2002 NCAA Division I-A football season

2002 NCAA Division I-A season
Heisman Trophy won by Carson Palmer for play during the 2002 season
Number of teams	117 [1]
Preseason AP No. 1	Miami (FL)
Postseason
Duration	December 17, 2002 – January 3, 2003
Bowl games	28
Heisman Trophy	Carson Palmer (quarterback, Southern California)
Bowl Championship Series
2003 Fiesta Bowl
Site	Sun Devil Stadium, Tempe, Arizona
Champion(s)	Ohio State
Division I-A football seasons
←  2001 2003  →

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.

Rose Bowl officials were vocally upset over the loss of the Big Ten champ from the game. Former New England Patriots coach Pete Carroll returned the USC Trojans to a BCS bid in only his second season as head coach. Notre Dame also returned to prominence, as Tyrone Willingham became the first coach in Notre Dame history to win 10 games in his first season.

Beginning with the 2002 season,^{[ citation needed ]} teams were allowed to schedule twelve regular season games instead of eleven leading to additional revenues for all teams and allowing players the enhanced opportunity to break various statistical records.

Rules changes

The NCAA Rules Committee adopted the following rules changes for the 2002 season:

• The penalty for violating the so-called "Halo Rule" (two yard restricted area around the punt/kick receiver) without making contact with the receiver is increased from five yards to 10 yards.
• Flagrant personal fouls committed during possession by the defense in overtime will be carried over to the next extra period. Previously, those fouls were disregarded but the player committing the foul was ejected from the game.
• All players are required to wear facemasks of the same color.
• Penalties committed during a touchdown play can now either be enforced on the PAT or the ensuing kickoff.

Conference and program changes

No teams upgraded from Division I-AA, leaving the number of Division I-A schools fixed at 117.

• The only conference move during this season saw the University of Central Florida leave the Independent ranks to join the Mid-American Conference as its 14th member.

School	2001 Conference	2002 Conference
Central Florida Knights	I-A Independent	MAC

Regular season

August-September

Coming off a national championship season and riding a 22-game winning streak, Miami was ranked No. 1 in the preseason AP Poll. The Hurricanes were followed by No. 2 Oklahoma, No. 3 Florida State, No. 4 Texas, and No. 5 Tennessee.

August 24: The only top-five team to play this week was No. 3 Florida State, who needed a game-ending goal-line stand to stop Iowa State 38-31 in the Eddie Robinson Classic. The Seminoles dropped in the next AP Poll, which featured Miami and Oklahoma tied at No. 1, followed by No. 3 Texas, No. 4 Tennessee, and No. 5 Florida State.

August 30-31: No. 1 Miami defeated Florida A&M 63-17, fellow No. 1 Oklahoma shut out Tulsa 37-0, No. 3 Texas blanked North Texas 27-0, No. 4 Tennessee beat Wyoming 47-7, and No. 5 Florida State won 40-19 over Virginia. Miami regained sole possession of the No. 1 spot in the next poll, with the top five otherwise remaining the same.

September 7: No. 1 Miami faced a tough early-season test against No. 6 Florida, and the Hurricanes passed with flying colors in a 41-16 victory. No. 2 Oklahoma beat Alabama 37-27, but lost quarterback Jason White to a season-ending ACL tear. No. 3 Texas was idle. No. 4 Tennessee defeated Middle Tennessee State 26-3. No. 5 Florida State was also idle, and the top five remained the same.

September 14: No. 1 Miami won 44-21 at Temple. With Nate Hybl taking over at quarterback, No. 2 Oklahoma blanked UTEP 68-0. No. 3 Texas visited North Carolina for a 52-21 victory. No. 4 Tennessee was idle, and No. 5 Florida State was a 37-10 winner at Maryland. The top five again remained the same.

September 21: No. 1 Miami beat Boston College 38-6. No. 2 Oklahoma was idle. No. 3 Texas defeated Houston 41-11, but No. 4 Tennessee fell 30-13 to No. 10 Florida at home. No. 5 Florida State defeated Duke 48-17, and No. 7 Virginia Tech won 13-3 at No. 19 Texas A&M. The next poll featured No. 1 Miami, No. 2 Oklahoma, No. 3 Texas, No. 4 Florida State, and No. 5 Virginia Tech.

September 28: No. 1 Miami was idle. No. 2 Oklahoma beat South Florida 31-14, but the AP voters were more impressed by No. 3 Texas’s 49-0 shutout of Tulane. No. 4 Florida State played Louisville in a driving rainstorm and suffered a 26-20 overtime loss. No. 5 Virginia Tech blanked Western Michigan 30-0, and No. 6 Ohio State won 45-17 over Indiana. The next poll featured No. 1 Miami, No. 2 Texas, No. 3 Oklahoma, No. 4 Virginia Tech, and No. 5 Ohio State.

