2003 NCAA Division I-A football season

2003 NCAA Division I-A season
Gameplay during the BCS National Championship Sugar Bowl for the 2003 season
Total # of teams	117
Preseason AP #1	Oklahoma Sooners
Number of bowls	28
Bowl games	December 16, 2003 – January 3, 2004
National championship	2004 Sugar Bowl
Location of championship	Louisiana Superdome, New Orleans, Louisiana
Champions	USC Trojans (AP) LSU Tigers (Coaches)
Heisman	Jason White, Oklahoma
NCAA Division I-A football season «2002 2004»

The 2003 NCAA Division I-A football season ended with an abundance of controversy, resulting in a split national championship. This was the first split title since the inception of the BCS, something the BCS intended to eliminate.

At season's end, three major conference teams finished the regular season with one loss, with only two spots available in the BCS National Championship Game. Three non-BCS teams also finished with one loss, TCU, Boise State and Miami (OH), stirring the debate of the BCS being unfair to mid-major teams.

USC had lost a triple overtime thriller at California on September 27, LSU lost at home to Florida on October 11, and Oklahoma, which had been #1 in every BCS rating^[1], AP and Coaches' Poll^[2] of the season, had been shocked by Kansas State in the Big 12 Championship Game, 35-7 on December 6. Although USC, then 11-1, finished ranked #1 in both the AP and Coaches' Polls, with LSU (12-1) ranked #2 and Oklahoma (12-1) #3, Oklahoma surpassed both USC and LSU on several BCS computer factors. Oklahoma's schedule strength was ranked 11th to LSU's 29th and USC's 37th. Oklahoma's schedule rank was 0.44 to LSU's 1.16 and USC's 1.48. As such, despite the timing of Oklahoma's loss affecting the human voters, the computers kept Oklahoma at #1 in the BCS poll. LSU was ranked #2 by the BCS based on its #2 ranking in the AP Poll, Coaches Poll, 6 of 7 computer rankings (with the remaining one ranking them #1), and strength of schedule calculations. USC's #3 BCS ranking resulted from it being ranked #1 the AP and Coaches Poll, but #3 in 5 of 7 computer rankings (with the 2 remaining computer rankings at #1 and #4) and schedule strength, though separated by only 0.16 points.

LSU defeated Oklahoma in the 2004 Sugar Bowl, securing the BCS National Championship, as the ESPN/USA Today Coaches' Poll is contractually obligated to vote the winner of the BCS National Championship Game #1. Meanwhile, when AP #1 USC beat Michigan in the 2004 Rose Bowl, the AP voters kept USC in the top spot, and USC secured the AP title.

On January 9, 2004, Ted Waitt, CEO of Gateway Computers offered the NCAA $31 million for a national championship game between USC and Louisiana State. The NCAA did not consider the offer, leaving the year without an unarguable national champion.

Army became the first team in Division 1A NCAA football modern history to finish the season 0-13.

The Home Depot Coach of the Year Award sponsored by ESPN chose USC coach Pete Carroll as their award recipient, while the Paul Bryant Coach of the Year Award, voted on by an association of sportswriters, chose LSU Coach Nick Saban.

The Orange Bowl game was noteworthy in that Miami and Florida State previously had scheduled to play each other on Labor Day in 2004. Playing in the Orange Bowl ensured that their next meeting would be each of their very next games and their first of the 2004 season.

Texas was also affected by the BCS controversy. Oklahoma's late loss kept Texas from appearing in one of the BCS games. Had Oklahoma won the Big 12 championship, the two at-large teams would have been Ohio State and Texas. But with the loss, Kansas State received the Big 12 bid and Oklahoma one of the at-large bids, leaving #5 Texas on the outside looking in. Texas lost to Washington State in the Holiday Bowl.

Two Independent schools joined conferences in 2003. South Florida left to join Conference USA as its 11th member, while Utah State left the Independent ranks to join the Sun Belt Conference as its 8th member.

