1998 NCAA Division I-A football season

1998 NCAA Division I-A season

SEC and National Championship rings for the 1998 season Tennessee Volunteers
Number of teams 112
Preseason AP #1 Ohio State Buckeyes
Post-season
Duration December 19, 1998 –
January 4, 1999
Bowl games 22
Heisman Trophy Ricky Williams, Texas
Bowl Championship Series
1999 Fiesta Bowl
Site Sun Devil Stadium,
Tempe, Arizona
Winner Tennessee Volunteers
Division I-A football seasons
 1997
1999 

The 1998 NCAA Division I-A football season was the first of the Bowl Championship Series, which saw Tennessee win the national championship, one year after star quarterback Peyton Manning left for the NFL. The Volunteers defeated the Florida State Seminoles 23-16 in the Tostitos Fiesta Bowl in Tempe, Arizona to secure the inaugural BCS National Championship.

The BCS combined elements of the old Bowl Coalition and the Bowl Alliance it replaced. The agreement existed between the Rose, Fiesta, Sugar, and Orange Bowls, the Cotton Bowl Classic diminishing in status since the breakup of the Southwest Conference. 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, and a third 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 in October and a loss in November were on equal footing).

However, like the Bowl Coalition, the bowls not hosting the national championship would retain their traditional tie-ins.

The first run of the Bowl Championship Series was not without controversy as Kansas State finished third in the final BCS standings but was not invited to a BCS bowl game. Ohio State (ranked 4th) and two-loss Florida (8th) received the at-large bids instead. Also, Tulane went undefeated but finished 10th in the BCS standings and was not invited to a BCS bowl because of their strength of schedule.

Rule changes

The following rule changes were adopted by the NCAA Rules Committee during their 1998 meeting: [1]

Conference and program changes

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

School 1997 Conference 1998 Conference
Army Cadets I-A Independent Conference USA

Conference standings

1998 ACC football standings
Conf     Overall
Team   W   L         W   L  
#3 Florida State $+   7 1         11 2  
#9 Georgia Tech +   7 1         10 2  
#18 Virginia   6 2         9 3  
North Carolina   5 3         7 5  
NC State   5 3         7 5  
Duke   2 6         4 7  
Wake Forest   2 6         3 8  
Clemson   1 7         3 8  
Maryland   1 7         3 8  
  • $ BCS representative as conference champion
  • + Conference co-champions
Rankings from AP Poll
1998 Big East football standings
Conf     Overall
Team   W   L         W   L  
#25 Syracuse $   6 1         8 4  
#20 Miami (FL)   5 2         9 3  
#23 Virginia Tech   5 2         9 3  
West Virginia   5 2         8 4  
Boston College   3 4         4 7  
Rutgers   2 5         5 6  
Temple   2 5         2 9  
Pittsburgh   0 7         2 9  
  • $ BCS representative as conference champion
Rankings from AP Poll
1998 Big Ten football standings
Conf     Overall
Team   W   L         W   L  
#2 Ohio State %+   7 1         11 1  
#6 Wisconsin $+   7 1         11 1  
#12 Michigan +   7 1         10 3  
#24 Purdue   6 2         9 4  
#17 Penn State   5 3         9 3  
Michigan State   4 4         6 6  
Minnesota   2 6         5 6  
Indiana   2 6         4 7  
Illinois   2 6         3 8  
Iowa   2 6         3 8  
Northwestern   0 8         3 9  
  • $ BCS representative as conference champion
  • % BCS at-large representative
  • + Conference co-champions
Rankings from AP Poll
1998 Big 12 football standings
Conf     Overall
Team   W   L         W   L  
Northern Division
#10 Kansas State x   8 0         11 2  
#19 Nebraska   5 3         9 4  
#21 Missouri   5 3         8 4  
Colorado   4 4         8 4  
Kansas   1 7         4 7  
Iowa State   1 7         3 8  
Southern Division
#11 Texas A&M x$   7 1         11 3  
#15 Texas   6 2         9 3  
Texas Tech   4 4         7 5  
Oklahoma State   3 5         5 6  
Oklahoma   3 5         5 6  
Baylor   1 7         2 9  
Championship: Texas A&M 36, Kansas State 33 
  • $ BCS representative as conference champion
  • x Division champion/co-champions
Rankings from AP Poll
1998 Big West Conference football standings
Conf     Overall
Team   W   L         W   L  
Idaho $   4 1         9 3  
Nevada   3 2         6 5  
North Texas   3 2         3 8  
Boise State   2 3         6 5  
Utah State   2 3         3 8  
New Mexico State   1 4         3 8  
  • $ Conference champion
Rankings from AP Poll
1998 Conference USA football standings
Conf     Overall
Team   W   L         W   L  
#7 Tulane $   6 0         12 0  
Southern Miss   5 1         7 5  
Louisville   4 2         7 5  
East Carolina   3 3         6 5  
Army   2 4         3 8  
Houston   2 4         3 8  
Cincinnati   1 5         2 9  
Memphis   1 5         2 9  
  • $ Conference champion
Rankings from AP Poll
1998 Mid-American Conference football standings
Conf     Overall
Team   W   L         W   L  
East Division
Marshall xy$   7 1         12 1  
Miami x   7 1         10 1  
Bowling Green   5 3         5 6  
Ohio   5 3         5 6  
Akron   3 6         4 7  
Kent State   0 8         0 11  
West Division
Toledo x   6 2         7 5  
Western Michigan   5 3         7 4  
Central Michigan   5 3         6 5  
Eastern Michigan   3 6         3 8  
Northern Illinois   2 6         2 9  
Ball State   1 7         1 10  
Championship: Marshall 23, Toledo 17
  • $ Conference champion
  • x Division champion/co-champions
  • y Championship game participant
Rankings from AP Poll
1998 Pacific-10 football standings
Conf     Overall
Team   W   L         W   L  
#8 UCLA $   8 0         10 2  
#4 Arizona   7 1         12 1  
Oregon   5 3         8 4  
USC   5 3         8 5  
Washington   4 4         6 6  
Arizona State   4 4         5 6  
California   3 5         5 6  
Oregon State   2 6         5 6  
Stanford   2 6         3 8  
Washington State   0 8         3 8  
  • $ BCS representative as conference champion
Rankings from AP Poll
1998 SEC football standings
Conf     Overall
Team   W   L         W   L  
Eastern Division
#1 Tennessee x$#   8 0         13 0  
#5 Florida %   7 1         10 2  
#14 Georgia   6 2         9 3  
Kentucky   4 4         7 5  
Vanderbilt   1 7         2 9  
South Carolina   0 8         1 10  
Western Division
Mississippi State xy   6 2         8 5  
#16 Arkansas x   6 2         9 3  
Alabama   4 4         7 5  
Ole Miss   3 5         7 5  
LSU   2 6         4 7  
Auburn   1 7         3 8  
Championship: Tennessee 24, Mississippi State 14
  • # BCS National Champion
  • $ BCS representative as conference champion
  • % BCS at-large representative
  • x Division champion/co-champions
  • y Championship game participant
Rankings from AP Poll
1998 WAC football standings
Conf     Overall
Team   W   L         W   L  
Mountain Division
#13 Air Force x$   7 1         12 1  
Wyoming   6 2         8 3  
Colorado State   5 3         8 4  
Rice   5 3         5 6  
TCU   4 4         7 5  
Tulsa   2 6         4 7  
SMU   1 1         0 1  
UNLV   0 8         0 11  
Pacific Division
BYU xy   7 1         9 5  
San Diego State x   7 1         7 5  
Utah   5 3         7 4  
Fresno State   5 3         5 6  
San Jose State   3 5         4 8  
UTEP   3 5         3 8  
New Mexico   1 7         3 9  
Hawaii   0 8         0 12  
Championship: Air Force 20, BYU 13
  • $ Conference champion
  • x Division champion/co-champions
  • y Championship game participant
Rankings from AP Poll
1998 Division I-A independents football records
Conf     Overall
Team   W   L         W   L  
UCF           9 2  
#22 Notre Dame           9 3  
Louisiana Tech           6 6  
Northeast Louisiana           5 6  
UAB           4 7  
Arkansas State           4 8  
Navy           3 8  
Southwestern Louisiana           2 9  
Rankings from AP Poll

