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Template:Use mdy dates Template:Infobox NCAA Division I FBS season

The 2008 NCAA Division I FBS 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, 2008 and ended on December 6, 2008. The postseason concluded on January 8, 2009 with the BCS National Championship Game in Miami Gardens, Florida, which featured the top two teams ranked by the Bowl Championship Series (BCS): the No. 2 Florida Gators and No. 1 Oklahoma Sooners.[1] Florida defeated Oklahoma by a score of 24–14 to win their second BCS title in three years and third overall national championship in school history. The Utah Utes were selected national champions by Anderson & Hester after beating the Alabama Crimson Tide in the 2009 Sugar Bowl, finishing the season as the nation's only undefeated team.[2]

Rule changes[]

The NCAA football rules committee made rule changes for 2008, including the following:[3][4]

  • Teams have 40 seconds from the time a ball is declared dead to snap the ball. The 25 second play clock will still be used for administrative stoppages and penalties.
  • The 15 second play clock after a TV timeout (adopted in the 2007 season) is repealed and returned to 25 seconds.
  • Outside of the final two minutes of each half, if a runner goes out of bounds, the game clock restarts after the ball is spotted.
  • The penalty for kicking the ball out of bounds on the kickoff is increased, placing the ball at the 40-yard line, similar to the NFL.
  • Reinforcing that contact that leads with the crown of the helmet to another player (targeting) is a foul, penalized 15 yards.
  • All face-mask penalties result in a 15-yard penalty. Incidental contact with the face mask is no longer penalized.
  • Sideline warnings are now penalized five yards for the first two occurrences, and 15 yards (unsportsmanlike conduct) for the third and subsequent violations. Previously the officials gave teams two warnings before a five-yard penalty was called.
  • All horse-collar tackles are now subject to a 15-yard penalty.
  • If a coach challenges a play, and he wins the challenge, then he is given a second challenge to use later in the game, but each coach has a maximum of two challenges per game even if both are decided in his favor.

Conference and program changes[]

Western Kentucky upgraded from Division I FCS and played the 2008 season as a transitional Division I FBS member.

School 2007 Conference 2008 Conference
Western Kentucky Hilltoppers FCS Independent FBS Independent

Regular season top 10 matchups[]

Rankings reflect the AP Poll. Rankings for Week 8 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.

Most-watched regular season games[]

Rank Date Matchup Channel Viewers
1 December 6, 4:00 ET No. 2 Florida vs. No. 1 Alabama CBS, SEC Championship 15.061 Million
2 November 1, 8:00 ET No. 1 Texas vs. No. 7 Texas Tech ESPN on ABC 12.204 Million
3 September 13, 8:00 ET No. 5 Ohio State vs. No. 1 USC ESPN on ABC 11.800 Million
4 November 22, 8:00 ET No. 2 Texas Tech vs. No. 5 Oklahoma ESPN on ABC 10.742 Million
5 October 25, 8:00 ET No. 3 Penn State vs. No. 9 Ohio State ESPN on ABC 10.367 Million
6 November 29, 8:00 ET No. 3 Oklahoma vs. No. 12 Oklahoma State ESPN on ABC 9.525 Million
7 December 6, 8:00 ET No. 20 Missouri vs. No. 2 Oklahoma ESPN on ABC, Big 12 Championship 8.762 Million
8 November 8, 8:00 ET No. 9 Oklahoma State vs. No. 2 Texas Tech, No. 21 California vs No. 7 USC Regional ESPN on ABC 8.483 Million
9 November 8, 3:30 ET No. 1 Alabama vs. No. 16 LSU CBS 8.137 Million
10 October 11, 12:00 ET No. 5 Texas vs. No. 1 Oklahoma ESPN on ABC 7.726 Million

[5]

Conference standings[]

Template:2008 Atlantic Coast Conference football standings Template:2008 Big 12 Conference football standings Template:2008 Big East Conference football standings
Template:2008 Big Ten Conference football standings Template:2008 Conference USA football standings Template:2008 Mid-American Conference football standings
Template:2008 Mountain West Conference football standings Template:2008 Pacific-10 Conference football standings Template:2008 Southeastern Conference football standings
Template:2008 Sun Belt Conference football standings Template:2008 Western Athletic Conference football standings Template:2008 NCAA Division I FBS independents football records

Conference champions[]

Conference championship games[]

Rankings reflect the Week 14 AP Poll before the games were played.