Contents 1 Standings 2 Bowl Championship Series rankings 3 Bowl games 3.1 BCS bowls 3.2 Other January bowls 3.3 December Bowl games 4 Final AP Poll 5 Final Coaches Poll 6 Heisman Trophy voting 7 Other major awards 8 References

Standings

2003 ACC football standings Conf     Overall Team   W   L         W   L   #11 Florida State †   7 – 1         10 – 3   #17 Maryland   6 – 2         10 – 3   #22 Clemson   5 – 3         9 – 4   NC State   4 – 4         8 – 5   Virginia   4 – 4         8 – 5   Georgia Tech   4 – 4         7 – 6   Wake Forest   3 – 5         5 – 7   Duke   2 – 6         4 – 8   North Carolina   1 – 7         2 – 10   † – BCS representative as champion Rankings from AP Poll	2003 Big 12 football standings Conf     Overall Team   W   L         W   L   North #14 Kansas State †   6 – 2         11 – 4   #19 Nebraska   5 – 3         10 – 3   Missouri   4 – 4         8 – 5   Kansas   3 – 5         6 – 7   Colorado   3 – 5         5 – 7   Iowa State   0 – 8         2 – 10   South #3 Oklahoma ‡   8 – 0         12 – 2   #12 Texas   7 – 1         10 – 3   Oklahoma State   5 – 3         9 – 4   Texas Tech   4 – 4         8 – 5   Texas A&M   2 – 6         4 – 8   Baylor   1 – 7         3 – 9   Championship: Kansas State 35, Oklahoma 7 † – BCS representative as champion ‡ – BCS at-large representative Rankings from AP Poll	2003 Big East football standings Conf     Overall Team   W   L         W   L   #5 Miami †§   6 – 1         11 – 2   West Virginia §   6 – 1         8 – 5   Pittsburgh   5 – 2         8 – 5   Virginia Tech   4 – 3         8 – 5   Boston College   3 – 4         8 – 5   Syracuse   2 – 5         6 – 6   Rutgers   2 – 5         5 – 7   Temple   0 – 7         1 – 11   † – BCS representative as champion § – Conference co-champions Rankings from AP Poll
2003 Big Ten football standings Conf     Overall Team   W   L         W   L   #6/7 Michigan †   7 – 1         10 – 3   #4/4 Ohio State ‡   6 – 2         11 – 2   #18/19 Purdue   6 – 2         9 – 4   #8/8 Iowa   5 – 3         10 – 3   #20/17 Minnesota   5 – 3         10 – 3   Michigan State   5 – 3         8 – 5   Wisconsin   4 – 4         7 – 6   Northwestern   4 – 4         6 – 7   Penn State   1 – 7         3 – 9   Indiana   1 – 7         2 – 10   Illinois   0 – 8         1 – 11   † – BCS representative as champion ‡ – BCS at-large representative Rankings from AP Poll / Coaches' Poll	2003 Conference USA football standings Conf     Overall Team   W   L         W   L   Southern Miss †   8 – 0         9 – 4   #24 TCU   7 – 1         11 – 2   Louisville   5 – 3         9 – 4   Memphis   5 – 3         9 – 4   South Florida   5 – 3         7 – 4   Houston   4 – 4         7 – 6   UAB   4 – 4         5 – 7   Tulane   3 – 5         5 – 7   Cincinnati   2 – 6         5 – 7   East Carolina   1 – 7         1 – 11   Army   0 – 8         0 – 13   † – Conference champion Rankings from AP Poll	2003 Division I-A independents football standings Conf     Overall Team   W   L         W   L   Connecticut   –         9 – 3   Navy   –         8 – 5   Troy   –         6 – 6   Notre Dame   –         5 – 7   Rankings from AP Poll
