigan 19-7, No. 5 Miami blasted McNeese State 61-14, and No. 6 Michigan won 42-7 over Bowling Green. The next poll featured No. 1 Nebraska, No. 2 Florida State, No. 3 Michigan, No. 4 Miami, and No. 5 Wisconsin.
September 9: No. 1 Nebraska held a 14-point second-half lead over No. 23 Notre Dame, but the Irish responded with a 100-yard kickoff return and an 83-yard punt return to force overtime. After a Notre Dame field goal, Eric Crouch ran for his third touchdown of the game to seal a 27-24 Cornhuskers win. No. 2 Florida State needed a fourth-quarter comeback of their own to beat Georgia Tech 26-21. No. 3 Michigan defeated Rice 38-7, but No. 4 Miami fell 34-29 at No. 15 Washington. Michael Bennett ran for 290 yards and led No. 5 Wisconsin to a 27-23 victory over Oregon, while No. 6 Texas overwhelmed Louisiana-Lafayette 52-10. The next poll featured No. 1 Nebraska, No. 2 Florida State, No. 3 Michigan, No. 4 Wisconsin, and No. 5 Texas.
September 16: No. 1 Nebraska was idle. No. 2 Florida State blew out North Carolina 63-14. No. 3 Michigan fell 23-20 to No. 14 UCLA, the Bruins’ second win in three weeks over a third-ranked team. With five starters suspended for receiving unauthorized shoe store discounts, No. 4 Wisconsin barely escaped Cincinnati in a 28-25 overtime win; the Badgers fell out of the top five in the next poll. No. 5 Texas lost 27-24 to Stanford when a late Cardinal touchdown drive erased a fourth-quarter Longhorns comeback. No. 6 Florida’s game against No. 11 Tennessee ended in controversy when a pass was knocked out of Gators receiver Jabar Gaffney’s hands in the end zone with time running out. The referees ruled that Gaffney had possession long enough for the touchdown to count, giving Florida a 27-23 win. No. 7 Kansas State shut out Ball State 76-0, and No. 8 Virginia Tech blanked Rutgers 49-0. The next poll featured No. 1 Nebraska, No. 2 Florida State, No. 3 Florida, No. 4 Kansas State, and No. 5 Virginia Tech.
September 23: No. 1 Nebraska defeated Iowa 42-13, No. 2 Florida State shut out Louisville 31-0, and No. 3 Florida beat Kentucky 59-31. No. 4 Kansas State won 55-10 over North Texas, but the Wildcats still switched places with idle No. 5 Virginia Tech in the next poll: No. 1 Nebraska, No. 2 Florida State, No. 3 Florida, No. 4 Virginia Tech, and No. 5 Kansas State.
September 28–30: No. 1 Nebraska beat Missouri 42-24, but the AP voters were more impressed by No. 2 Florida State’s 59-7 blowout of Maryland. No. 3 Florida accumulated 494 passing yards and negative 78 rushing yards in a 47-35 loss to Mississippi State. No. 4 Virginia Tech won 48-34 at Boston College, while No. 5 Kansas State was a 44-21 victor at Colorado. No. 7 Clemson beat Duke 52-22 to move up in the next AP Poll: No. 1 Florida State, No. 2 Nebraska, No. 3 Virginia Tech, No. 4 Kansas State, and No. 5 Clemson. Nebraska retained the top spot in the Coaches Poll.
October
October 7: No. 1 Florida State’s 27-24 loss to No. 7 Miami was a case of deja vu, as the Seminoles again missed a potential game-tying field goal at the end of a game with national championship implications. “Wide Right III” brought back memories of similar Florida State-Miami finishes in 1991 and 1992. No. 2 Nebraska won 49-27 at Iowa State, No. 3 Virginia Tech beat Temple 35-13, No. 4 Kansas State beat Kansas 52-13, and No. 5 Clemson held off North Carolina State 34-27. Nebraska returned to the No. 1 spot in both polls, and they were followed in the AP rankings by No. 2 Kansas State, No. 3 Virginia Tech, No. 4 Miami, and No. 5 Clemson.