October

October 5: No. 1 Miami defeated Connecticut 48-14. No. 2 Texas missed three short field goals and only escaped Oklahoma State 17-15 when the Cowboys failed to convert a two-point play after a fourth-quarter touchdown. No. 3 Oklahoma had a close call of their own, trailing Missouri in the fourth quarter before throwing a touchdown pass on a fake field goal and winning 31-24. No. 4 Virginia Tech was idle, and No. 5 Ohio State beat Northwestern 27-16. The Longhorns and Sooners switched places again in the next poll: No. 1 Miami, No. 2 Oklahoma, No. 3 Texas, No. 4 Virginia Tech, and No. 5 Ohio State.

October 10-12: In 1991, 1992, and 2000, Florida State had lost their rivalry game with Miami on potential game-winning or tying kicks which went wide right. This year brought more heartbreak as No. 9 FSU blew a 13-point fourth quarter lead to the top-ranked Hurricanes. Trailing 28-27, Florida State had one more chance at a field goal to win, but this time the kick sailed wide left and Miami escaped with the victory. Another rivalry showdown took place in Dallas, where No. 2 Oklahoma prevailed 35-24 over No. 3 Texas. No. 4 Virginia Tech won 28-23 at Boston College, No. 5 Ohio State blasted San Jose State 50-7, and No. 6 Georgia got past No. 10 Tennessee 18-13. The next poll featured No. 1 Miami, No. 2 Oklahoma, No. 3 Virginia Tech, No. 4 Ohio State, and No. 5 Georgia.

October 19: No. 1 Miami was idle, No. 2 Oklahoma blew out No. 9 Iowa State 49-3, and No. 3 Virginia Tech defeated Rutgers 35-14. No. 4 Ohio State needed a fourth-quarter comeback to beat Wisconsin 19-14, while No. 5 Georgia beat Vanderbilt 48-17. The AP poll remained the same, but the first BCS standings were also released this week and had a somewhat different order. Oklahoma was in first place after two impressive victories in a row, followed by Miami, AP No. 6 Notre Dame, Virginia Tech, and Georgia.

October 26: No. 1 Miami won 40-23 at West Virginia. No. 2 Oklahoma was idle. No. 3 Virginia Tech defeated Temple 20-10. No. 4 Ohio State again looked mortal in a 13-7 victory over No. 18 Penn State. No. 5 Georgia beat Kentucky 52-24 on the road. No. 6 Notre Dame’s 34-24 win at No. 11 Florida State was enough to move the Irish up in the next poll: No. 1 Miami, No. 2 Oklahoma, No. 3 Virginia Tech, No. 4 Notre Dame, and No. 5 Georgia. Despite falling to sixth in the AP standings, Ohio State moved up in the BCS, where they replaced Virginia Tech in the top five.

November

November 2: No. 1 Miami won 42-17 at Rutgers, but No. 2 Oklahoma—already first in the BCS standings—pulled off their third consecutive victory over a ranked opponent (27-11 against No. 13 Colorado) and took over the top spot in the next AP Poll. There was plenty of chaos among the other highly ranked teams. No. 3 Virginia Tech blew a two-touchdown lead and lost 28-21 to Pittsburgh, No. 4 Notre Dame fell 14-7 to Boston College, and No. 5 Georgia was defeated 20-13 by Florida, the Gators’ twelfth win over the Bulldogs in thirteen years. No. 6 Ohio State blew out No. 23 Minnesota 34-3, No. 7 Texas beat Nebraska 27-24 with the help of a late interception, and No. 8 Washington State defeated No. 16 Arizona State 44-22. The next AP Poll featured No. 1 Oklahoma, No. 2 Miami, No. 3 Ohio State, No. 4 Texas, and No. 5 Washington State. Miami held onto first place in the Coaches Poll but dropped even further in the BCS, falling to third behind Oklahoma and Ohio State.

November 9: Playing their first unranked opponent in over a month, No. 1 Oklahoma lost 30-26 at Texas A&M, while No. 2 Miami moved back up with a 26-3 victory at Tennessee. No. 3 Ohio State escaped Purdue 10-6 on Craig Krenzel’s fourth-down touchdown pass with two minutes left. No. 4 Texas shut out Baylor 41-0, and No. 5 Washington State won 32-21 over No. 15 Oregon. The next AP Poll featured No. 1 Miami, No. 2 Ohio State, and No. 3 Washington State, with Oklahoma and Texas tied at No. 4. Ohio State took over first place in the BCS standings.