Bowl games

Bowl Site
Fiesta Bowl #1 Tennessee 23 #2 Florida State 16 Tempe, AZ
Sugar Bowl #4 Ohio State 24 #8 Texas A&M 14 New Orleans, LA
Orange Bowl #7 Florida 31 #18 Syracuse 10 Miami, FL
Rose Bowl #9 Wisconsin 38 #6 UCLA 31 Pasadena, CA
Cotton Bowl Classic #20 Texas 38 #25 Mississippi State 11 Dallas, TX
Peach Bowl #19 Georgia 35 #13 Virginia 33 Atlanta, GA
Florida Citrus Bowl #15 Michigan 45 #11 Arkansas 31 Orlando, FL
Outback Bowl #22 Penn State 26 Kentucky 15 Tampa, FL
Gator Bowl #12 Georgia Tech 35 #17 Notre Dame 28 Jacksonville, FL
MicronPC Bowl #24 Miami (FL) 46 NC State 23 Miami, FL
Sun Bowl TCU 28 USC 19 El Paso, TX
Alamo Bowl Purdue 37 #3 Kansas State 34 San Antonio, TX
Insight.com Bowl #23 Missouri 34 West Virginia 31 Tempe, AZ
Holiday Bowl #5 Arizona 23 #14 Nebraska 20 San Diego, CA
Liberty Bowl #10 Tulane 41 BYU 27 Memphis, TN
Aloha Bowl Colorado 51 #21 Oregon 43 Honolulu, HI
Oahu Bowl #16 Air Force 45 Washington 25 Honolulu, HI
Independence Bowl Mississippi 35 Texas Tech 18 Shreveport, LA
Music City Bowl Virginia Tech 38 Alabama 7 Nashville, TN
Las Vegas Bowl North Carolina 20 San Diego State 13 Las Vegas, NV
Motor City Bowl Marshall 48 Louisville 29 Detroit, MI
Humanitarian Bowl Idaho 42 Southern Mississippi 35 Boise, ID

Rankings are from the AP Poll.

Final polls

Heisman Trophy voting

The Heisman Memorial Trophy Award is given to the

Most Outstanding Player of the year
Winner: Ricky Williams, Texas, Running Back (2335 points)

Other major awards

References

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