October 12–14: No. 1 Nebraska dominated Texas Tech 56-3. No. 2 Kansas State fell 41-31 to No. 8 Oklahoma, whose head coach was former Wildcats assistant Bob Stoops. No. 3 Virginia Tech beat West Virginia 48-20, No. 4 Miami was idle, and No. 5 Clemson defeated Maryland 35-14. The next poll featured No. 1 Nebraska, No. 2 Virginia Tech, No. 3 Oklahoma, No. 4 Miami, and No. 5 Clemson.
October 21: No. 1 Nebraska shut out Baylor 59-0. No. 2 Virginia Tech spotted Syracuse a two-touchdown lead in the first quarter but came back to win 22-14. No. 3 Oklahoma was idle. No. 4 Miami won 45-17 at Temple, and No. 5 Clemson visited North Carolina for a 38-24 victory. The AP rankings remained the same, but the year’s first BCS rankings (which were released this weekend) had Oklahoma over Virginia Tech and Florida State in fifth place instead of Clemson.
October 28: No. 1 Nebraska visited No. 3 Oklahoma for what was expected to be a tight struggle. Instead, the game turned into a rout as the Sooners ran away with a 31-14 victory. No. 2 Virginia Tech lost star quarterback Michael Vick to an ankle injury and needed a last-minute field goal to escape Pittsburgh 37-34. No. 4 Miami, the Hokies’ Big East rival, looked sloppy in a 42-31 win over a 2-7 Louisiana Tech squad. No. 5 Clemson allowed an 80-yard game-ending touchdown drive and fell 31-28 to Georgia Tech. No. 6 Florida State won 58-14 at No. 21 North Carolina State. The next AP Poll featured No. 1 Oklahoma, No. 2 Virginia Tech, No. 3 Miami, No. 4 Florida State, and No. 5 Nebraska. The BCS standings were topped by the same five teams, but with Miami ranked fifth behind the Seminoles and Cornhuskers.
November–December
November 4: No. 1 Oklahoma blasted Baylor 56-7. With Michael Vick still hobbled by his injured ankle, No. 2 Virginia Tech was no match for No. 3 Miami. The Hokies’ 41-21 loss left Oklahoma as the only undefeated team in the nation. In a father vs. son coaching matchup, Bobby Bowden’s No. 4 Florida State crushed Tommy Bowden’s No. 10 Clemson 54-7. No. 5 Nebraska bounced back with a 56-17 victory over Kansas, and No. 6 Florida won 43-21 at Vanderbilt. The next AP Poll featured No. 1 Oklahoma, No. 2 Miami, No. 3 Florida State, No. 4 Nebraska, and No. 5 Florida, while the BCS continued to rate Florida State second and Miami third.
November 11: No. 1 Oklahoma trailed by 10 points in the fourth quarter, but an interception return for a touchdown allowed the Sooners to come back and beat No. 23 Texas A&M 35-31 before a Kyle Field record crowd of 87,188 fans. No. 2 Miami defeated Pittsburgh 35-7. No. 3 Florida State won 35-6 at Wake Forest. No. 4 Nebraska visited No. 16 Kansas State hoping to clinch a spot in the Big 12 title game. Instead, the Wildcats took over the division lead by winning a 29-28 nailbiter in a snowstorm. No. 5 Florida faced No. 21 South Carolina for the SEC East title, and the Gators won 41-21. No. 6 Oregon, the surprise first-place team of the Pac-10, beat California 25-17. The next AP Poll featured No. 1 Oklahoma, No. 2 Miami, No. 3 Florida State, No. 4 Florida, and No. 5 Oregon. The BCS had the same top four but picked Washington at No. 5, despite the Huskies’ early-season loss to the Ducks.