November 16: No. 1 Miami was idle. No. 2 Ohio State had their fourth close call in five weeks, needing overtime to get past Illinois 23-16. No. 3 Washington State was also idle. No. 4 Oklahoma rebounded with a 49-9 blowout of Baylor, but fellow No. 4 Texas fell 42-38 at Texas Tech. No. 6 Iowa moved up with a 45-21 win at Minnesota: No. 1 Miami, No. 2 Ohio State, No. 3 Washington State, No. 4 Oklahoma, and No. 5 Iowa. The BCS had Miami back in first place and Georgia, the sixth-ranked team in the AP Poll, at No. 5.

November 21-23: No. 1 Miami held off No. 17 Pittsburgh 28-21. After several close victories throughout the year, No. 2 Ohio State faced their final test against No. 12 Michigan, who had spoiled several potential undefeated seasons for the Buckeyes in the past decade. This time, OSU came through with a 14-9 victory to finish with a perfect record. No. 3 Washington State was less successful in their rivalry game, blowing a ten-point lead with four minutes to play and losing 29-26 to Washington in triple overtime. No. 4 Oklahoma clinched a spot in the Big 12 championship game with a 60-15 blowout of No. 24 Texas Tech. No. 5 Iowa had finished their schedule. No. 6 Georgia, who had already earned the SEC East title, was idle but moved up in the next AP Poll: No. 1 Miami, No. 2 Ohio State, No. 3 Oklahoma, No. 4 Iowa, and No. 5 Georgia.

November 30: No. 1 Miami clinched the Big East title with an easy 49-7 win at Syracuse. No. 2 Ohio State and No. 4 Iowa had finished their schedules. For the second year in a row, No. 3 Oklahoma suffered an upset loss to rival Oklahoma State; the Sooners trailed by as many as 29 points and eventually fell 38-28. No. 5 Georgia overwhelmed Georgia Tech 51-7. No. 6 USC breezed past No. 7 Notre Dame 44-13. The next AP Poll featured No. 1 Miami, No. 2 Ohio State, No. 3 Iowa, No. 4 Georgia, and No. 5 USC.

December

December 7: No. 1 Miami completed their second consecutive undefeated regular season and ran their overall winning streak to 34 games with a 56-45 victory over No. 18 Virginia Tech. No. 14 Alabama had won the SEC West, but the Crimson Tide were ineligible for postseason play due to NCAA violations, so No. 22 Arkansas represented the division against No. 4 Georgia in the SEC Championship Game. The matchup was no contest, with the Bulldogs winning 30-3. No. 2 Ohio State, No. 3 Iowa, and No. 5 USC had all finished their schedules, and the AP Poll remained unchanged.

As the only two undefeated teams in the nation, No. 1 Miami and No. 2 Ohio State were a shoo-in for the national championship game in the Fiesta Bowl. No. 3 Iowa had tied with the Buckeyes for the Big Ten title (the two teams did not play each other, allowing them both to finish unbeaten in conference play), but the Hawkeyes ended up playing No. 5 USC in the Orange Bowl rather than the conference’s usual spot in the Rose Bowl. The Rose matchup was No. 8 Oklahoma from the Big 12 against No. 7 Washington State, who tied USC atop the Pac-10 and held the head-to-head tiebreaker. Finally, the Sugar Bowl pitted No. 4 Georgia against the ACC champion, No. 16 Florida State.

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.

• Week 2
  • No. 1 Miami defeated No. 6 Florida, 41–16 (Ben Hill Griffin Stadium, Gainesville, Florida)
• Week 3
  • No. 6 Ohio State defeated No. 10 Washington State, 25–7 (Ohio Stadium, Columbus, Ohio)
• Week 4
  • No. 10 Florida defeated No. 4 Tennessee, 30–13 (Neyland Stadium, Knoxville, Tennessee)
• Week 7
  • No. 1 Miami defeated No. 9 Florida State, 28–27 (Miami Orange Bowl, Miami, Florida)
  • No. 2 Oklahoma defeated No. 3 Texas, 35–24 (Cotton Bowl, Dallas, Texas)
  • No. 6 Georgia defeated No. 10 Tennessee, 18–13 (Sanford Stadium, Athens, Georgia)
• Week 8
  • No. 2 Oklahoma defeated No. 9 Iowa State, 49–3 (Oklahoma Memorial Stadium, Norman, Oklahoma)
• Week 13
  • No. 2/2 Ohio State defeated No. 9/12 Michigan, 14–9 (Ohio Stadium, Columbus, Ohio)
• Week 14
  • No. 6/6 USC defeated No. 7/7 Notre Dame, 44–13 (Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum, Los Angeles, California)

