1995 NCAA Division I-A football season

Last updated

1995 NCAA Division I-A season
Number of teams108 [1]
Preseason AP No. 1 Florida State [2]
Post-season
Bowl games 18
Heisman Trophy Eddie George (running back, Ohio State)
Bowl Alliance Championship
1996 Fiesta Bowl
Site Sun Devil Stadium,
Tempe, Arizona
Champion(s) Nebraska (AP, Coaches, FWAA)
Division I-A football seasons
  1994
1996  

The 1995 NCAA Division I-A football season was the first year of the Bowl Alliance.

Contents

Tom Osborne led Nebraska to its second straight national title with a victory over Florida in the Fiesta Bowl.

This matchup was only possible because of the new Bowl Alliance. Under the old system, Nebraska would have been tied to the Orange Bowl and Florida to the Sugar Bowl. The Bowl Alliance created a national championship game which would rotate between the Orange, Sugar, and Fiesta Bowls free of conference tie-ins and featuring the No. 1 and No. 2 teams as chosen by the Bowl Alliance Poll. The Pac-10 and Big Ten chose not to participate, keeping their tie-ins with the Rose Bowl.

Nebraska was a football dynasty, playing in its third consecutive national title game, and became the first school to claim back-to-back titles since the 1970s. This was a dominant Nebraska team, averaging 52 points per game and a 39-point average margin of victory, including a 62–24 victory over Florida. This lopsided victory came after Florida was picked by many sportswriters to win the game.

Ohio State almost created a national title controversy, going into its final regular season game against Michigan undefeated and ranked No. 2. Had they finished the season No. 2 the Bowl Alliance would have been unable to pit No. 1 vs. No. 2 as the Big Ten champ was tied to the Rose Bowl. However, Michigan upset Ohio State. Buckeye running back Eddie George still won the Heisman Trophy.

Things were lively in the state of Florida, where the Florida Gators won their third straight SEC championship. Florida State started the season No. 1, but lost an ACC game for the first time ever when Virginia stopped a last-minute drive a few inches from the end zone, knocking them out of the national title race.

However, Northwestern was able to steal the show as the year's Cinderella story. Its only regular season loss came against Miami-OH. Northwestern began the season with an upset of Notre Dame and went on to defeat Michigan and Penn State later in the season. Undefeated in the Big Ten after decades as a doormat, the Wildcats went on to face USC in the Rose Bowl. However, the Wildcats lost to the Trojans in what was a see-saw game until USC pulled away in the fourth quarter.

Miami and Alabama had to sit the post season out, as they were on NCAA probation.

The Southwest Conference played its final game ever, an 1817 Houston win over Rice. Four of its members would join the Big 8 to form the Big 12; the other four were split between the WAC and the newly formed Conference USA.

The Hall of Fame Bowl, originally played in Birmingham, then moved to Tampa, Florida gained corporate sponsorship, and was now known as the Outback Bowl. The Freedom Bowl was discontinued and the Holiday Bowl absorbed its WAC tie-in.

The first ever Division I-A overtime game was played during the 1995 bowl season, the Las Vegas Bowl between Toledo and Nevada. Overtime would be adopted permanently for all games in 1996. Due to the adoption of overtime, the season-ending 3–3 game between Wisconsin and Illinois on November 25 is the last tied game in Division I-A. [3]

Rule changes

Conference and program changes

One team upgraded from Division I-AA prior to the season. As such, the total number of Division I-A schools increased to 108.

School1994 Conference1995 Conference
North Texas Mean Green Southland Conference I-A Independent

Regular Season

August–September

Florida State was the top-ranked team in the preseason AP Poll, with defending champion Nebraska at No. 2 followed by No. 3 Texas A&M, No. 4 Penn State, and No. 5 Florida.

August 31-September 2: No. 1 Florida State opened their season with a 70-26 blowout of Duke. No. 2 Nebraska was just as dominant, winning 64–21 at Oklahoma State. No. 3 Texas A&M defeated LSU 33–17. No. 4 Penn State had not started their schedule. No. 5 Florida beat Houston 45–21. The top five remained the same in the next poll.