Date Conference Winner Runner-Up Score Site TV
December 6 ACC Virginia Tech No. 18 Boston College 30–12 Raymond James Stadium
Tampa, Florida
ABC
December 6 Big 12 No. 4 Oklahoma No. 19 Missouri 62–21 Arrowhead Stadium
Kansas City, Missouri
ABC
December 6 Conference
USA
East Carolina Tulsa 27–24 H.A. Chapman Stadium
Tulsa, Oklahoma
ESPN2
December 5 MAC Buffalo No. 12 Ball State 42–24 Ford Field
Detroit, Michigan
ESPN2
December 6 SEC No. 2 Florida No. 1 Alabama 31–20 Georgia Dome
Atlanta, Georgia
CBS

Other conference champions[]

Rankings are from the Week 15 AP Poll.

Conference Champion
Big East No. 12 Cincinnati
Big Ten No. 6 Penn State

#10 Ohio State

Mountain West No. 7 Utah
Pac-10 No. 5 USC
Sun Belt Troy
WAC No. 9 Boise State

Bowl games[]

  • Main article: 2008–09 NCAA football bowl gamesWinners are listed in boldface.

Bowl Championship Series[]

After the completion of the regular season and conference championship games, seven teams had secured BCS berths: ACC champion Virginia Tech, Big East champion Cincinnati, Big Ten champion Penn State, Big 12 champion Oklahoma, Pac-10 champion USC, SEC champion Florida, and Mountain West champion Utah, who qualified as the highest-ranked BCS non-AQ conference champion. With Oklahoma and Florida being selected to play in the championship, Texas and Alabama assumed their conference's berths in the Fiesta and Sugar Bowls, respectively. The remaining at-large berth was awarded to Ohio State, who were selected despite being ranked No. 10 by the BCS, behind No. 9 Boise State. No. 7 Texas Tech did not receive an at-large bid because the Big 12 had already been awarded the maximum of two BCS selections per conference.

Bowl Game Date Visitor Home Score TV
Rose Bowl Game presented by citi (Pasadena, CA) January 1[1] No. 5 USC No. 8 Penn State[6] 38–24 ABC
FedEx Orange Bowl (Miami Gardens, FL) January 1[1] No. 12 Cincinnati No. 19 Virginia Tech[7] 7–20 FOX
Allstate Sugar Bowl (New Orleans, LA) January 2[1] No. 6 Utah No. 4 Alabama 31–17 FOX
Tostitos Fiesta Bowl (Glendale, AZ) January 5[1] No. 10 Ohio State No. 3 Texas 21–24 FOX
FedEx BCS National Championship Game
(Miami Gardens, FL)
January 8[1] No. 2 Florida No. 1 Oklahoma 24–14 FOX

Other bowl games[]

Bowl Game Date Visitor Home Score TV
EagleBank Bowl (Washington, D.C.) December 20 Wake Forest Navy 29–19 ESPN
New Mexico Bowl (Albuquerque, NM]]) December 20 Colorado State Fresno State 40–35 ESPN
magicJack St. Petersburg Bowl (St. Petersburg, FL) December 20 Memphis South Florida 14–41 ESPN2
Pioneer Las Vegas Bowl (Las Vegas, NV) December 20 No. 16 BYU Arizona 21–31 ESPN
R+L Carriers New Orleans Bowl (New Orleans, LA) December 21 Southern Miss. Troy 30–27 ESPN
SDCCU Poinsettia Bowl (San Diego, CA) December 23 No. 9 Boise State No. 11 TCU 16–17 ESPN
Sheraton Hawai'i Bowl (Aiea, HI) December 24 Hawai'i Notre Dame 21–49 ESPN
Motor City Bowl (Detroit, MI) December 26 Florida Atlantic Central Michigan 24–21 ESPN
Meineke Car Care Bowl (Charlotte, NC) December 27 West Virginia North Carolina 31–30 ESPN
Champs Sports Bowl (Orlando, FL) December 27 Wisconsin[8] Florida State 13–42 ESPN
Emerald Bowl (San Francisco, CA) December 27 Miami (FL) California 17–24 ESPN
Independence Bowl (Shreveport, LA) December 28 Northern Illinois Louisiana Tech 10–17 ESPN
Papajohns.com Bowl (Birmingham, AL) December 29 NC State Rutgers 23–29 ESPN2
Valero Alamo Bowl (San Antonio, TX) December 29 No. 21 Missouri No. 23 Northwestern 30–23 (OT) ESPN
Roady's Truck Stops Humanitarian Bowl (Boise, ID) December 30 Maryland Nevada 42–35 ESPN2
Texas Bowl (Houston, TX) December 30 Rice Western Michigan 38–14 NFL Network
Pacific Life Holiday Bowl (San Diego, CA) December 30 No. 13 Oklahoma State No. 17 Oregon 31–42 ESPN
Bell Helicopters Armed Forces Bowl (Fort Worth, TX) December 31 Houston Air Force 34–28 ESPN
Brut Sun Bowl (El Paso, TX) December 31 Oregon State No. 20 Pittsburgh[9] 3–0 CBS
Gaylord Hotels Music City Bowl (Nashville, TN) December 31 No. 24 Boston College Vanderbilt 14–16 ESPN
Insight Bowl (Tempe, AZ) December 31 Kansas[10] Minnesota[11] 42–21 NFL
Chick-fil-A Bowl (Atlanta, GA) December 31 LSU No. 14 Georgia Tech 38–3 ESPN
Outback Bowl (Tampa, FL) January 1 South Carolina Iowa 10–31 ESPN
Konica Minolta Gator Bowl (Jacksonville, FL) January 1 Nebraska Clemson 26–21 CBS
Capital One Bowl (Orlando, FL) January 1 No. 15 Georgia No. 18 Michigan State 24–12 ABC
Cotton Bowl Classic (Dallas, TX) January 2 No. 25 Ole Miss No. 7 Texas Tech 47–34 FOX
AutoZone Liberty Bowl (Memphis, TN) January 2 Kentucky East Carolina 25–19 ESPN
International Bowl (Toronto, ON, Canada) January 3 Buffalo Connecticut 20–38 ESPN2
GMAC Bowl (Mobile, AL) January 6 Tulsa No. 22 Ball State 45–13 ESPN