Conference standings

2002 Atlantic Coast Conference football standings v t e Conf. Overall Team   W   L     W   L   No. 21 Florida State $   7 – 1     9 – 5   No. 22 Virginia   6 – 2     9 – 5   No. 13 Maryland   6 – 2     11 – 3   No. 12 NC State   5 – 3     11 – 3   Clemson   4 – 4     7 – 6   Georgia Tech   4 – 4     7 – 6   Wake Forest   3 – 5     7 – 6   North Carolina   1 – 7     3 – 9   Duke   0 – 8     2 – 10   $ – BCS representative as conference champion Rankings from AP Poll	2002 Big 12 Conference football standings v t e Conf. Overall Team   W   L     W   L   North Division No. 20 Colorado xy   7 – 1     9 – 5   No. 7 Kansas State   6 – 2     11 – 2   Iowa State   4 – 4     7 – 7   Nebraska   3 – 5     7 – 7   Missouri   2 – 6     5 – 7   Kansas   0 – 8     2 – 10   South Division No. 5 Oklahoma xy$   6 – 2     12 – 2   No. 6 Texas x   6 – 2     11 – 2   Texas Tech   5 – 3     9 – 5   Oklahoma State   5 – 3     8 – 5   Texas A&M   3 – 5     6 – 6   Baylor   1 – 7     3 – 9   Championship: Oklahoma 29, Colorado 7 $ – BCS representative as conference champion x – Division champion/co-champions y – Championship game participant Rankings from AP Poll	2002 Big East Conference football standings v t e Conf. Overall Team   W   L     W   L   No. 2 Miami (FL) $   7 – 0     12 – 1   No. 25 West Virginia   6 – 1     9 – 4   No. 19 Pittsburgh   5 – 2     9 – 4   No. 18 Virginia Tech   3 – 4     10 – 4   Boston College   3 – 4     9 – 4   Temple   2 – 5     4 – 8   Syracuse   2 – 5     4 – 8   Rutgers   0 – 7     1 – 11   $ – BCS representative as conference champion Rankings from AP Poll
2002 Big Ten Conference football standings v t e Conf. Overall Team   W   L     W   L   No. 1 Ohio State $#+   8 – 0     14 – 0   No. 8 Iowa  %+   8 – 0     11 – 2   No. 9 Michigan   6 – 2     10 – 3   No. 16 Penn State   5 – 3     9 – 4   Purdue   4 – 4     7 – 6   Illinois   4 – 4     5 – 7   Minnesota   3 – 5     8 – 5   Wisconsin   2 – 6     8 – 6   Michigan State   2 – 6     4 – 8   Northwestern   1 – 7     3 – 9   Indiana   1 – 7     3 – 9   # – BCS National Champion $ – BCS representative as conference champion % – BCS at-large representative + – Conference co-champions Rankings from AP Poll [2]	2002 Conference USA football standings v t e Conf. Overall Team   W   L     W   L   Cincinnati +   6 – 2     7 – 7   No. 23 TCU +   6 – 2     10 – 2   Louisville   5 – 3     7 – 6   Southern Miss   5 – 3     7 – 6   Tulane   4 – 4     8 – 5   UAB   4 – 4     5 – 7   East Carolina   4 – 4     4 – 8   Houston   3 – 5     5 – 7   Memphis   2 – 6     3 – 9   Army   1 – 7     1 – 11   + – Conference co-champions Rankings from AP Poll	2002 Mid-American Conference football standings v t e Conf. Overall Team   W   L     W   L   East Division No. 24 Marshall x$   7 – 1     11 – 2   UCF   6 – 2     7 – 5   Miami (OH)   5 – 3     7 – 5   Ohio   4 – 4     4 – 8   Akron   3 – 5     4 – 8   Kent State   1 – 7     3 – 9   Buffalo   0 – 8     1 – 11   West Division Toledo xy   7 – 1     9 – 5   Northern Illinois x   7 – 1     8 – 4   Bowling Green   6 – 2     9 – 3   Ball State   4 – 4     6 – 6   Western Michigan   3 – 5     4 – 8   Central Michigan   2 – 6     4 – 8   Eastern Michigan   1 – 7     3 – 9   Championship: Marshall 49, Toledo 45 $ – Conference champion x – Division champion/co-champions Rankings from AP Poll
2002 Mountain West Conference football standings v t e Conf. Overall Team   W   L     W   L   Colorado State $   6 – 1     10 – 4   New Mexico   5 – 2     7 – 7   Air Force   4 – 3     8 – 5   San Diego State   4 – 3     4 – 9   Utah   3 – 4     5 – 6   UNLV   3 – 4     5 – 7   BYU   2 – 5     5 – 7   Wyoming   1 – 6     2 – 10   $ – Conference champion Rankings from AP Poll	2002 Pacific-10 Conference football standings v t e Conf. Overall Team   W   L     W   L   No. 10 Washington State $+   7 – 1     10 – 3   No. 4 USC  %+   7 – 1     11 – 2   Arizona State   5 – 3     8 – 6   Oregon State   4 – 4     8 – 5   UCLA   4 – 4     8 – 5   California   4 – 4     7 – 5   Washington   4 – 4     7 – 6   Oregon   3 – 5     7 – 6   Arizona   1 – 7     4 – 8   Stanford   1 – 7     2 – 9   $ – BCS representative as conference champion % – BCS at-large representative + – Conference co-champions Rankings from AP Poll	2002 Southeastern Conference football standings v t e Conf. Overall Team   W   L     W   L   Eastern Division No. 3 Georgia x$   7 – 1     13 – 1   Florida   6 – 2     8 – 5   Tennessee   5 – 3     8 – 5   Kentucky   3 – 5     7 – 5   South Carolina   3 – 5     5 – 7   Vanderbilt   0 – 8     2 – 10   Western Division Arkansas xy   5 – 3     9 – 5   No. 14 Auburn x   5 – 3     9 – 4   LSU x   5 – 3     8 – 5   Ole Miss   3 – 5     7 – 6   Mississippi State   0 – 8     3 – 9   No. 11 ^Alabama   6 – 2     10 – 3   Championship: Georgia 30, Arkansas 3 $ – BCS representative as conference champion x – Division champion/co-champions y – Championship game participant ^ – Alabama had the best division record, but did not participate in postseason play due to NCAA probation. Rankings from AP Poll
2002 Sun Belt Conference football standings v t e Conf. Overall Team   W   L     W   L   North Texas $   6 – 0     8 – 5   New Mexico State   5 – 1     7 – 5   Arkansas State   3 – 3     6 – 7   Middle Tennessee   2 – 4     4 – 8   Louisiana–Lafayette   2 – 4     3 – 9   Louisiana–Monroe   2 – 4     3 – 9   Idaho   1 – 5     2 – 10   $ – Conference champion	2002 Western Athletic Conference football standings v t e Conf. Overall Team   W   L     W   L   No. 15 Boise State $   8 – 0     12 – 1   Hawaii   7 – 1     10 – 4   Fresno State   6 – 2     9 – 5   San Jose State   4 – 4     6 – 7   Nevada   4 – 4     5 – 7   Rice   3 – 5     4 – 7   Louisiana Tech   3 – 5     4 – 8   SMU   3 – 5     3 – 9   UTEP   1 – 7     2 – 10   Tulsa   1 – 7     1 – 11   $ – Conference champion Rankings from AP Poll	2002 NCAA Division I-A independents football records v t e Conf. Overall Team   W   L     W   L   South Florida   –     9 – 2   No. 17 Notre Dame   –     10 – 3   Connecticut   –     6 – 6   Utah State   –     4 – 7   Troy State   –     4 – 8   Navy   –     2 – 10   Rankings from AP Poll