September 9: No. 1 Florida State won 45–26 at Clemson, and No. 2 Nebraska visited Michigan State for a 50–10 victory. No. 3 Texas A&M was idle. No. 4 Penn State struggled against Texas Tech, winning 24–23 on a field goal with four seconds left. No. 5 Florida beat Kentucky 42–7 in Lexington. No. 6 Auburn overwhelmed Chattanooga 76-10 and moved up in the next poll: No. 1 Florida State, No. 2 Nebraska, No. 3 Texas A&M, No. 4 Florida, and No. 5 Auburn.

September 16: No. 1 Florida State and No. 2 Nebraska continued their dominant performances, respectively defeating North Carolina State 77-17 and Arizona State 77–28. No. 3 Texas A&M also piled on the points, beating Tulsa 52–9, and No. 4 Florida showed similar firepower with a 62–37 win over No. 8 Tennessee. In contrast, No. 5 Auburn found themselves in a defensive struggle at LSU, and the Bayou Bengals prevailed 12–6. No. 6 USC beat Houston 45-10 and moved up in the next poll: No. 1 Florida State, No. 2 Nebraska, No. 3 Texas A&M, No. 4 Florida, and No. 5 USC.

September 23: No. 1 Florida State defeated Central Florida 46–14, and No. 2 Nebraska beat Pacific 49–7. No. 3 Texas A&M lost 29–21 at No. 7 Colorado even after Buffaloes quarterback Koy Detmer was sidelined with a torn ACL. No. 4 Florida was idle, and No. 5 USC won 31–10 at No. 25 Arizona. The next poll featured No. 1 Florida State, No. 2 Nebraska, No. 3 Florida, No. 4 Colorado, and No. 5 USC.

September 30: No. 1 Florida State was idle. After winning all their previous games by 40 points or more, No. 2 Nebraska had “only” a two-touchdown margin of victory in their 35–21 defeat of Washington State. No. 3 Florida beat Mississippi 28–10, No. 4 Colorado won 38–17 at No. 10 Oklahoma, No. 5 USC shut out Arizona State 31–0, and No. 7 Ohio State defeated No. 15 Notre Dame 45–26. The next poll featured No. 1 Florida State, No. 2 Nebraska, No. 3 Florida, and No. 4 Colorado, with USC and Ohio State tied at No. 5.

October

October 7: No. 1 Florida State defeated Miami 41–17. No. 2 Nebraska was idle. No. 3 Florida won 28–10 at No. 21 LSU, but No. 4 Colorado fell 40–24 to No. 24 Kansas. No. 5 Ohio State made a late comeback to beat No. 12 Penn State 28–25, while fellow No. 5 USC was a 26-16 winner at California. The next poll featured No. 1 Florida State, No. 2 Nebraska, No. 3 Florida, No. 4 Ohio State, and No. 5 USC.

October 14: No. 1 Florida State dropped 70 points on an opponent for the third time in six games, winning 72–13 over Wake Forest. No. 2 Nebraska kept up the pace with a 57–0 shutout of Missouri. No. 3 Florida visited No. 7 Auburn and won 49–38. No. 4 Ohio State made another fourth-quarter comeback to ensure a 27–16 win at No. 21 Wisconsin, their fifth ranked opponent in six games. No. 5 USC defeated Washington State 26–14. The top five remained the same in the next poll.

October 21: No. 1 Florida State beat Georgia Tech 42–10, while No. 2 Nebraska defeated No. 8 Kansas State 49–25. No. 3 Florida was idle. No. 4 Ohio State shut out Purdue 28–0, but No. 5 USC fell 38–10 at No. 17 Notre Dame. No. 6 Tennessee was idle but moved up in the next poll: No. 1 Florida State, No. 2 Nebraska, No. 3 Florida, No. 4 Ohio State, and No. 5 Tennessee.

October 28: No. 1 Florida State was idle. No. 2 Nebraska won 44–21 at No. 7 Colorado, No. 3 Florida visited Georgia for a 52–17 victory, No. 4 Ohio State beat No. 25 Iowa 56–35, and No. 5 Tennessee defeated South Carolina 56–21. After two straight blowouts of highly rated opponents, Nebraska moved to the top spot in the next poll: No. 1 Nebraska, No. 2 Florida State, No. 3 Florida, No. 4 Ohio State, and No. 5 Tennessee.