November 18: No. 1 Oklahoma clinched a spot in the Big 12 title game with a 27-13 victory over Texas Tech. No. 2 Miami shut out Syracuse 26-0. No. 3 Florida State overwhelmed No. 4 Florida 30-7. No. 5 Oregon and No. 8 Oregon State were both contenders for the Pac-10 title, and for the first time in 36 years the game between the two rivals would help decide the conference’s Rose Bowl representative. The Ducks had the opportunity to clinch the outright title, but Oregon quarterback Joey Harrington threw five interceptions in a 23-13 loss to the Beavers. No. 6 Washington blew out Washington State 51-3 to climb into a three-way tie for the conference lead, and the Huskies (who had beaten Oregon State in October) earned a trip to Pasadena. The next AP Poll featured No. 1 Oklahoma, No. 2 Miami, No. 3 Florida State, No. 4 Washington, and No. 5 Oregon State. However, the BCS was impressed enough with Florida State’s victory over Florida that the Seminoles were elevated back above the Hurricanes into the number-two spot.
November 25: Undefeated No. 1 Oklahoma had a tough time with 3-7 Oklahoma State, but the Sooners finally pulled out a 12-7 victory. No. 2 Miami beat Boston College 52-6. No. 3 Florida State, No. 4 Washington, and No. 5 Oregon State had all finished their seasons, and the next AP Poll remained the same.
December 2: No. 1 Oklahoma faced No. 8 Kansas State in the Big 12 Championship Game, hoping to preserve their undefeated record and earn a spot in the national title game. The game was tied at 17 going into the fourth quarter, but the Sooners scored a touchdown and kicked a 46-yard field goal to go ahead for good. After Kansas State cut the score to 27-24 with six seconds left, Oklahoma recovered the onside kick to salt away the win.
Undefeated No. 1 Oklahoma was guaranteed a spot in the Orange Bowl to play for the national championship, but the BCS caused a controversy by selecting AP No. 3 Florida State rather than No. 2 Miami or No. 4 Washington as the Sooners’ opponent. All three teams had been defeated only once, but Florida State’s loss was to Miami whose loss was to Washington. Miami would go to the Sugar Bowl against No. 7 Florida (who had easily beaten No. 18 Auburn in the SEC Championship Game), while Washington would play No. 14 Purdue in the Rose Bowl’s Pac-10 vs. Big Ten matchup. The BCS bowls were rounded out by two at-large teams, No. 5 Oregon State and No. 10 Notre Dame, who would meet in the Fiesta Bowl.
Regular season top 10 matchups
Rankings reflect the AP Poll. Rankings for Week 9 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.
The 1989 NCAA Division I-A football season ended with Miami winning its third National Championship during the 1980s, cementing its claim as the decade's top team, winning more titles than any other program.
The 1991 NCAA Division I-A football season was the main college football season sanctioned by the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA). The season began on August 28, 1991, and ended on January 1, 1992. For the second consecutive season, there was a split national championship. Both the Miami Hurricanes and the Washington Huskies finished the season undefeated (12–0) and with the top ranking in a nationally recognized poll.
The 1992 NCAA Division I-A football season was the first year of the Bowl Coalition and concluded with Alabama's first national championship in thirteen years—their first since the departure of Bear Bryant. One of Bryant's former players, Gene Stallings, was the head coach, and he used a style similar to Bryant's, a smashmouth running game combined with a tough defense.
The 1993 NCAA Division I-A football season saw Florida State crowned national champions, in both the AP and Coaches poll.
The 1994 NCAA Division I-A football season, play of college football in the United States at the NCAA Division I-A level, began in August 1994 and ended on January 2, 1995. Nebraska, who finished the season undefeated, ended the year ranked No. 1 in both the Associated Press and Coaches polls. This was the first national championship of coach Tom Osborne's career at Nebraska, having come close the year before, when Nebraska lost to eventual national champion Florida State on a missed field goal as time expired.
The 1995 NCAA Division I-A football season was the first year of the Bowl Alliance.
The 1996 NCAA Division I-A football season ended with the Florida Gators being crowned National Champions after defeating rival Florida State in the Sugar Bowl, which was the season's designated Bowl Alliance national championship game. Florida had faced Florida State earlier in the year, when they were ranked No. 1 and No. 2, and lost 24–21. However, unranked Texas's upset of No. 3 Nebraska in the first ever Big 12 Championship Game set up the rematch of in-state rivals in New Orleans. In the Sugar Bowl, Florida's Heisman Trophy-winning senior quarterback Danny Wuerffel and head coach Steve Spurrier led the Gators to a 52–20 victory and their first national championship.