I-AA team wins over I-A teams

Italics denotes I-AA teams.

Date	Visiting team	Home team	Site	Result	Attendance	Ref.
August 29	No. 6 (I-AA)  Lehigh	Buffalo	University at Buffalo Stadium • Amherst, New York	37–26	21,103	[3]
August 31	Villanova	Rutgers	Rutgers Stadium • Piscataway, New Jersey	37–19	19,101	[3]
September 7	Holy Cross	Army	Michie Stadium • West Point, New York	30–21	28,063	[3]
September 7	No. 22 (I-AA)  Northeastern	Ohio	Peden Stadium • Athens, Ohio	31–0	21,002	[3]
September 14	No. 3 (I-AA)  McNeese State	UL Monroe	Malone Stadium • Monroe, Louisiana	24–19	10,091	[3]
September 21	No. 20 (I-AA)  Western Illinois	Northern Illinois	Huskie Stadium • DeKalb, Illinois	29–26	23,598	[3]
September 28	Southeast Missouri State	Middle Tennessee	Johnny "Red" Floyd Stadium • Murfreesboro, Tennessee	24–14	27,519	[3]
October 5	No. 1 (I-AA)  Montana	Idaho	Kibbie Dome • Moscow, Idaho (Little Brown Stein)	38–31	14,047	[3]
#Rankings from AP Poll released prior to game.