November–December

November 2–4: No. 1 Nebraska overwhelmed Iowa State 73–14. The biggest upset of the season occurred in Charlottesville, where No. 24 Virginia hosted No. 2 Florida State. The Seminoles had dominated the ACC ever since they joined the league in 1992; in fact, they had not lost a single conference game in their three and a half years of membership. However, the streak came to an end with a 33-28 Cavaliers victory, as Florida State's Warrick Dunn fell just short of a game-winning touchdown as time ran out. No. 3 Florida defeated Northern Illinois 58–20, No. 4 Ohio State won 49–21 at Minnesota, and No. 5 Tennessee shut out Southern Mississippi 42–0. No. 6 Northwestern, a surprise contender for the Big Ten title, beat No. 12 Penn State 21-10 and moved into the top five: No. 1 Nebraska, No. 2 Ohio State, No. 3 Florida, No. 4 Tennessee, and No. 5 Northwestern.

November 11: No. 1 Nebraska visited No. 10 Kansas and won 41–3 to sew up the Big 8 title. No. 2 Ohio State defeated Illinois by the same 41-3 margin. No. 3 Florida won 63–7 at South Carolina to clinch a spot in the SEC Championship Game. No. 4 Tennessee was idle, and No. 5 Northwestern beat Iowa 31–20. The top five remained the same in the next poll.

November 18: No. 1 Nebraska was idle. No. 2 Ohio State won 42–3 over Indiana, and No. 3 Florida defeated Vanderbilt 38–7. No. 4 Tennessee needed a fourth-quarter comeback to edge Kentucky 34–31, while No. 5 Northwestern had an easier time of it with a 23–8 victory at Purdue. The Wildcats moved ahead of the Volunteers in the next poll: No. 1 Nebraska, No. 2 Ohio State, No. 3 Florida, No. 4 Northwestern, and No. 5 Tennessee.

November 24–25: No. 1 Nebraska put an exclamation point on their dominant regular season with a 37–0 shutout of rival Oklahoma. An even bigger rivalry game took place the next day, when No. 2 Ohio State visited No. 18 Michigan. For the second time in three years, the Wolverines spoiled the Buckeyes’ shot at an undefeated season, as 313 rushing yards by Tim Biakabutuka and two second-half interceptions by Charles Woodson led to a 31-23 Michigan win. No. 4 Northwestern, who had finished their regular-season schedule, received the Rose Bowl berth which would have gone to Ohio State if the Buckeyes had defeated their nemeses. Meanwhile, No. 3 Florida beat No. 6 Florida State 35-24 and No. 5 Tennessee won 12–7 over Vanderbilt. The next poll featured No. 1 Nebraska, No. 2 Florida, No. 3 Northwestern, No. 4 Tennessee, and No. 5 Ohio State.

December 2: No. 2 Florida was heavily favored to defeat No. 23 Arkansas in the SEC Championship Game, and the Gators did not disappoint, blowing out the Razorbacks 34–3 to complete an undefeated regular season. The final pre-bowl AP Poll featured No. 1 Nebraska, No. 2 Florida, and No. 3 Northwestern, with Tennessee and Ohio State tied at No. 4.

As the only two undefeated teams in the country, No. 1 Nebraska and No. 2 Florida were the obvious choices for the national championship game, and they would square off in the Fiesta Bowl to decide the title. The Rose Bowl featured its traditional Big Ten/Pac-10 matchup with No. 3 Northwestern and No. 17 USC. Other major bowl pairings included the two teams tied at No. 4 (Tennessee and Ohio State) facing each other in the Citrus Bowl, No. 6 Notre Dame against No. 8 Florida State in the Orange Bowl, No. 7 Colorado meeting No. 12 Oregon in the Cotton Bowl, and No. 9 Texas (champion of the SWC in that conference's last year of existence) versus Big East-winning No. 13 Virginia Tech in the Sugar Bowl.

