1996–97 NCAA football bowl games

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1996–97 NCAA football bowl games
1996 Bowls-USA-states.PNG
Number of bowl games per state.
Season 1996
Regular seasonAugust 24December 7
Number of bowls18
Bowl games December 19, 1996 –
January 2, 1997
National Championship 1997 Sugar Bowl
Location of Championship Louisiana Superdome,
New Orleans, Louisiana
Champions Florida Gators
Bowl record by conference
ConferenceBowlsRecordFinal AP Poll
Big Ten 7 4–3 (0.571) 5
SEC 5 5–0 (1.000) 5
Big 12 5 2–3 (0.400) 4
Big East 4 2–2 (0.500) 3
ACC 4 1–3 (0.250) 2
Pac-10 4 1–3 (0.250) 2
Independents 2 1–1 (0.500) 2
WAC 2 1–1 (0.500) 2
Big West 1 1–0 (1.000) 0
Conference USA 1 0–1 (0.000) 0
MAC 1 0–1 (0.000) 0
Number of bowl teams per state. 1996 Bowl Teams-USA-states.png
Number of bowl teams per state.

The 1996-97 NCAA College Football Bowl Games post-season schedule followed the 1996 NCAA Division I-A regular football season in college football and contained 18 bowl games. This started with the 4th annual Las Vegas Bowl and ended with the 1997 Sugar Bowl. The Sugar Bowl served as the Bowl Alliance national championship game[ citation needed ] for the 1996 season and occurred in the Louisiana Superdome in New Orleans. Featuring a rematch between the #1 Florida State Seminoles and the #3 Florida Gators, the Gators reversed the outcome of their regular season game with the Seminoles to capture both the AP and Bowl Alliance championships.

Contents

Non-Bowl Alliance bowls

DateGameSiteResultRef.
Dec 19 1996 Las Vegas Bowl Sam Boyd Stadium
 · Las Vegas, NV
Nevada 18, Ball State 15
Dec 25 1996 Aloha Bowl Aloha Stadium
 · Honolulu, HI
Navy 42, Cal 38
Dec 27 1996 Carquest Bowl Pro Player Stadium
 · Miami Gardens, FL
(19) Miami 31, Virginia 21
1996 Liberty Bowl Liberty Bowl Memorial Stadium
 · Memphis, TN
(23) Syracuse 30, Houston 17
1996 Copper Bowl Arizona Stadium
 · Tucson, AZ
Wisconsin 38, Utah 10
Dec 28 1996 Peach Bowl Georgia Dome
 · Atlanta, GA
(17) LSU 10, Clemson 7
Dec 29 1996 Alamo Bowl Alamodome
 · San Antonio, TX
(21) Iowa 27, Texas Tech 0
Dec 30 1996 Holiday Bowl Jack Murphy Stadium
 · San Diego, CA
(8) Colorado 33, (13) Washington 21
Dec 31 1996 Independence Bowl Independence Stadium
 · Shreveport, LA
Auburn 32, (24) Army 29
1996 Sun Bowl Sun Bowl Stadium
 · El Paso, TX
Stanford 38, Michigan State 0
Jan 1 1997 Outback Bowl Houlihan's Stadium
 · Tampa, FL
(16) Alabama 17, (15) Michigan 14
1997 Cotton Bowl Classic Cotton Bowl
 · Dallas, TX
(5) BYU 19, (14) Kansas State 15
1997 Gator Bowl Alltel Stadium
 · Jacksonville, FL
(12) North Carolina 20, (25) West Virginia 13
1997 Rose Bowl Rose Bowl
 · Pasadena, CA
(4) Ohio State 20, (2) Arizona State 17
1997 Florida Citrus Bowl Florida Citrus Bowl
 · Orlando, FL
(9) Tennessee 48, (11) Northwestern 28
Rankings from AP Poll released prior to the game.

Bowl Alliance games

-DateGameSiteResultRef.
Dec 31 1996 Orange Bowl Pro Player Stadium
 · Miami Gardens, FL
(6) Nebraska 41, (10) Virginia Tech 21
Jan 1 1997 Fiesta Bowl Sun Devil Stadium
 · Tempe, AZ
(7) Penn State 38, (20) Texas 15
Jan 2 1997 Sugar Bowl (championship game) Louisiana Superdome
 · New Orleans, LA
(3) Florida 52, (1) Florida State 20
Rankings from AP Poll released prior to the game.

Final rankings

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