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 (No. 1 in the AP Poll) and No. 1 Oklahoma Sooners (No. 2 in the AP Poll). 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.
Rule changes The NCAA football rules committee made rule changes for 2008, including the following: 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 The 15 second play clock after a TV timeout (adopted in the 2007 season) is repealed and returned to 25 seconds.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. Week 3 No. 1 USC defeated No. 5 Ohio State, 35–3 (Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum, Los Angeles, California) Week 4 No. 6 LSU defeated No. 10 Auburn, 26–21 (Jordan-Hare Stadium, Auburn, Alabama) Week 5 No. 8 Alabama defeated No. 3 Georgia, 41–30 (Sanford Stadium, Athens, Georgia) Week 7 No. 5 Texas defeated No. 1 Oklahoma, 45–35 (Cotton Bowl, Dallas, Texas) Week 9 No. 1/1 Texas defeated No. 6/7 Oklahoma State, 28–24 (Darrell K Royal–Texas Memorial Stadium, Austin, Texas) No. 3/3 Penn State defeated No. 9/10 Ohio State, 13–6 (Ohio Stadium, Columbus, Ohio) Week 10 No. 7/6 Texas Tech defeated No. 1/1 Texas, 39–33 (Jones AT&T Stadium, Lubbock, Texas) No. 8/8 Florida defeated No. 6/5 Georgia, 49–10 (Jacksonville Municipal Stadium, Jacksonville, Florida) Week 11 No. 2/2 Texas Tech defeated No. 9/8 Oklahoma State, 56–20 (Jones AT&T Stadium, Lubbock, Texas) Week 13 No. 5/5 Oklahoma defeated No. 2/2 Texas Tech, 65–21 (Oklahoma Memorial Stadium, Norman, Oklahoma) Week 15 No. 4/2 Florida defeated No. 1/1 Alabama, 31–20 (2008 SEC Championship Game, Georgia Dome, Atlanta, Georgia)
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
Conference standings
FCS team wins over FBS teams Italics denotes FCS teams.
Conference champions
Conference championship games Rankings reflect the Week 14 AP Poll before the games were played. Date Conference Winner Runner-upScore Site TV December 6 ACC Virginia Tech No. 18 Boston College30–12 Raymond James StadiumTampa, Florida ABC December 6 Big 12 No. 4 Oklahoma No. 19 Missouri62–21 Arrowhead StadiumKansas City, Missouri ABC December 6 Conference USA East Carolina Tulsa27–24 Skelly Field at H. A. Chapman StadiumTulsa, Oklahoma ESPN2December 5 MAC Buffalo No. 12 Ball State42–24 Ford FieldDetroit, Michigan ESPN2 December 6 SEC No. 2 Florida No. 1 Alabama31–20 Georgia DomeAtlanta, Georgia CBS
Other conference champions Rankings are from the Week 15 AP Poll. Conference ChampionBig EastNo. 12 Cincinnati Big Ten No. 6 Penn State No. 10 Ohio StateMountain WestNo. 7 UtahPac-10 No. 5 USCSun Belt TroyWACNo. 9 Boise State
Bowl games Winners are listed in boldface. Rankings are from the final pre-bowl AP Poll.
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. 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 TVRose Bowl Game presented by Citi (Pasadena, CA) January 1 No. 5 USC No. 6 Penn State 38–24 ABCFedEx Orange Bowl (Miami Gardens, FL) January 1 No. 12 Cincinnati No. 21 Virginia Tech7–20 FOXAllstate Sugar Bowl (New Orleans, LA) January 2 No. 7 Utah No. 4 Alabama31–17 FOXTostitos Fiesta Bowl (Glendale, AZ) January 5 No. 10 Ohio State No. 3 Texas 21–24 FOXFedEx BCS National Championship Game(Miami Gardens, FL) January 8 No. 1 Florida No. 2 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 Florida14–41 ESPN2 Pioneer Las Vegas Bowl (Las Vegas, NV) December 20 No. 17 BYU Arizona21–31 ESPN R+L Carriers New Orleans Bowl (New Orleans, LA) December 21 Southern Mississippi Troy 30–27 ESPN SDCCU Poinsettia Bowl (San Diego, CA) December 23 No. 9 Boise State No. 11 TCU 16–17 ESPN Sheraton Hawaii Bowl (Aiea, HI) December 24 Hawaii Notre Dame21–49 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 Wisconsinhttp://www.uwbadgers.com/sport_news/fb/headlines/story.html?sportid=111&storyid=16009 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. 25 Missouri No. 22 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. 15 Oregon31–42 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 No. 24 Oregon State No. 18 Pittsburgh 3–0 CBS Gaylord Hotels Music City Bowl (Nashville, TN) December 31 Boston College Vanderbilt 14–16 ESPN Insight Bowl (Tempe, AZ) December 31 Kansas MinnesotaGophers, Jayhawks to meet in Insight Bowl 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. 16 Georgia No. 19 Michigan State 24–12 ABC Cotton Bowl Classic (Dallas, TX) January 2 No. 20 Ole Miss No. 8 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. 23 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, AlabamaUA's Saban Named Home Depot Coach of the Year 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 Eddie Robinson Coach of the Year Nick Saban, Alabama 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