Bowl Championship Series rankings

Main article: 2002 NCAA Division I-A football rankings

WEEK	No. 1	No. 2	EVENT
OCT 21	Oklahoma	Miami	Oklahoma 49, Iowa State 3
OCT 28	Oklahoma	Miami	Ohio State 34, Minnesota 3
NOV 4	Oklahoma	Ohio State	Texas A&M 30, Oklahoma 26
NOV 11	Ohio State	Miami	Ohio State 23, Illinois 16
NOV 18	Miami	Ohio State	Miami 28, Pittsburgh 21
NOV 25	Miami	Ohio State	Miami 49, Syracuse 7
DEC 2	Miami	Ohio State	Miami 56, Virginia Tech 45
FINAL	Miami	Ohio State	Ohio State 31, Miami 24 (2OT)

Final BCS rankings

BCS	School	Record	BCS Bowl game
1	Miami (FL)	12–0	Fiesta
2	Ohio State	13–0	Fiesta
3	Georgia	12–1	Sugar
4	USC	10–2	Orange
5	Iowa	11–1	Orange
6	Washington State	10–2	Rose
7	Oklahoma	11–2	Rose
8	Kansas State	10–2
9	Notre Dame	10–2
10	Texas	10–2
11	Michigan	9–3
12	Penn State	9–3
13	Colorado	9–4
14	Florida State	9–4	Sugar
15	West Virginia	9–4

Bowl games

Main article: 2002–03 NCAA football bowl games

The Rose Bowl normally features the champions of the Big Ten and the Pac-10. However, Big Ten-champion Ohio State, finishing No. 2 in the BCS, had qualified to play in the 2003 Fiesta Bowl for the national championship against Miami (Florida) ^[4] Earlier in the season, Ohio State had defeated Washington State 25–7.

After the national championship was set, the Orange Bowl had the next pick, and invited No. 3 (No. 5 BCS) Iowa from the Big Ten. When it was the Rose Bowl's turn to select, the best available team was No. 8 (No. 7 BCS) Oklahoma, who won the Big 12 Championship Game. When it came time for the Orange Bowl and Sugar Bowl to make a second pick, both wanted Pac-10 co-champion USC. However, a BCS rule stated that if two bowls wanted the same team, the bowl with the higher payoff had priority. ^[5] The Orange Bowl immediately extended an at-large bid to the No. 5 Trojans and paired them with at-large No. 3 Iowa in a Big Ten/Pac-10 "Rose Bowl East" matchup in the 2003 Orange Bowl. The Rose Bowl was left to pair Oklahoma with Pac-10 co-champion Washington State. ^[5] Rose Bowl committee executive director Mitch Dorger was not pleased with the results. ^[5]

As such, the BCS instituted a new rule, whereby a bowl losing its conference champion to the BCS championship could "protect" the second-place team from that conference from going to another bowl. This left the Sugar Bowl with No. 14 BCS Florida State, the winner of the Atlantic Coast Conference. Notre Dame at 10–2 and No. 9 in the BCS standings was invited to the 2003 Gator Bowl. Kansas State at No. 8 also was left out.

BCS bowls

• Fiesta Bowl: No. 2 Ohio State (BCS No. 2 Big Ten Champ) 31, No. 1 Miami (BCS No. 1 Big East Champ) 24 (2 OT)
• Sugar Bowl: No. 4 Georgia (BCS No. 3 SEC Champ) 26, No. 16 Florida State (BCS No. 14 ACC Champ) 13
• Orange Bowl: No. 5 USC (BCS No. 4) 38, No. 3 Iowa (BCS No. 5 At-Large) 17
• Rose Bowl: No. 8 Oklahoma (BCS No. 7 Big 12 Champ) 34, No. 7 Washington State (BCS No. 6 Pac-10 Champ) 14

Other New Year's Day bowls

• Cotton Bowl Classic: No. 9 Texas 35, LSU 20
• Capital One Bowl: No. 19 Auburn 13, No. 10 Penn State 9
• Gator Bowl: No. 17 NC State 28, No. 11 Notre Dame 6
• Outback Bowl: No. 12 Michigan 38, No. 22 Florida 30