The 1997 NCAA Division I-A football season, play of college football in the United States organized by the National Collegiate Athletic Association at the Division I-A level, began in late summer 1997 and culminated with the major bowl games in early January 1998. The national championship was split for the third time in the 1990s. The Nebraska Cornhuskers garnered the top ranking in the Coaches' Poll with a 13–0 record, a Big 12 Conference championship, and a win over Tennessee in the Orange Bowl.
The 1998 NCAA Division I-A football season, play of college football in the United States organized by the National Collegiate Athletic Association at the Division I-A level, began in late summer 1998 and culminated with the major bowl games in early January 1999. It was the first season of the Bowl Championship Series (BCS), which saw the Tennessee Volunteers win the national championship, one year after star quarterback Peyton Manning left for the National Football League (NFL). Tennessee defeated the Florida State Seminoles, 23–16, in the Fiesta Bowl in Tempe, Arizona, to secure the inaugural BCS National Championship.
The 1999 NCAA Division I-A football season saw Florida State named national champions, defeating Virginia Tech in the BCS Sugar Bowl.
The 2001 NCAA Division I-A football season was the first college football season of the 21st century. It ended with the University of Miami winning the national title for the fifth time.
The 2002 NCAA Division I-A football season ended with a double overtime national championship game. Ohio State and Miami both came into the Fiesta Bowl undefeated. The underdog Buckeyes defeated the defending-champion Hurricanes 31–24, ending Miami's 34-game winning streak. Jim Tressel won the national championship in only his second year as head coach.
The 2003 NCAA Division I-A football season ended with an abundance of controversy, resulting in the claim of a split national championship. This was the first claimed split title since the inception of the BCS, something the BCS intended to eliminate. Due to on-field circumstances, the BCS becoming a means of having a single champion going forward, and finally the four-team title playoff system's institution in 2014, as of 2023 this is the most recent Division 1-A season to end with split national champions.
The 2004 NCAA Division I-A football season was the highest level of college football competition in the United States organized by the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA). The regular season began on August 28, 2004 and ended on December 4, 2004. The postseason concluded on January 4, 2005 with the Orange Bowl, which served as the season's BCS National Championship Game.
The 1988 NCAA Division I-A football season ended with Notre Dame winning the national championship. The Fighting Irish won the title via a 34–21 defeat of previously unbeaten West Virginia in the Fiesta Bowl in Tempe, Arizona. With 4 of the final Top 5 teams being independents, 1988 became a focus for fans and critics who wondered how the traditional conferences would deal with the indies.
The 1987 NCAA Division I-A football season ended with Miami winning its second national championship of the 1980s in an Orange Bowl game featuring a rare No. 1 vs. No. 2 matchup between the top ranked Oklahoma Sooners and the Hurricanes.
The 2005 NCAA Division I-A football season was the highest level of college football competition in the United States organized by the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA). The regular season began on September 1, 2005 and ended on December 3, 2005. The postseason concluded on January 4, 2006 with the Rose Bowl, which served as the season's BCS National Championship Game.
The 1986 NCAA Division I-A football season ended with Penn State winning the national championship. Coached by Joe Paterno, they defeated Miami (Fl) 14–10 in the Fiesta Bowl. This Fiesta Bowl was the first in the game's history to decide the national championship, launching it into the top tier of bowls.
The 1984 NCAA Division I-A football season was topsy-turvy from start to finish. It ended with the BYU Cougars being bestowed their first and only national championship by beating Michigan in the Holiday Bowl. While the Cougars finished with a perfect 13–0 record and were the consensus National Champions, some commentators maintain this title was undeserved citing their weak schedule and argue that the championship should have gone to the 11–1 Washington Huskies. Despite this the Cougars were voted No. 1 in the final AP and UPI polls. The Huskies declined an invitation to play BYU in the Holiday Bowl; they decided instead to play Oklahoma in the more prestigious 1985 Orange Bowl. All subsequent national champions have come from what are now known as the Power Five conferences + Notre Dame.
The 1983 NCAA Division I-A football season ended with the University of Miami, led by Bernie Kosar, winning their first national championship over perennial power and top ranked Nebraska in the Orange Bowl.
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