Conference standings

1995 Atlantic Coast Conference football standings
ConfOverall
Team W L  W L 
No. 4 Florida State +  7 1   10 2  
No. 16 Virginia +  7 1   9 4  
Clemson  6 2   8 4  
Georgia Tech  5 3   6 5  
North Carolina  4 4   7 5  
Maryland  4 4   6 5  
NC State  2 6   3 8  
Duke  1 7   3 8  
Wake Forest  0 8   1 10  
  • + Conference co-champions
Rankings from AP Poll
1995 Big East Conference football standings
ConfOverall
Team W L  W L 
No. 10 Virginia Tech +  6 1   10 2  
No. 20 Miami (FL) +  6 1   8 3  
No. 19 Syracuse  5 2   9 3  
West Virginia  4 3   5 6  
Boston College  4 3   4 8  
Rutgers  2 5   4 7  
Temple  1 6   1 10  
Pittsburgh  0 7   2 9  
  • + Conference co-champions
Rankings from AP Poll
1995 Big Eight Conference football standings
ConfOverall
TeamW L TW L T
No. 1 Nebraska $ 7 0 012 0 0
No. 5 Colorado 5 2 010 2 0
No. 7 Kansas State 5 2 010 2 0
No. 9 Kansas 5 2 010 2 0
Oklahoma 2 5 05 5 1
Oklahoma State 2 5 04 8 0
Missouri 1 6 03 8 0
Iowa State 1 6 03 8 0
Rankings from AP Poll
1995 Big Ten Conference football standings
ConfOverall
TeamW L TW L T
No. 8 Northwestern $ 8 0 010 2 0
No. 6 Ohio State 7 1 011 2 0
No. 13 Penn State 5 3 09 3 0
No. 17 Michigan 5 3 09 4 0
Michigan State 4 3 16 5 1
No. 25 Iowa 4 4 08 4 0
Illinois 3 4 15 5 1
Wisconsin 3 4 14 5 2
Purdue 2 5 14 6 1
Minnesota 1 7 03 8 0
Indiana 0 8 02 9 0
  • $ Conference champion
Rankings from AP Poll
1995 Big West Conference football standings
ConfOverall
TeamW L TW L T
Nevada $ 7 0 09 3 0
Southwestern Louisiana 4 2 06 5 0
Utah State 4 3 04 7 0
Arkansas State 3 3 06 5 0
Northern Illinois 3 3 03 8 0
New Mexico State 3 4 04 7 0
San Jose State 3 4 03 8 0
Louisiana Tech 2 4 05 6 0
Pacific (CA) 2 4 03 8 0
UNLV 1 5 02 9 0
  • $ Conference champion
1995 Mid-American Conference football standings
ConfOverall
TeamW L TW L T
No. 24 Toledo $ 7 0 111 0 1
Miami (OH) 6 1 18 2 1
Ball State 6 2 07 4 0
Western Michigan 6 2 07 4 0
Eastern Michigan 5 3 06 5 0
Bowling Green 3 5 05 6 0
Central Michigan 2 6 04 7 0
Akron 2 6 02 9 0
Ohio 1 6 12 8 1
Kent State 0 7 11 9 1
  • $ Conference champion
Rankings from AP Poll
1995 Pacific-10 Conference football standings
ConfOverall
TeamW L TW L T
No. 12 USC ^ + 6 1 19 2 1
Washington + 6 1 17 4 1
No. 18 Oregon 6 2 09 3 0
Stanford 5 3 07 4 1
UCLA 4 4 07 5 0
Arizona 4 4 06 5 0
Arizona State 4 4 06 5 0
California 2 6 03 8 0
Washington State 2 6 03 8 0
Oregon State 0 8 01 10 0
  • + Conference co-champions
  • ^ – Rose Bowl representative per tie-breaking rules based on overall record, due to Washington-USC tie
Rankings from AP Poll
1995 Southeastern Conference football standings
ConfOverall
TeamW L TW L T
Eastern Division
No. 2 Florida x$ 8 0 012 1 0
No. 3 Tennessee 7 1 011 1 0
Georgia 3 5 06 6 0
South Carolina 2 5 14 6 1
Kentucky 2 6 04 7 0
Vanderbilt 1 7 02 9 0
Western Division
Arkansas x 6 2 08 5 0
No. 21 Alabama 5 3 08 3 0
No. 22 Auburn 5 3 08 4 0
LSU 4 3 17 4 1
Ole Miss 3 5 06 5 0
Mississippi State 1 7 03 8 0
Championship: Florida 34, Arkansas 3
  • $ Conference champion
  • x Division champion/co-champions
Rankings from AP Poll
1995 Southwest Conference football standings
ConfOverall
TeamW L TW L T
No. 14 Texas $ 7 0 010 2 1
No. 23 Texas Tech 5 2 09 3 0
No. 15 Texas A&M 5 2 09 3 0
Baylor 5 2 07 4 0
TCU 3 4 06 5 0
Houston 2 5 02 9 0
Rice 1 6 02 8 1
SMU 0 7 01 10 0
  • $ Conference champion
Rankings from AP Poll
1995 Western Athletic Conference football standings
ConfOverall
Team W L  W L 
Colorado State +  6 2   8 4  
BYU +  6 2   7 4  
Utah +  6 2   7 4  
Air Force +  6 2   8 5  
San Diego State  5 3   8 4  
Wyoming  4 4   6 5  
Fresno State  2 6   5 7  
New Mexico  2 6   4 7  
Hawaii  2 6   4 8  
UTEP  1 7   2 10  
  • + Conference co-champions
1995 NCAA Division I-A independents football records
ConfOverall
TeamW L TW L T
No. 11 Notre Dame   9 3 0
East Carolina   9 3 0
Louisville   7 4 0
Cincinnati   6 5 0
Southern Miss   6 5 0
Army   5 5 1
Navy   5 6 0
Tulsa   4 7 0
Memphis   3 8 0
Northeast Louisiana   2 9 0
North Texas   2 9 0
Tulane   2 9 0
Rankings from AP Poll

