National Champion: Miami (FL) (AP, BCS, FWAA, NFF, USA-ESPN)
Heisman Memorial Trophy: Eric Crouch (Nebraska)
Eddie Robinson Coach of the Year Award: Ralph Friedgen (Maryland)
AP Preseason #1: Florida ▪ AP Final #1: Miami (FL)
| Overall | Bowls | SRS | Polls | ||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Rk | Conference | Schs | G | W | L | Pct | G | W | L | Pct | SRS | SOS | Pre | Final | Champion |
| 1 | Southeastern Conference | 12 | 142 | 83 | 59 | .585 | 8 | 5 | 3 | .625 | 8.57 | 5.48 | 6 | 5 | Louisiana State |
| 2 | Big 12 Conference | 12 | 144 | 85 | 59 | .590 | 8 | 3 | 5 | .375 | 6.46 | 3.56 | 4 | 4 | Colorado |
| 3 | Pacific-10 Conference | 10 | 115 | 66 | 49 | .574 | 5 | 2 | 3 | .400 | 6.41 | 4.20 | 4 | 4 | Oregon |
| 4 | Big East Conference | 8 | 94 | 54 | 40 | .574 | 5 | 4 | 1 | .800 | 6.25 | 3.34 | 2 | 4 | Miami (FL) |
| 5 | Big Ten Conference | 11 | 128 | 68 | 60 | .531 | 6 | 2 | 4 | .333 | 5.79 | 4.33 | 4 | 2 | Illinois |
| 6 | Atlantic Coast Conference | 9 | 108 | 59 | 49 | .546 | 6 | 4 | 2 | .667 | 3.41 | 2.61 | 3 | 3 | Maryland |
| 7 | Mountain West Conference | 8 | 94 | 48 | 46 | .511 | 3 | 2 | 1 | .667 | -1.74 | -1.94 | 1 | 1 | Brigham Young |
| 8 | Conference USA | 10 | 116 | 53 | 63 | .457 | 4 | 1 | 3 | .250 | -4.22 | -3.11 | 0 | 1 | Louisville |
| 9 | Western Athletic Conference | 10 | 118 | 56 | 62 | .475 | 2 | 0 | 2 | .000 | -5.56 | -3.76 | 0 | 0 | Louisiana Tech |
| 10 | Independent | 7 | 76 | 32 | 44 | .421 | 0 | 0 | 0 | -5.63 | -3.51 | 1 | 0 | ||
| 11 | Mid-American Conference | 13 | 147 | 71 | 76 | .483 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 1.000 | -6.63 | -5.46 | 0 | 1 | Toledo |
| 12 | Sun Belt Conference | 7 | 79 | 26 | 53 | .329 | 1 | 0 | 1 | .000 | -14.96 | -8.26 | 0 | 0 | Middle Tennessee State North Texas |
| School | Conf | Pre | 8/26 | 9/2 | 9/9 | 9/23 | 9/30 | 10/7 | 10/14 | 10/21 | 10/28 | 11/4 | 11/11 | 11/18 | 11/25 | 12/2 | 12/9 | Final |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Miami (FL) | Big East | 2 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 |
| Oregon | Pac-10 | 7 | 7 | 7 | 7 | 6 | 7 | 5 | 5 | 11 | 8 | 7 | 7 | 6 | 4 | 3 | 2 | 2 |
| Florida | SEC | 1 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 7 | 6 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 3 | 2 | 6 | 5 | 3 |
| Tennessee | SEC | 8 | 8 | 8 | 8 | 7 | 6 | 13 | 11 | 9 | 7 | 6 | 6 | 7 | 5 | 2 | 8 | 4 |
| Texas | Big 12 | 5 | 5 | 4 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 11 | 9 | 7 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 3 | 10 | 9 | 5 |
| Oklahoma | Big 12 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 2 | 2 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 4 | 11 | 11 | 10 | 6 |
| Louisiana State | SEC | 14 | 14 | 13 | 15 | 14 | 18 | 22 | 21 | 12 | 7 | |||||||
| Nebraska | Big 12 | 4 | 4 | 5 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 3 | 3 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 6 | 5 | 4 | 8 |
| Colorado | Big 12 | 20 | 14 | 25 | 25 | 21 | 15 | 14 | 9 | 4 | 3 | 9 | ||||||
| Washington State | Pac-10 | 19 | 14 | 16 | 11 | 9 | 15 | 13 | 13 | 13 | 10 | |||||||
| Maryland | ACC | 25 | 22 | 12 | 10 | 15 | 13 | 10 | 8 | 7 | 7 | 6 | 11 | |||||
