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) in 2008.
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 #2 Florida Gators and #1 Oklahoma Sooners.[2] 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.
Rule changes
The NCAA football rules committee made rule changes for 2008, including the following:[3][4]
- 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- The 15 second play clock after a TV timeout (adopted in the 2007 season) is repealed and returned to 25 seconds.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.
Most-watched regular season games
| Rank | Date | Matchup | Channel | Viewers |
| 1 |
December 6, 4:00 ET |
#2 Florida vs. #1 Alabama |
CBS, SEC Championship |
15.061 Million |
| 2 |
November 1, 8:00 ET |
#1 Texas vs. #7 Texas Tech |
ESPN on ABC |
12.204 Million |
| 3 |
September 13, 8:00 ET |
#5 Ohio State vs. #1 USC |
ESPN on ABC |
11.800 Million |
| 4 |
November 22, 8:00 ET |
#2 Texas Tech vs. #5 Oklahoma |
ESPN on ABC |
10.742 Million |
| 5 |
October 25, 8:00 ET |
#3 Penn State vs. #9 Ohio State |
ESPN on ABC |
10.367 Million |
| 6 |
November 29, 8:00 ET |
#3 Oklahoma vs. #12 Oklahoma State |
ESPN on ABC |
9.525 Million |
| 7 |
December 6, 8:00 ET |
#20 Missouri vs. #2 Oklahoma |
ESPN on ABC, Big 12 Championship |
8.762 Million |
| 8 |
November 8, 8:00 ET |
#9 Oklahoma State vs. #2 Texas Tech, #21 California vs #7 USC |
Regional ESPN on ABC |
8.483 Million |
| 9 |
November 8, 3:30 ET |
#1 Alabama vs. #16 LSU |
CBS |
8.137 Million |
| 10 |
October 11, 12:00 ET |
#5 Texas vs. #1 Oklahoma |
ESPN on ABC |
7.726 Million
[5] |
Conference standings
Conference champions
Conference championship games
Rankings reflect the Week 14 AP Poll before the games were played.
Other conference champions
Rankings are from the Week 15 AP Poll.
Bowl games
Winners are listed in boldface.
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 non-BCS 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 #10 by the BCS, behind #9 Boise State. #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.
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 Florida | 14–41 | ESPN2 |
| Pioneer Las Vegas Bowl (Las Vegas, NV) | December 20 | #16 BYU | Arizona | 21–31 | 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 | #9 Boise State | #11 TCU | 16–17 | ESPN |
| Sheraton Hawaiʻi Bowl (ʻAiea, HI) | December 24 | Hawaiʻi | Notre Dame | 21–49 | 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 | Wisconsin[8] | 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 | #21 Missouri | #23 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 | #13 Oklahoma State | #17 Oregon | 31–42 | 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 | Oregon State | #20 Pittsburgh[9] | 3–0 | CBS |
| Gaylord Hotels Music City Bowl (Nashville, TN) | December 31 | #24 Boston College | Vanderbilt | 14–16 | ESPN |
| Insight Bowl (Tempe, AZ) | December 31 | Kansas[10] | Minnesota[11] | 42–21 | NFL |
| Chick-fil-A Bowl (Atlanta, GA) | December 31 | LSU | #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 | #15 Georgia | #18 Michigan State | 24–12 | ABC |
| Cotton Bowl Classic (Dallas, TX) | January 2 | #25 Ole Miss | #7 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 | #22 Ball State | 45–13 | ESPN |
| 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.
- Winner: Sam Bradford, So., Oklahoma QB (1,726 pts)
- 2. Colt McCoy, Jr., Texas QB (1,604 pts)
- 3. Tim Tebow, Jr., Florida QB (1,575 pts)
- 4. Graham Harrell Sr., Texas Tech QB (213 pts)
- 5. Michael Crabtree, So., Texas Tech WR (116 pts)
Other major award winners
Top Player
Coaching
Offense
Defense
Lineman
Special Teams
Other
All-Americans
- 2008 Consensus All-America Team
Offense
| Position |
Name |
Height |
Weight (lbs.) |
Class |
Hometown |
Team |
|---|
| QB |
Sam Bradford |
6'4" |
223 |
So. |
Oklahoma City, Oklahoma |
Oklahoma |
| RB |
Shonn Greene |
5'11" |
235 |
Sr. |
Atco, New Jersey |
Iowa |
| RB |
Javon Ringer |
5'9" |
202 |
Sr. |
Dayton, Ohio |
Michigan State |
| WR |
Michael Crabtree |
6'3" |
214 |
So. |
Dallas, Texas |
Texas Tech |
| WR |
Dez Bryant |
6'2" |
225 |
So. |
Lufkin, Texas |
Oklahoma State |
| TE |
Chase Coffman |
6'6" |
244 |
Sr. |
Peculiar, Missouri |
Missouri |
| T |
Andre Smith |
6'4" |
330 |
Jr. |
Birmingham, Alabama |
Alabama |
| T |
Michael Oher |
6'5" |
322 |
Sr. |
Memphis, Tennessee |
Mississippi |
| G |
Duke Robinson |
6'5" |
329 |
Sr. |
Atlanta, Georgia |
Oklahoma |
| G |
Brandon Carter |
6'7" |
334 |
Jr. |
Longview, Texas |
Texas Tech |
| C |
Antoine Caldwell |
6'3" |
305 |
Sr. |
Montgomery, Alabama |
Alabama |
|
Defense
| Position |
Name |
Height |
Weight (lbs.) |
Class |
Hometown |
Team |
|---|
| DE |
Brian Orakpo |
6'3" |
263 |
Sr. |
Greenwood, Mississippi |
Texas |
| DE |
Aaron Maybin |
6'4" |
249 |
Jr. |
Baltimore, Maryland |
Penn State |
| DT |
Terrence Cody |
6'5" |
365 |
Jr. |
Fort Myers, Florida |
Alabama |
| DE |
Jerry Hughes |
6'3" |
257 |
Jr. |
Sugar Land, Texas |
TCU |
| LB |
Rey Maualuga |
6'2" |
260 |
Sr. |
Eureka, California |
USC |
| LB |
James Laurinaitis |
6'4" |
244 |
Sr. |
Wayzata, Minnesota |
Ohio State |
| LB |
Brandon Spikes |
6'3" |
249 |
Jr. |
Shelby, North Carolina |
Florida |
| CB |
Malcolm Jenkins |
6'0" |
204 |
Sr. |
Piscataway, New Jersey |
Ohio State |
| CB |
Alphonso Smith |
5'9" |
190 |
Sr. |
Pahokee, Florida |
Wake Forest |
| Safety |
Eric Berry |
6'0" |
211 |
So. |
Fairburn, Georgia |
Tennessee |
| Safety |
Taylor Mays |
6'3" |
230 |
Jr. |
Irving, Texas |
USC |
|
Statistical leaders
- Team scoring most points: Oklahoma, 716
Coaching changes
Pre-season
In-season
End of season
Final rankings
| 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.