No. 1 and No. 2 progress

WEEKSNo. 1No. 2EventDate
PRE-9 Florida State Nebraska Nebraska 44, Colorado 21Oct 28
10NebraskaFlorida State Virginia 33, Florida St. 28Nov 2
11-13Nebraska Ohio State+ Michigan 31, Ohio State 23Nov 25
14-15Nebraska Florida Nebraska 62, Florida 24Jan 1

+Ohio State, a Big Ten school, was not part of the Bowl Alliance. Florida was No. 3 during weeks 11 through 13.

Bowl games

Final AP Poll

  1. Nebraska
  2. Florida
  3. Tennessee
  4. Florida State
  5. Colorado
  6. Ohio State
  7. Kansas State
  8. Northwestern
  9. Kansas
  10. Virginia Tech
  11. Notre Dame
  12. USC
  13. Penn State
  14. Texas
  15. Texas A&M
  16. Virginia
  17. Michigan
  18. Oregon
  19. Syracuse
  20. Miami-FL
  21. Alabama
  22. Auburn
  23. Texas Tech
  24. Toledo
  25. Iowa

Final Coaches Poll

  1. Nebraska
  2. Tennessee
  3. Florida
  4. Colorado
  5. Florida St.
  6. Kansas St.
  7. Northwestern
  8. Ohio St.
  9. Virginia Tech
  10. Kansas
  11. Southern California
  12. Penn St.
  13. Notre Dame
  14. Texas
  15. Texas A&M
  16. Syracuse
  17. Virginia
  18. Oregon
  19. Michigan
  20. Texas Tech
  21. Auburn
  22. Iowa
  23. East Carolina
  24. Toledo
  25. LSU

Heisman Trophy voting

The Heisman Trophy is given to the year's most outstanding player

PlayerSchoolPosition1st2nd3rdTotal
Eddie George Ohio State RB2682481601,460
Tommie Frazier Nebraska QB2181921581,196
Danny Wuerffel Florida QB185128128987
Darnell Autry Northwestern RB8778118535
Troy Davis Iowa State RB4180119402
Peyton Manning Tennessee QB102137109
Keyshawn Johnson USC WR9101259
Tim Biakabutuka Michigan RB111631
Warrick Dunn Florida State RB231729
Bobby Hoying Ohio StateQB091028

