The 1990–91 NCAA football bowl games featured 19 games, starting early in December 1990 and ending on New Year's Day 1991. They followed the 1990 regular season and ended in controversy. Going into the postseason, Colorado had a 10–1–1 record and was ranked #1 in both Coaches' and AP polls. After a relatively unimpressive and controversial 10–9 victory over #5 Notre Dame in the Orange Bowl and an impressive victory by the undefeated (10–0–1) #2 Georgia Tech in the Citrus Bowl, the Buffaloes lost their #1 ranking to the Yellow Jackets in the Coaches' Poll, creating a split championship. This controversial ending, along with the dual undefeated champions of the following year, led to the creation of the Bowl Coalition.
Bowl games NOTE: Rankings used are the final regular season AP Rankings whenever noted
DateGameSiteResult Dec 8 California Bowl Bulldog StadiumFresno, CA Central Michigan 24, San Jose State 48 Dec 15 Independence Bowl Independence StadiumShreveport, LA Maryland 34, Louisiana Tech 34 Dec 25 Aloha Bowl Aloha StadiumHonolulu, HI Syracuse 28, Arizona 0 Dec 27 Liberty Bowl Liberty Bowl Memorial StadiumMemphis, TN Air Force 23, (24) Ohio State 11 Dec 28 Blockbuster Bowl Joe Robbie StadiumMiami Gardens, FL (7) Penn State 17, (6) Florida State 24 Dec 28 All-American Bowl Legion FieldBirmingham, AL (23) Southern Miss 27, NC State 31 Dec 29 Peach Bowl Atlanta-Fulton County StadiumAtlanta, GA Indiana 23, Auburn 27 Dec 29 Freedom Bowl Anaheim StadiumAnaheim, CA Colorado State 32, Oregon 31 Dec 29 Holiday Bowl Jack Murphy StadiumSan Diego, CA (13) BYU 14, Texas A&M 65 Dec 31 Copper Bowl Arizona StadiumTucson, AZ California 17, Wyoming 15 Dec 31 John Hancock Bowl Sun BowlEl Paso, TX (22) Michigan State 17, No. 21 USC 16 Jan 1 Hall of Fame Bowl Tampa StadiumTampa, FL (14) Clemson 30, (16) Illinois 0 Jan 1 Florida Citrus Bowl Florida Citrus BowlOrlando, FL (2) Georgia Tech 45, (19) Nebraska 21 Jan 1 Fiesta Bowl Sun Devil StadiumTempe, AZ (18) Louisville 34, (25) Alabama 7 Jan 1 Gator Bowl Gator Bowl StadiumJacksonville, FL (12) Michigan 35, (15) Ole Miss 3 Jan 1 Cotton Bowl Classic Cotton BowlDallas, TX (4) Miami 46, (3) Texas 3 Jan 1 Rose Bowl Rose BowlPasadena, CA (17) Iowa 34, (8) Washington 46 Jan 1 Sugar Bowl Louisiana SuperdomeNew Orleans, LA Virginia 22, (10) Tennessee 23 Jan 1 Orange Bowl Orange BowlMiami, FL (5) Notre Dame 9, (1) Colorado 10
Final rankings
AP Poll Source:
1. Colorado 2. Georgia Tech 3. Miami (FL) 4. Florida State 5. Washington 6. Notre Dame 7. Michigan 8. Tennessee 9. Clemson 10. Houston 11. Penn State 12. Texas 13. Florida 14. Louisville 15. Texas A&M 16. Michigan State 17. Oklahoma 18. Iowa 19. Auburn 20. USC 21. Ole Miss 22. BYU 23. Virginia 24. Nebraska 25. Illinois
Coaches' Poll 1. Georgia Tech 2. Colorado 3. Miami (FL) 4. Florida State 5. Washington 6. Notre Dame 7. Tennessee 8. Michigan 9. Clemson 10. Penn State 11. Texas 12. Louisville 13. Texas A&M 14. Michigan State 15. Virginia 16. Iowa 17. BYU (tie) 17. Nebraska (tie) 19. Auburn 20. San Jose State 21. Syracuse 22. USC 23. Ole Miss 24. Illinois 25. Virginia Tech
Florida, Houston, and Oklahoma were on probation by the NCAA during the 1990 season; they were therefore ineligible to receive votes in the Coaches' Poll
References