2003 Mid-American Conference football standings Conf     Overall Team   W   L         W   L   East #10 Miami x†   8 – 0         13 – 1   Marshall   6 – 2         8 – 4   Akron   5 – 3         7 – 5   Kent State   4 – 4         5 – 7   UCF   2 – 6         3 – 9   Ohio   1 – 7         2 – 10   Buffalo   1 – 7         1 – 11   West #23 Bowling Green x   7 – 1         11 – 3   Northern Illinois   6 – 2         10 – 2   Toledo   6 – 2         8 – 4   Western Michigan   4 – 4         5 – 7   Ball State   3 – 5         4 – 8   Eastern Michigan   2 – 6         3 – 9   Central Michigan   1 – 7         3 – 9   Championship: Miami 49, Bowling Green 27 † – Conference champion x – Division champion/co-champions Rankings from AP Poll	2003 Mountain West Conference football standings Conf     Overall Team   W   L         W   L   #21 Utah †   6 – 1         10 – 2   New Mexico   5 – 2         8 – 5   Colorado State   4 – 3         7 – 6   Air Force   3 – 4         7 – 5   San Diego State   3 – 4         6 – 6   BYU   3 – 4         4 – 8   UNLV   2 – 5         6 – 6   Wyoming   2 – 5         4 – 8   † – Conference champion Rankings from AP Poll	2003 Pacific-10 football standings Conf     Overall Team   W   L         W   L   #1 USC †   7 – 1         12 – 1   #9 Washington State   6 – 2         10 – 3   Oregon   5 – 3         8 – 5   California   5 – 3         8 – 6   Oregon State   4 – 4         8 – 5   Washington   4 – 4         6 – 6   UCLA   4 – 4         6 – 7   Arizona State   2 – 6         5 – 7   Stanford   2 – 6         4 – 7   Arizona   1 – 7         2 – 10   † – Conference champion Rankings from AP Poll
2003 SEC football standings Conf     Overall Team   W   L         W   L   Eastern Division #7 Georgia xy   6 – 2         11 – 3   #15 Tennessee x   6 – 2         10 – 3   #24 Florida x   6 – 2         8 – 5   South Carolina   2 – 6         5 – 7   Kentucky   1 – 7         4 – 8   [[{{{school}}}|Vanderbilt]]   1 – 7         2 – 10   Western Division #2 LSU xy†   7 – 1         13 – 1   #13 Ole Miss x   7 – 1         10 – 3   Auburn   5 – 3         8 – 5   [[{{{school}}}|Arkansas]]   4 – 4         9 – 4   Alabama   2 – 6         4 – 9   [[{{{school}}}|Mississippi State]]   1 – 7         2 – 10   Championship: LSU 34, Georgia 13 † – BCS representative as champion x – Division champion/co-champions y – Championship game participant Rankings from AP Poll	2003 Sun Belt football standings Conf     Overall Team   W   L         W   L   [[{{{school}}}|North Texas]] †   7 – 0         9 – 4   [[{{{school}}}|Louisiana–Lafayette]]   3 – 2         4 – 8   [[{{{school}}}|Arkansas State]]   3 – 3         5 – 7   [[{{{school}}}|Middle Tennessee]]   3 – 3         4 – 8   [[{{{school}}}|Utah State]]   3 – 3         3 – 9   [[{{{school}}}|Idaho]]   3 – 4         3 – 9   [[{{{school}}}|New Mexico State]]   2 – 5         3 – 9   [[{{{school}}}|Louisiana–Monroe]]   1 – 5         1 – 11   † – Conference champion Rankings from AP Poll	2003 WAC football standings Conf     Overall Team   W   L         W   L   #16 Boise State †   8 – 0         13 – 1   [[{{{school}}}|Fresno State]]   6 – 2         9 – 5   [[{{{school}}}|Tulsa]]   5 – 2         7 – 5   Hawaiʻi   5 – 3         9 – 5   [[{{{school}}}|Rice]]   5 – 3         5 – 7   [[{{{school}}}|Nevada]]   4 – 4         6 – 6   [[{{{school}}}|Louisiana Tech]]   3 – 5         5 – 7   [[{{{school}}}|San Jose State]]   2 – 6         3 – 8   [[{{{school}}}|UTEP]]   1 – 6         2 – 10   [[{{{school}}}|SMU]]   0 – 8         0 – 12   † – Conference champion Rankings from AP Poll

