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).
2008 NCAA Division I FBS season | |
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Number of teams | 119 + 1 transitional[n 1] |
Duration | August 28 – December 6 |
Preseason AP No. 1 | Georgia |
Post-season | |
Duration | December 20, 2008 – January 31, 2009 |
Bowl games | 34 |
Heisman Trophy | Sam Bradford (quarterback, Oklahoma) |
Bowl Championship Series | |
2009 BCS Championship Game | |
Site | Dolphin Stadium, Miami Gardens, Florida |
Champion(s) | Florida |
NCAA Division I FBS football seasons | |
← 2007 2009 → |
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 (No. 1 in the AP Poll) and No. 1 Oklahoma Sooners (No. 2 in the AP Poll).[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]
The NCAA football rules committee made rule changes for 2008, including the following:[3][4]
Western Kentucky upgraded from Division I FCS and played the 2008 season as a transitional Division I FBS member.
School | 2007 Conference | 2008 Conference |
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Western Kentucky Hilltoppers | FCS Independent | FBS Independent |
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.
Rank | Date | Matchup | Channel | Viewers |
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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 |
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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 | Skelly Field at 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 |
Rankings are from the Week 15 AP Poll.
Conference | Champion |
---|---|
Big East | No. 12 Cincinnati |
Big Ten | No. 6 Penn State
No. 10 Ohio State |
Mountain West | No. 7 Utah |
Pac-10 | No. 5 USC |
Sun Belt | Troy |
WAC | No. 9 Boise State |
Winners are listed in boldface. Rankings are from the final pre-bowl AP Poll.
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. BCS 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 |
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Rose Bowl Game presented by Citi (Pasadena, CA) | January 1[1] | No. 5 USC | No. 6 Penn State[6] | 38–24 | ABC |
FedEx Orange Bowl (Miami Gardens, FL) | January 1[1] | No. 12 Cincinnati | No. 21 Virginia Tech[7] | 7–20 | FOX |
Allstate Sugar Bowl (New Orleans, LA) | January 2[1] | No. 7 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. 1 Florida | No. 2 Oklahoma | 24–14 | FOX |
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.
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 |
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] |
Position | Name | Height | Weight (lbs.) | Class | Hometown | Team |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Kicker | Louie Sakoda | 5'9" | 175 | Sr. | San Jose, California | Utah |
Punter | Kevin Huber | 6'1" | 214 | Sr. | Cincinnati, Ohio | Cincinnati |
RS | Brandon James | 5'7" | 186 | Jr. | St. Augustine, Florida | Florida |
RS | Jeremy Maclin | 6'0" | 198 | Jr. | Kirkwood, Missouri | Missouri |
Pre-season | ||
---|---|---|
Team | 2008 coach | 2007 coach |
Arkansas | Bobby Petrino | Houston Nutt |
Baylor | Art Briles | Guy Morriss |
Georgia Tech | Paul Johnson | Chan Gailey |
Hawaiʻi | 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 | ||
---|---|---|
Team | Interim coach | Former coach |
Clemson | Dabo Swinney | Tommy Bowden |
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] |
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.