See also
Notes and references
- ↑ Western Kentucky University was in a 2-year process of transition to FBS status in 2008 (completed in 2009), and, therefore, some sources list the total for 2008 as 119.
- 1 2 3 4 5 6 "Future BCS Schedules". BCSFootball.org. Fox Sports. Archived from the original on 2007-10-24. Retrieved 2007-10-29.
- ↑ "NCAA Football Rules Committee Proposes Rules to Enhance Student-Athlete Safety and Encourage Consistent Pace of Play" (Press release). Archived from the original on December 23, 2008. Retrieved 23 December 2008.
- ↑ "More new timing rules among NCAA proposal". Retrieved 23 December 2008.
- ↑ "NCAA Football Season Review". Retrieved 12 October 2011.
- ↑ "Penn State Rose Bowl Bound". Yahoo!. Retrieved 2008-11-23.
- ↑ "Virginia Tech takes down BC,headed down to Orange Bowl again". Associated Press. Archived from the original on 8 December 2008. Retrieved 2008-12-05.
- ↑ http://www.uwbadgers.com/sport_news/fb/headlines/story.html?sportid=111&storyid=16009
- ↑ PittsburghPanthers.com - University of Pittsburgh Official Athletic Site - Football
- ↑ KU headed to Insight Bowl
- ↑ Gophers, Jayhawks to meet in Insight Bowl Archived December 25, 2008, at the Wayback Machine.
- ↑ UA's Saban Named Home Depot Coach of the Year Archived 2009-02-13 at the Wayback Machine.
- ↑ "Liberty Mutual Coach of the Year". Retrieved 30 December 2008.
- ↑ "ALABAMA'S SABAN WINS 2008 EDDIE ROBINSON AWARD". Retrieved 7 January 2009.
- ↑ UF's Tim Tebow is 2008 Wuerffel Trophy Winner Archived December 14, 2008, at the Wayback Machine.
- ↑ Iowa State's Chizik to Take Over at Auburn Archived December 14, 2008, at the Wayback Machine.
- 1 2 "San Diego State to hire Ball State's Hoke, source says". ESPN.com. 2008-12-15. Archived from the original on 17 December 2008. Retrieved 2008-12-15.
- ↑ "English to be announced as EMU coach". ESPN.com. 2008-12-15. Archived from the original on 8 January 2009. Retrieved 2008-12-20.
- ↑ Source: Rhoads to be named new ISU football coach
- ↑ "Ron Prince Will Not Return for 2009" (Press release). Kansas State University Athletic Department. 2008-11-05. Archived from the original on December 11, 2008. Retrieved 2008-11-27.
- ↑ "Bill Snyder Named Head Football Coach" (Press release). Kansas State University Athletic Department. 2008-11-24. Archived from the original on December 3, 2008. Retrieved 2008-11-27.
- ↑ "Mike Locksley - New Mexico's 29th Head Football Coach" Archived January 4, 2009, at the Wayback Machine.. - Lobos Football. - (c/o CBS Interactive). - December 9, 2008.
- 1 2 "Kelly succeeds Bellotti as Ducks coach". ESPN.com. Associated Press. 2009-03-13. Archived from the original on 17 March 2009. Retrieved 2009-03-15.
- 1 2 "Plenty Of Reasons For Hope" (Press release). Purdue University Athletics Department. 2008-01-11. Archived from the original on 8 December 2008. Retrieved 2008-11-27.
- ↑ Doug Marrone in Syracuse Friday; will be named head coach
- ↑ Kiffin introduced as Vol's 21st coach » Abilene Reporter-News Archived December 8, 2008, at the Wayback Machine.
- ↑ Sources: USC offensive coordinator Steve Sarkisian gets Washington job - ESPN
- ↑ MU’s Christensen accepts Wyoming job Archived December 2, 2008, at the Wayback Machine.
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