Bowl Challenge Cup standings[]

Conference Wins Losses Pct.
Pac-10 5 0 1.000
SEC 6 2 .750
Big East 4 2 .667
C-USA 4 2 .667
MWC 3 2 .600
Big 12 4 3 .571
Sun Belt * 1 1 .500
ACC 4 6 .400
WAC 1 4 .200
Big Ten 1 6 .143
MAC 0 5 .000

* Does not meet minimum game requirement of three teams needed for a conference to be eligible.

Awards and honors[]

Heisman Trophy voting[]

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

Player School Position 1st 2nd 3rd Total
Sam Bradford Oklahoma QB 300 315 196 1,726
Colt McCoy Texas QB 266 288 230 1,604
Tim Tebow Florida QB 309 207 234 1,575
Graham Harrell Texas Tech QB 13 44 86 213
Michael Crabtree Texas Tech WR 3 27 53 116
Shonn Greene Iowa RB 5 9 32 65
Pat White West Virginia QB 3 1 8 19
Nate Davis Ball State QB 0 1 8 10
Rey Maualuga USC LB 2 1 1 9
Javon Ringer Michigan State RB 1 0 5 8

Other major award winners[]

Top Player

Award Winner
Walter Camp Award Colt McCoy, Texas
Griffin Award Colt McCoy, Texas
Maxwell Award Tim Tebow, Florida

Coaching

Award Winner
The Home Depot Coach of the Year Award Nick Saban, Alabama[12]
Associated Press Coach of the Year Nick Saban, Alabama
Paul "Bear" Bryant Award (head coach) Kyle Whittingham, Utah
Liberty Mutual Coach of the Year Award Nick Saban, Alabama[13]
Eddie Robinson Coach of the Year Nick Saban, Alabama[14]
Walter Camp Coach of the Year (head coach) Nick Saban, Alabama
Broyles Award (assistant coach) Kevin Wilson, Oklahoma

Offense

Award Winner
Dave Rimington Trophy (Center) A. Q. Shipley, Penn State
Davey O'Brien Award (Quarterback) Sam Bradford, Oklahoma
Doak Walker Award (Running Back) Shonn Greene, Iowa
Fred Biletnikoff Award (Wide Receiver) Michael Crabtree, Texas Tech
John Mackey Award (Tight End) Chase Coffman, Missouri
Johnny Unitas Award (Sr. Quarterback) Graham Harrell, Texas Tech
Manning Award (quarterback) Tim Tebow, Florida

Defense

Award Winner
Bronko Nagurski Trophy (Defensive Player) Brian Orakpo, Texas
Chuck Bednarik Award (Defensive Player) Rey Maualuga, USC
Dick Butkus Award (Linebacker) Aaron Curry, Wake Forest
Lott Trophy (defensive impact) James Laurinaitis, Ohio State
Jim Thorpe Award (Defensive Back) Malcolm Jenkins, Ohio State
Ted Hendricks Award (defensive end) Brian Orakpo, Texas