Bowl Championship Series rankings

WEEK	#1	#2	EVENT
OCT 20	Oklahoma	[[{{{school}}}|Miami]]
OCT 27	Oklahoma	Miami	[[{{{school}}}|Virginia Tech]] 31, Miami 7
NOV 3	Oklahoma	USC
NOV 10	Oklahoma	USC
NOV 17	Oklahoma	Ohio State	Michigan 35, Ohio State 21
NOV 24	Oklahoma	USC
DEC 1	Oklahoma	USC	LSU 34, Georgia 13
FINAL	Oklahoma	LSU

Bowl games

Rankings given are AP poll positions at time of game

BCS bowls

• Sugar Bowl, BCS National Championship Game: #2 (BCS #2) LSU 21, #3 (BCS #1) Oklahoma 14
• Rose Bowl: #1 (Pac 10 Champ) Southern California 28, #4 (Big 10 Champ) Michigan 14
• Orange Bowl: #9 (Big East Champ) [[{{{school}}}|Miami]] 16, #8 (ACC Champ) Florida State 14
• Fiesta Bowl: #6 (At Large) Ohio State 35, #10 (Big 12 Champ) Kansas State 28

Other January bowls

• {{{alt}}}: #18 Mississippi 31, #22 [[{{{school}}}|Oklahoma State]] 28
• 2004 Capital One Bowl: #11 Georgia 34, #13 Purdue 27 (OT)
• 2004 Gator Bowl: #24 Maryland 41, #23 West Virginia 7
• 2004 Outback Bowl: #12 Iowa 37, #17 Florida 17
• Peach Bowl: Clemson 27, #7 Tennessee 14
• Humanitarian Bowl: [[{{{school}}}|Georgia Tech]] 52, [[{{{school}}}|Tulsa]] 10

December Bowl games

• {{{alt}}}: Texas Tech 38, [[{{{school}}}|Navy]] 14
• Liberty Bowl: #25 (MWC Champ) Utah 17, (C-USA Champ) [[{{{school}}}|Southern Mississippi]] 0
• Continental Tire Bowl: Virginia 23, Pittsburgh 16
• {{{alt}}}: [[{{{school}}}|Arkansas]] 27, Missouri 14
• {{{alt}}}: [[{{{school}}}|Fresno State]] 17, UCLA 9
• Sun Bowl: #20 Minnesota 31, Oregon 30
• Music City Bowl: Auburn 28, Wisconsin 14
• Holiday Bowl: #14 Washington State 28, #5 Texas 20
• {{{alt}}}: [[{{{school}}}|Boston College]] 35, [[{{{school}}}|Colorado State]] 21
• Alamo Bowl: #21 Nebraska 17, Michigan State 3
• Insight Bowl: [[{{{school}}}|California]] 52, [[{{{school}}}|Virginia Tech]] 49
• Tangerine Bowl: [[{{{school}}}|NC State]] 56, [[{{{school}}}|Kansas]] 26
• {{{alt}}}: [[{{{school}}}|Bowling Green]] 28, [[{{{school}}}|Northwestern]] 24
• Hawai'i Bowl: Hawai'i 54, [[{{{school}}}|Houston]] 48 (3 OT)
• Fort Worth Bowl: #16 (WAC Champ) Boise State 34, #19 TCU 31
• Las Vegas Bowl: Oregon State 55, [[{{{school}}}|New Mexico]] 14
• GMAC Bowl: #15 (MAC Champ) Miami (Ohio) 49, [[{{{school}}}|Louisville]] 28
• New Orleans Bowl: [[{{{school}}}|Memphis]] 27, (Sun Belt Champ) [[{{{school}}}|North Texas]] 17

Final AP Poll

Team	Final Record	Points
1. USC (48)	12-1	1,608
2. LSU (17)	13-1	1,576
3. Oklahoma	12-2	1,476
4. Ohio State	11-2	1,411
5. [[{{{school}}}|Miami (FL)]]	11-2	1,329
6. Michigan	10-3	1,281
7. Georgia	11-3	1,255
8. Iowa	10-3	1,107
9. Washington State	10-3	1,060
10. Miami (OH)	13-1	932
11. Florida State	10-3	905
12. Texas	10-3	887
13. Mississippi	10-3	845
14. Kansas State	11-4	833
15. Tennessee	10-3	695
16. Boise State	13-1	645
17. Maryland	10-3	564
18. Purdue	9-4	526
19. Nebraska	10-3	520
20. Minnesota	10-3	368
21. Utah	10-2	308
22. Clemson	9-4	230
23. [[{{{school}}}|Bowling Green]]	11-3	189
24. Florida	8-5	165
25. Texas Christian	11-2	126

Others receiving votes: 26. [[{{{school}}}|Oklahoma State]] 109, 27. [[{{{school}}}|Arkansas]] 73, 28. Virginia 36, 29. [[{{{school}}}|Northern Illinois]] 30, 30. Auburn 8, 31. Oregon State 8, 32. Pittsburgh 7, 33. [[{{{school}}}|N.C. State]] 7, 34. West Virginia 4, 35. Connecticut 2.

Final Coaches Poll

Three coaches voted for USC as the #1 team, even though the polled coaches are required to vote the BCS champion as #1. Because the votes were not public, it is not known which three coaches placed those votes. However, it is known that USC coach Pete Carroll could not have voted for his own team since he was not a voting coach that season.