December Bowl Games

• Holiday Bowl: No. 6 Kansas State 34, Arizona State 27
• Peach Bowl: No. 20 Maryland 30, Tennessee 3
• Tangerine Bowl: Texas Tech 55, Clemson 15
• Sun Bowl: Purdue 34, Washington 24
• Independence Bowl: Mississippi 27, Nebraska 23
• Alamo Bowl: Wisconsin 31, No. 14 Colorado 28
• Insight Bowl: No. 24 Pittsburgh 38, Oregon State 13
• Liberty Bowl: TCU (C-USA Champ) 25, No. 23 Colorado State (MWC Champ) 3
• Humanitarian Bowl: No. 18 Boise State (WAC Champ) 34, Iowa State 16
• Motor City Bowl: Boston College 51, Toledo 25
• Hawai'i Bowl: Tulane 36, Hawai'i 28
• Seattle Bowl: Wake Forest 38, Oregon 17
• San Francisco Bowl: No. 21 Virginia Tech 20, Air Force 13
• Music City Bowl: Minnesota 29, No. 25 Arkansas 14
• Las Vegas Bowl: UCLA 27, New Mexico 13
• GMAC Bowl: Marshall (MAC Champ) 38, Louisville 15
• Silicon Valley Classic: Fresno State 30, Georgia Tech 21
• Houston Bowl: Oklahoma State 33, Southern Miss 23
• Continental Tire Bowl: Virginia 48, No. 15 West Virginia 22
• New Orleans Bowl: North Texas (Sun Belt Champ) 24, Cincinnati 19

Heisman Trophy voting

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

Player	School	Position	1st	2nd	3rd	Total
Carson Palmer	USC	QB	242	224	154	1,328
Brad Banks	Iowa	QB	199	173	152	1,095
Larry Johnson	Penn State	RB	108	130	142	726
Willis McGahee	Miami (FL)	RB	101	118	121	660
Ken Dorsey	Miami (FL)	QB	122	89	99	643
Byron Leftwich	Marshall	QB	22	26	34	152
Jason Gesser	Washington State	QB	5	22	15	74
Chris Brown	Colorado	RB	5	11	11	48
Kliff Kingsbury	Texas Tech	QB	6	2	11	33
Quentin Griffin	Oklahoma	RB	1	8	9	28

Other major awards

• Maxwell Award (College player of the Year): Larry Johnson, Penn State
• Walter Camp Award (top back): Larry Johnson, Penn State
• Associated Press Player of the Year: Brad Banks, Iowa
• Davey O'Brien Award (quarterback): Brad Banks, Iowa
• Johnny Unitas Award (Sr. quarterback): Carson Palmer, USC
• Doak Walker Award (running back): Larry Johnson, Penn State
• Fred Biletnikoff Award (wide receiver): Charles Rogers, Michigan State
• John Mackey Award (tight end): Dallas Clark, Iowa
• Dave Rimington Trophy (center): Brett Romberg, Miami
• Chuck Bednarik Award (defensive player): E. J. Henderson, Maryland
• Lombardi Award (top lineman): Terrell Suggs, Arizona State
• Outland Trophy (interior lineman): Rien Long, Washington State
• Dick Butkus (linebacker): E. J. Henderson, Maryland
• Jim Thorpe Award (defensive back): Terence Newman, Kansas State
• Lou Groza Award (placekicker): Nate Kaeding, Iowa
• Ray Guy Award (punter): Mark Mariscal, Colorado
• The Home Depot Coach of the Year Award: Ty Willingham, Notre Dame
• Paul "Bear" Bryant Award: Jim Tressel, Ohio St.