Lineman

Award Winner
Outland Trophy (interior lineman) Andre Smith, Alabama
Lombardi Award (Top Lineman) Brian Orakpo, Texas

Special teams

Award Winner
Ray Guy Award (punter) Matt Fodge, Oklahoma State
Lou Groza Award (placekicker) Graham Gano, Florida State

Other

Award Winner
Draddy Trophy ("Academic Heisman") Alex Mack, California
Wuerffel Trophy (humanitarian-athlete) Tim Tebow, Florida[15]

All-Americans[]

  • Main article: 2008 College Football All-America Team
2008 Consensus All-America Team
Offense
Position Name Height Weight (lbs.) Class Hometown Team
QB Sam Bradford 6'4" 223 So. Oklahoma City, OK Oklahoma
RB Shonn Greene 5'11" 235 Sr. Atco, NJ Iowa
RB Javon Ringer 5'9" 202 Sr. Dayton, OH Michigan State
WR Michael Crabtree 6'3" 214 So. Dallas, TX Texas Tech
WR Dez Bryant 6'2" 225 So. Lufkin, TX Oklahoma State
TE Chase Coffman 6'6" 244 Sr. Peculiar, MO Missouri
T Andre Smith 6'4" 330 Jr. Birmingham, AL Alabama
T Michael Oher 6'5" 322 Sr. Memphis, TN Mississippi
G Duke Robinson 6'5" 329 Sr. Atlanta, GA Oklahoma
G Brandon Carter 6'7" 334 Jr. Longview, TX Texas Tech
C Antoine Caldwell 6'3" 305 Sr. Montgomery, AL Alabama
Defense
Position Name Height Weight (lbs.) Class Hometown Team
DE Brian Orakpo 6'3" 263 Sr. Greenwood, MS Texas
DE Aaron Maybin 6'4" 249 Jr. Baltimore, MD Penn State
DT Terrence Cody 6'5" 365 Jr. Fort Myers, FL Alabama
DE Jerry Hughes 6'3" 257 Jr. Sugar Land, TX TCU
LB Rey Maualuga 6'2" 260 Sr. Eureka, CA USC
LB James Laurinaitis 6'4" 244 Sr. Wayzata, MN Ohio State
LB Brandon Spikes 6'3" 249 Jr. Shelby, NC Piscataway, NJ Ohio State
CB Alphonso Smith 5'9" 190 Sr. Pahokee, FL Wake Forest
Safety Eric Berry 6'0" 211 So. Fairburn, GA Tennessee
Safety Taylor Mays 6'3" 230 Jr. Irving, TX USC
Special teams
Position Name Height Weight (lbs.) Class Hometown Team
Kicker Louie Sakoda 5'9" 175 Sr. San Jose, CA Utah
Punter Kevin Huber 6'1" 214 Sr. Cincinnati, OH Cincinnati
RS Brandon James 5'7" 186 Jr. St. Augustine, FL Florida
RS Jeremy Maclin 6'0" 198 Jr. Kirkwood, MO Missouri

Statistical leaders[]

  • Team scoring most points: Oklahoma, 716

Coaching changes[]

Pre-season[]

Pre-season
Team 2008 coach 2007 coach
Arkansas Bobby Petrino Houston Nutt
Baylor Art Briles Guy Morriss
Georgia Tech Paul Johnson Chan Gailey
Hawai'i Greg McMackin June Jones
Houston Kevin Sumlin Art Briles
Michigan Rich Rodriguez Lloyd Carr
Mississippi Houston Nutt Ed Orgeron
Navy Ken Niumatalolo Paul Johnson
Nebraska Bo Pelini Bill Callahan
Northern Illinois Jerry Kill Joe Novak
SMU June Jones Phil Bennett
Southern Mississippi Larry Fedora Jeff Bower
Texas A&M Mike Sherman Dennis Franchione
UCLA Rick Neuheisel Karl Dorrell
Washington State Paul Wulff Bill Doba

In-season[]

In-season
Team Interim coach Former coach
Clemson Dabo Swinney Tommy Bowden

End of season[]