Other major awards

Related Research Articles

The 1990 NCAA Division I-A football season ended with a split national championship and the ensuing controversy helped lead to the creation of the Bowl Coalition, a precursor to the Bowl Championship Series. The national title was split between the Colorado Buffaloes and the Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets. The Buffaloes (11–1–1) took the AP poll while the Yellow Jackets (11–0–1) took the UPI Coaches poll by one vote over Colorado, 847 to 846. During the season Colorado had a particularly controversial victory over Missouri in what would later be known as the "Fifth Down Game".

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 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 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 Michigan Wolverines finished the season atop the AP Poll after completing a 12–0 campaign with a Big Ten Conference championship and a victory in the Rose Bowl over Washington State. 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. Michigan's Charles Woodson, who played primarily at cornerback, but also saw time on offense as a wide receiver and on special teams as a punt returner, won the Heisman Trophy, becoming the first primarily defensive player to win the award. The 1997 season was the third and final season in which the major bowl games were organized under the Bowl Alliance system. The Bowl Championship Series was instituted the following year.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">1987 NCAA Division I-A football season</span> American college football season

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 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 1985 NCAA Division I-A football season saw the Oklahoma Sooners, led by head coach Barry Switzer, win the national championship.

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.

The 1981 NCAA Division I-A football season ended with the Clemson Tigers, unbeaten and untied, claiming the national championship after a victory over Nebraska in the Orange Bowl. This was also the first year of the California Bowl, played in Fresno, California; this game fancied itself as a "junior" version of the Rose Bowl as it pitted the Big West Conference champion vs. the Mid-American Conference champion.

The 1979 NCAA Division I-A football season saw the Alabama Crimson Tide bring home a national title with a perfect 12–0 season. The title was Alabama's 11th claimed, and their 6th Associated Press awarded title.

The 1978 NCAA Division I-A football season was the first season of Division I-A college football; Division I-A was created in 1978 when Division I was subdivided into Division I-A and Division I-AA for football only. With the exception of seven teams from the Southwestern Athletic Conference (SWAC), Division I teams from the 1977 season played in Division I-A during the 1978 season. The SWAC teams, along with five conferences and five other teams formerly in Division II, played in Division I-AA.

In the 1968 NCAA University Division football season, the system of "polls and bowls" changed. The Associated Press returned to its pre-1961 system of ranking the Top 20 rather than the Top 10, and voted on the national champion after the bowl games, rather than before. During the 20th century, the NCAA had no playoff for the major college football teams in the University Division, later known as Division I-A.

The 1969 NCAA University Division football season was celebrated as the centennial of college football.

The 1971 NCAA University Division football season saw Coach Bob Devaney's Nebraska Cornhuskers repeat as national champions. Ranked a close second behind Notre Dame in the preseason poll, Nebraska moved up to first place the following week, remained there for the rest of 1971, and convincingly won the Orange Bowl 38–6 in a No. 1 vs. No. 2 game against Alabama.

The 1972 NCAA University Division football season saw the USC Trojans, coached by John McKay, go undefeated and win the national championship as the unanimous choice of the 50 AP panelists. Eighth-ranked in the preseason, the Trojans were narrowly voted No. 1 in the first AP poll, and stayed out front for the rest of the year.

The 1974 NCAA Division I football season finished with two national champions. The Associated Press (AP) writers' poll ranked the University of Oklahoma, which was on probation and barred by the NCAA from postseason play, No. 1 at season's end. The United Press International (UPI) coaches' poll did not rank teams on probation, by unanimous agreement of the 25 member coaches' board. The UPI trophy went to the USC.

References

  1. "1995 NCAA Division IA Football Power Ratings". www.jhowell.net.
  2. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on October 2, 2011. Retrieved January 3, 2009.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  3. "Sometimes history isn't always pretty as the CFB's last tie shows". ESPN.com. November 10, 2016.