Attendances

#	Team	Games	Total	Average
1	Michigan	7	774,033	110,576
2	Penn State	8	857,911	107,239
3	Tennessee	7	746,936	106,705
4	Ohio State	8	827,904	103,488
5	LSU	7	632,147	90,307
6	Georgia	7	605,640	86,520
7	Florida	7	596,296	85,185
8	Auburn	7	580,600	82,943
9	Alabama	7	579,999	82,857
10	South Carolina	6	492,828	82,138
11	Florida State	6	490,598	81,766
12	Notre Dame	6	484,910	80,818
13	Texas A&M	7	561,389	80,198
14	Texas	6	474,319	79,053
15	Wisconsin	8	624,182	78,023
16	Nebraska	8	622,415	77,802
17	Clemson	7	542,675	77,525
18	Oklahoma	6	450,621	75,104
19	Michigan State	8	591,539	73,942
20	Washington	7	500,042	71,435
21	Miami Hurricanes	6	417,233	69,539
22	Southern California	6	401,115	66,853
23	UCLA	6	392,375	65,396
24	Kentucky	7	449,084	64,155
25	BYU	6	373,055	62,176
26	Iowa	7	432,232	61,747
27	Arkansas	8	486,016	60,752
28	Virginia Tech	8	479,379	59,922
29	Mississippi	7	400,520	57,217
30	Purdue	7	395,008	56,430
31	Virginia	7	394,998	56,428
32	Oregon	8	450,730	56,341
33	Illinois	6	331,192	55,199
34	Missouri	6	316,339	52,723
35	West Virginia	6	314,477	52,413
36	North Carolina	6	301,750	50,292
37	North Carolina State	7	346,340	49,477
38	Colorado	6	295,316	49,219
39	Mississippi State	6	289,748	48,291
40	Kansas State	8	384,654	48,082
41	Arizona State	7	328,607	46,944
42	Maryland	7	323,758	46,251
43	Arizona	7	315,032	45,005
44	Pittsburgh	7	310,971	44,424
45	Iowa State	7	307,728	43,961
46	Oklahoma State	7	302,669	43,238
47	Georgia Tech	6	258,938	43,156
48	Texas Tech	6	258,758	43,126
49	Air Force	7	298,993	42,713
50	Syracuse	6	253,365	42,228
51	Minnesota	7	292,492	41,785
52	Boston College	7	287,737	41,105
53	Fresno State	6	234,800	39,133
54	Stanford	5	193,850	38,770
55	Hawaii	8	310,074	38,759
56	California	7	259,719	37,103
57	Louisville	6	218,838	36,473
58	Oregon State	7	255,054	36,436
59	Kansas	6	216,500	36,083
60	Utah	5	178,419	35,684
61	Washington State	6	203,328	33,888
62	Navy	6	203,210	33,868
63	Army	6	195,636	32,606
64	Vanderbilt	7	225,342	32,192
65	Colorado State	5	152,307	30,461
66	East Carolina	5	148,144	29,629
67	New Mexico	6	174,184	29,031
68	Memphis	6	170,362	28,394
69	UTEP	5	141,552	28,310
70	Cincinnati	7	196,497	28,071
71	Baylor	6	168,110	28,018
72	Boise State	7	195,641	27,949
73	Tulane	7	195,309	27,901
74	TCU	6	166,879	27,813
75	Marshall	7	194,520	27,789
76	Northwestern	6	165,574	27,596
77	UNLV	6	165,493	27,582
78	Indiana	6	163,038	27,173
79	Southern Miss	6	161,766	26,961
80	Wake Forest	6	159,222	26,537
81	South Florida	6	157,824	26,304
82	San Diego State	5	126,650	25,330
83	Toledo	6	143,791	23,965
84	Duke	6	139,332	23,222
85	Wyoming	6	135,654	22,609
86	New Mexico State	5	110,813	22,163
87	UCF	6	131,832	21,972
88	Northern Illinois	6	125,715	20,953
89	Rice	5	100,344	20,069
90	Rutgers	6	118,910	19,818
91	Temple	7	133,536	19,077
92	Tulsa	6	113,914	18,986
93	Nevada	6	113,508	18,918
94	Western Michigan	6	113,263	18,877
95	Louisiana Tech	5	92,383	18,477
96	SMU	6	109,752	18,292
97	Miami RedHawks	5	91,425	18,285
98	Ohio	5	90,382	18,076
99	Bowling Green	6	107,016	17,836
100	Central Michigan	6	103,865	17,311
101	Utah State	5	84,145	16,829
102	UAB	6	98,682	16,447
103	Connecticut	6	94,843	15,807
104	North Texas	5	76,302	15,260
105	Louisiana-Lafayette	5	75,279	15,056
106	Buffalo	6	83,770	13,962
107	Troy	4	53,611	13,403
108	Houston	6	75,018	12,503
109	Ball State	5	61,519	12,304
110	Akron	5	57,999	11,600
111	Middle Tennessee	5	55,816	11,163
112	Idaho	5	54,655	10,931
113	Eastern Michigan	6	64,659	10,777
114	Arkansas State	7	75,114	10,731
115	San Jose State	4	41,438	10,360
116	Louisiana-Monroe	6	50,822	8,470
117	Kent State	6	50,769	8,462

Sources: ^{[6] [7]}

References

1. "2002 NCAA Division IA Football Power Ratings". www.jhowell.net.
2. "2002 NCAA Football Rankings - AP Top 25 Postseason (Jan. 5)". ESPN. Retrieved November 29, 2010.
3. "FCS wins vs. FBS teams: All-time victories, upsets, wins vs. ranked teams". NCAA.com. September 7, 2025. Retrieved October 2, 2025.
4. "College Football Poll.com". www.collegefootballpoll.com.
5. Rosenblatt, Richard – BCS: Orange Bowl has a Rosy look Associated Press, December 9, 2002
6. "Football Records" (PDF). ATTENDANCE RECORDS.
7. "NCAA Football Attendance – kenn.com blog". kenn.com.