Team	Final Record	Points
1. LSU (60)	13-1	1,572
2. USC (3)	12-1	1,514
3. Oklahoma	12-2	1,429
4. Ohio State	11-2	1,370
5. [[{{{school}}}|Miami (FL)]]	11-2	1,306
6. Georgia	11-3	1,183
7. Michigan	10-3	1,140
8. Iowa	10-3	1,119
9. Washington State	10-3	983
10. Florida State	10-3	929
11. Texas	10-3	894
12. Miami (OH)	13-1	800
13. Kansas State	11-4	746
14. Mississippi	10-3	730
15. Boise State	13-1	704
16. Tennessee	10-3	684
17. Minnesota	10-3	553
18. Nebraska	10-3	532
19. Purdue	9-4	510
20. Maryland	10-3	462
21. Utah	10-2	327
22. Clemson	9-4	219
23. [[{{{school}}}|Bowling Green]]	11-3	170
24. TCU	11-2	145
25. Florida	8-5	124

Also receiving votes

[[{{{school}}}|Northern Illinois]] (10-2) 80; [[{{{school}}}|Arkansas]] (9-4) 74; [[{{{school}}}|Oklahoma State]] (9-4) 63; Auburn (8-5) 20; [[{{{school}}}|North Carolina State]] (8-5) 17; Oregon State (8-5) 15; West Virginia (8-5) 14; [[{{{school}}}|Southern Mississippi]] (9-4) 12; [[{{{school}}}|Fresno State]] (9-5) 6; Hawaii (9-5) 6; Pittsburgh (8-5) 5; Texas Tech (8-5) 4; Marshall (8-4) 3; Virginia (8-5) 3; [[{{{school}}}|Boston College]] (8-5) 2; [[{{{school}}}|California]] (8-6) 1; Connecticut (9-3) 1; [[{{{school}}}|Memphis]] (9-4) 1; Michigan State Spartans (8-5) 1; Missouri (8-5) 1; [[{{{school}}}|North Texas]] (9-4) 1.

Heisman Trophy voting

The Heisman Trophy is given to the most outstanding player of the year

• Winner: Jason White (Jr.), QB, Oklahoma (1,481 points)
• 2. Larry Fitzgerald (So.), WR, Pittsburgh (1,353 points)
• 3. Eli Manning (Sr.), QB, Mississippi (710 points)
• 4. Chris Perry (Sr.), RB, Michigan (341 points)

Other major awards

• Maxwell Award (College Player of the Year): Eli Manning, Mississippi
• Walter Camp Award (top back): Larry Fitzgerald, Pittsburgh
• AP Player Of the Year: Jason White, Oklahoma
• Davey O'Brien Award (quarterback): Jason White, Oklahoma
• Johnny Unitas Award(Sr. quarterback): Eli Manning, Mississippi
• Doak Walker Award (running back): Chris Perry, Michigan
• Fred Biletnikoff Award (wide receiver): Larry Fitzgerald, Pittsburgh
• John Mackey Award (tight end): Kellen Winslow, Miami, Fla.
• Lombardi Award (top lineman): Tommie Harris, Oklahoma
• Dave Rimington Trophy (center): Jake Grove, Virginia Tech
• Outland Trophy (interior lineman): Robert Gallery, Iowa
• Chuck Bednarik Award (defensive player): Teddy Lehman, Oklahoma
• Dick Butkus Award: Teddy Lehman, Oklahoma
• Jim Thorpe Award (defensive back): Derrick Strait, Oklahoma
• Lou Groza Award (placekicker): Jonathan Nichols, Mississippi
• Ray Guy (punter): B.J. Sander, Ohio State
• Paul "Bear" Bryant Award (Coach of the Year): Nick Saban, LSU
• The Home Depot Coach of the Year Award: Pete Carroll, USC

References

NCAA college football seasons Pre-regulation 1869 1870 1871 1872 1873 1874 1875 1876 1877 1878 1879 1880 1881 1882 1883 1884 1885 1886 1887 1888 1889 1890 1891 1892 1893 1894 1895 1896 1897 1898 1899 1900 1901 1902 1903 1904 1905 IAAUS 1906 1907 1908 1909 NCAA 1910 1911 1912 1913 1914 1915 1916 1917 1918 1919 1920 1921 1922 1923 1924 1925 1926 1927 1928 1929 1930 1931 1932 1933 1934 1935 1936 1937 1938 1939 1940 1941 1942 1943 1944 1945 1946 1947 1948 1949 1950 1951 1952 1953 1954 1955 1956 1957 1958 1959 1960 1961 1962 1963 1964 1965 1966 1967 1968 1969 1970 1971 1972 NCAA Division I 1973 1974 1975 1976 1977 NCAA Division I-A/FBS 1978 1979 1980 1981 1982 1983 1984 1985 1986 1987 1988 1989 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 NCAA Division I-AA/FCS 1978 1979 1980 1981 1982 1983 1984 1985 1986 1987 1988 1989 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012