| Illinois | Big Ten | 22 | 22 | 21 | 15 | 12 | 10 | 8 | 8 | 7 | 12 | |||||||
| South Carolina | SEC | 21 | 21 | 21 | 18 | 15 | 13 | 9 | 16 | 12 | 17 | 14 | 22 | 18 | 15 | 14 | 14 | 13 |
| Syracuse | Big East | 19 | 18 | 14 | 22 | 18 | 18 | 18 | 14 | |||||||||
| Florida State | ACC | 6 | 6 | 6 | 6 | 18 | 16 | 14 | 21 | 19 | 14 | 10 | 21 | 24 | 24 | 15 | ||
| Stanford | Pac-10 | 22 | 23 | 20 | 10 | 16 | 13 | 13 | 12 | 12 | 11 | 16 | ||||||
| Louisville | CUSA | 25 | 25 | 19 | 17 | 24 | 23 | 23 | 17 | |||||||||
| Virginia Tech | Big East | 9 | 9 | 9 | 9 | 8 | 8 | 6 | 6 | 5 | 12 | 23 | 18 | 16 | 14 | 15 | 15 | 18 |
| Washington | Pac-10 | 15 | 15 | 15 | 13 | 13 | 11 | 10 | 15 | 13 | 11 | 8 | 16 | 12 | 19 | 20 | 21 | 19 |
| Michigan | Big Ten | 12 | 12 | 11 | 20 | 17 | 15 | 12 | 10 | 8 | 6 | 12 | 11 | 11 | 17 | 17 | 17 | 20 |
| Boston College | Big East | 25 | 21 | |||||||||||||||
| Georgia | SEC | 25 | 19 | 17 | 15 | 18 | 19 | 23 | 19 | 16 | 16 | 16 | 22 | |||||
| Toledo | MAC | 25 | 23 | 25 | 25 | 25 | 23 | |||||||||||
| Georgia Tech | ACC | 10 | 11 | 10 | 10 | 9 | 17 | 15 | 23 | 21 | 23 | 20 | 21 | 24 | ||||
| Brigham Young | MWC | 24 | 20 | 20 | 18 | 18 | 16 | 13 | 9 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 9 | 19 | 25 | |||
| School | Conf | Pre | 8/26 | 9/2 | 9/9 | 9/23 | 9/30 | 10/7 | 10/14 | 10/21 | 10/28 | 11/4 | 11/11 | 11/18 | 11/25 | 12/2 | 12/9 | Final |
| Alabama | SEC | 25 | 25 | |||||||||||||||
| Arkansas | SEC | 24 | ||||||||||||||||
| Auburn | SEC | 20 | 17 | 24 | 17 | 25 | ||||||||||||
| Clemson | ACC | 19 | 19 | 20 | 19 | 19 | 16 | 13 | ||||||||||
| Colorado State | MWC | 24 | 24 | |||||||||||||||
| Fresno State | WAC | 19 | 11 | 10 | 10 | 8 | 8 | 18 | 23 | 21 | 19 | 20 | ||||||
| Kansas State | Big 12 | 13 | 13 | 12 | 12 | 11 | 12 | 24 | ||||||||||
| Marshall | MAC | 24 | 20 | 20 | ||||||||||||||
| Michigan State | Big Ten | 23 | 22 | |||||||||||||||
| Mississippi State | SEC | 20 | 20 | 18 | 17 | 21 | ||||||||||||
| North Carolina | ACC | 23 | 22 | |||||||||||||||
| Northwestern | Big Ten | 16 | 16 | 16 | 16 | 16 | 14 | 22 | ||||||||||
| Notre Dame | Ind | 18 | 18 | 17 | 23 | |||||||||||||
| Ohio State | Big Ten | 23 | 23 | 24 | 21 | 21 | 25 | 23 | 22 | 22 | ||||||||
| Oregon State | Pac-10 | 11 | 10 | 22 | 22 | 19 | ||||||||||||
| Purdue | Big Ten | 24 | 21 | 17 | 24 | 24 | 20 | |||||||||||
| Texas A&M | Big 12 | 24 | 25 | 24 | ||||||||||||||
| UCLA | Pac-10 | 17 | 17 | 14 | 14 | 12 | 9 | 7 | 4 | 4 | 9 | 17 | 20 | |||||
| Wisconsin | Big Ten | 22 | 22 | 23 |
|
Offense Rex Grossman, QB, Florida William Green, RB, Boston College Luke Staley, RB, Brigham Young Jabar Gaffney*, WR, Florida Josh Reed, WR, Louisiana State Daniel Graham, TE, Colorado Lecharles Bentley, OL, Ohio State Toniu Fonori, OL, Nebraska Andre Gurode, OL, Colorado Bryant McKinnie*, OL, Miami (FL) Terrence Metcalf, OL, Mississippi Mike Pearson, OL, Florida Mike Williams, OL, Texas Damon Duval, K, Auburn |
Defense Alex Brown, DL, Florida Dwight Freeney*, DL, Syracuse John Henderson, DL, Tennessee Julius Peppers*, DL, North Carolina Rocky Calmus, LB, Oklahoma E.J. Henderson, LB, Maryland Robert Thomas, LB, UCLA Quentin Jammer*, DB, Texas Ed Reed*, DB, Miami (FL) Roy Williams*, DB, Oklahoma Travis Dorsch, P, Purdue |