End of season
Team Outgoing coach Reason Replacement
Army Stan Brock Fired Rich Ellerson
Auburn Tommy Tuberville Resigned Gene Chizik[16]
Ball State Brady Hoke[17] Hired as head coach at San Diego State Stan Parrish
Boston College Jeff Jagodzinski Fired Frank Spaziani
Bowling Green Gregg Brandon Fired Dave Clawson
Eastern Michigan Jeff Genyk Fired Ron English[18]
Iowa State Gene Chizik Hired as head coach at Auburn Paul Rhoads[19]
Kansas State Ron Prince Fired[20] Bill Snyder[21]
Miami (OH) Shane Montgomery Resigned Mike Haywood
Mississippi State Sylvester Croom Resigned Dan Mullen
New Mexico Rocky Long Resigned Mike Locksley[22]
New Mexico State Hal Mumme Fired DeWayne Walker
Oregon Mike Bellotti Resigned to become
Oregon athletic director[23]
Chip Kelly[23]
Purdue Joe Tiller Retired[24] Danny Hope[24]
San Diego State Chuck Long Fired Brady Hoke[17]
Syracuse Greg Robinson Fired Doug Marrone[25]
Tennessee Phillip Fulmer Fired Lane Kiffin[26]
Toledo Tom Amstutz Resigned Tim Beckman
Utah State Brent Guy Fired Gary Andersen
Washington Tyrone Willingham Fired Steve Sarkisian[27]
Wyoming Joe Glenn Fired Dave Christensen[28]

Final rankings[]

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Rank Associated Press USA TODAY/AFCA*
1 Florida Florida
2 Utah Southern California
3 Southern California Texas
4 Texas Utah
5 Oklahoma Oklahoma
6 Alabama Alabama
7 Texas Christian Texas Christian
8 Penn State Penn State
9 Ohio State Oregon
10 Oregon Georgia
11 Boise State Ohio State
12 Texas Tech Texas Tech
13 Georgia Boise State
14 Mississippi Virginia Tech
15 Virginia Tech Mississippi
16 Oklahoma State Missouri
17 Cincinnati Cincinnati
18 Oregon State Oklahoma State
19 Missouri Oregon State
20 Iowa Iowa
21 Florida State Brigham Young
22 Georgia Tech Georgia Tech
23 West Virginia Florida State
24 Michigan State Michigan State
25 Brigham Young California

* - The AFCA requires that their voters make the winner of the BCS Championship at the number one position in the final poll.
- Kyle Whittingham, head coach of Utah, broke the AFCA requirement and voted his team number one on his ballot.

See also[]

  • 2008 Big 12 Conference South Division 3-way tie controversy

Notes[]

  1. 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 1.5 "Future BCS Schedules", BCSFootball.org, Fox Sports. 
  2. Football Bowl Subdivision Records.
  3. Template:Cite press release
  4. "More new timing rules among NCAA proposal". 
  5. "NCAA Football Season Review". 
  6. "Penn State Rose Bowl Bound", Yahoo!.  [dead link]
  7. "Virginia Tech takes down BC,headed down to Orange Bowl again". 
  8. http://www.uwbadgers.com/sport_news/fb/headlines/story.html?sportid=111&storyid=16009
  9. PittsburghPanthers.com - University of Pittsburgh Official Athletic Site - Football.
  10. KU headed to Insight Bowl (4 December 2008).
  11. Gophers, Jayhawks to meet in Insight Bowl Archived December 25, 2008, at the Wayback Machine
  12. UA's Saban Named Home Depot Coach of the Year Archived 2009-02-13 at the Wayback Machine
  13. Liberty Mutual Coach of the Year.
  14. "ALABAMA'S SABAN WINS 2008 EDDIE ROBINSON AWARD". 
  15. UF's Tim Tebow is 2008 Wuerffel Trophy Winner Archived December 14, 2008, at the Wayback Machine
  16. Iowa State's Chizik to Take Over at Auburn Archived December 14, 2008, at the Wayback Machine
  17. 17.0 17.1 "San Diego State to hire Ball State's Hoke, source says", ESPN.com, 2008-12-15. 
  18. "English to be announced as EMU coach", ESPN.com, 2008-12-15. 
  19. Source: Rhoads to be named new ISU football coach [dead link]
  20. Template:Cite press release
  21. Template:Cite press release
  22. "Mike Locksley - New Mexico's 29th Head Football Coach" Archived January 4, 2009, at the Wayback Machine. - Lobos Football. - (c/o CBS Interactive). - December 9, 2008.
  23. 23.0 23.1 "Kelly succeeds Bellotti as Ducks coach", ESPN.com, 2009-03-13. 
  24. 24.0 24.1 Template:Cite press release
  25. Doug Marrone in Syracuse Friday; will be named head coach.
  26. Kiffin introduced as Vol's 21st coach » Abilene Reporter-News Archived December 8, 2008, at the Wayback Machine
  27. Sources: USC coordinator gets Washington job (5 December 2008).
  28. MU's Christensen accepts Wyoming job Archived December 2, 2008, at the Wayback Machine

References[]

Template:2008 NCAA Division I FBS football season navbox Template:NCAA football season navbox

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