The 1996 NCAA Division I-A football season ended with the Florida Gators crowned National Champions, but not as unanimously as the Bowl Alliance would have hoped.
Florida defeated Florida State in the Sugar Bowl, which was the designated National Championship that year. Florida had faced Florida State earlier in the year, when they were ranked #1 and #2, and lost. Were it not for Texas beating Nebraska, then #3, in the first ever Big 12 Championship Game, Florida wouldn't have even been in the bowl game.
And even once they were there, it wasn't certain a victory would mean a national championship. The Rose Bowl game featured #2 Arizona State and #4 Ohio State. Florida St. and Arizona St. were the only unbeatens going into bowl season, so a Rose Bowl victory would give the Sun Devils a legitimate chance on winning the title. This scenario looked plausible as Arizona State's Jake Plummer scored with 1:40 left to play in the game, making the score 17-14. But Ohio State's backup quarterback Joe Germaine marched down the field to pull out a heart stopping 20-17 win.
On the one hand, this meant the national title game the following night would produce an incontrovertible champion. On the other hand, it left doubt to whether or not Ohio State deserved a stake in the national title, as evidenced by the team's 1½ first place votes in the final AP poll. The Pac-10 and Big Ten could no longer afford to hold on to tradition while the rest of the country wanted a clear national champion. Reading the writing on the wall, they would soon join the national championship series with the other major conferences.
The Big 12 (Big 8 + 4 SWC members in Texas, Texas A&M, Texas Tech, and Baylor) would begin play as a two division conference, with Oklahoma and Oklahoma State joining the South Division, breaking up the classic Nebraska–Oklahoma rivalry, but renewing the Texas-Oklahoma rivalry, known as the Red River Shootout. The first football game in conference play was between Texas Tech and Kansas State. Kansas State won by a score of 21–14.[3]
There was a large controversy when #5 BYU was robbed of a spot in a Bowl Alliance game, as they were snubbed in favor of lower ranked teams from Bowl Alliance conferences. This would spur Congress into action, and would eventually be a reason the BCS polls were created.
The 1996 season was also notable as it marked the end of ties in college football, as an overtime system was put into place across all of Division I-A. The 1995 season had overtime rules, but only for postseason games.
Rule changes
- The overtime system adopted in the 1995 season for bowl games was expanded for all Division I-A games.
- On punts and field goal attempts, the defense cannot touch the center/long snapper for one second after the snap. Violators are penalized 15 yards and an automatic first down.
- Officials were instructed to more strictly enforce intentional grounding rules.
Conference realignment
Four teams upgraded from Division I-AA prior to the season and one university dropped its football program. As such, the total number of Division I-A schools increased to 111.
- The Big 12 Conference began play this season after a merger between the Big 8 Conference and four members of the former Southwest Conference (Texas, Texas A&M, Texas Tech, and Baylor). The new 12-member conference was divided into two, six-team divisions.
- Conference USA was formed prior to the season after a merger between two conferences that had previously not sponsored football, the Metro Conference and the Great Midwest Conference. Members of the new league included SWC member Houston (from the former Southwest Conference) and five long-time independents: Cincinnati, Louisville, Memphis, Southern Miss, and Tulane.
- C-USA was given a tie-in with the Liberty Bowl for its league champion.
- The Western Athletic Conference, in turn, accepted TCU, SMU, and Rice from the SWC, UNLV and San Jose State from the Big West, and independent Tulsa. These moves pushed the WAC's membership to 16 and resulted in the creation of two divisions (Pacific and Mountain) and a league championship game.
- The Big West Conference also saw Arkansas State, Louisiana Tech, Northern Illinois, and Southwestern Louisiana (now Louisiana–Lafayette depart to become independents. All four teams had joined the Big West in 1993.
- Pacific dropped their football team after the 1995 season. The Tigers had been a member of the Big West.
- Four teams upgraded from Division I-AA prior to the season: Alabama–Birmingham (UAB), Boise State, Central Florida, and Idaho.
Conference changes
Conference standings
Bowl Coalition first and seconds
The Bowl Coalition did not include the Pacific-10 and Big 10 conferences, whose champions played in the Rose Bowl. Thus, Arizona State and Ohio State (who met in the Rose Bowl) were excluded from the Bowl Coalition championship.
Bowl games
Final AP Poll
- Florida
- Ohio St.
- Florida St.
- Arizona St.
- BYU
- Nebraska
- Penn St.
- Colorado
- Tennessee
- North Carolina
- Alabama
- LSU
- Virginia Tech
- Miami (FL)
- Northwestern
- Washington
- Kansas St.
- Iowa
- Notre Dame
- Michigan
- Syracuse
- Wyoming
- Texas
- Auburn
- Army
Others receiving votes: 26. West Virginia; 27. East Carolina; 28. Southern Mississippi; 29. Stanford; 30. Wisconsin; 31. San Diego St.; 32. Virginia; 33. Clemson
Final Coaches Poll
- Florida
- Ohio St.
- Florida St.
- Arizona St.
- Brigham Young
- Nebraska
- Penn St.
- Colorado
- Tennessee
- North Carolina
- Alabama
- Virginia Tech
- LSU
- Miami (FL)
- Washington
- Northwestern
- Kansas St.
- Iowa
- Syracuse
- Michigan
- Notre Dame
- Wyoming
- Texas
- Army
- Auburn
Heisman Trophy voting
The Heisman Memorial Trophy Award is given to the Most Outstanding Player of the year
Winner:
Danny Wuerffel, Florida, Quarterback (1363 points)
Other major awards
- Maxwell Award (College Player of the Year) - Danny Wuerffel, Florida
- Walter Camp Award (Player of the Year) - Danny Wuerffel, Florida
- Davey O'Brien Award (Quarterback) - Danny Wuerffel, Florida
- Johnny Unitas Golden Arm Award (Senior Quarterback) - Danny Wuerffel, Florida
- Doak Walker Award (Running Back) - Byron Hanspard, Texas Tech
- Fred Biletnikoff Award (Wide Receiver) - Marcus Harris, Wyoming
- Bronko Nagurski Trophy (Defensive Player) - Pat Fitzgerald, Northwestern
- Dick Butkus Award (Linebacker) - Matt Russell, Colorado
- Lombardi Award (Lineman or Linebacker) - Orlando Pace, Ohio State
- Outland Trophy (Interior Lineman) - Orlando Pace, OT, Ohio State
- Jim Thorpe Award (Defensive Back) - Lawrence Wright, Florida
- Lou Groza Award (Placekicker) - Tony DeGiovanni, University of Miami, Florida
- Paul "Bear" Bryant Award - Bruce Snyder, Arizona St.
References