Bowl games 17 Number of teams 104 | Start date 1988 | |
Champion Southern Miss Golden Eagles football Similar 1932 college football s, 1910 college football s, 1982 NCAA Division I, 1878 college football s |
The 1988 NCAA Division I-A football season ended with Notre Dame winning the national championship. The Fighting Irish won the title via a 34-21 defeat of previously unbeaten West Virginia in the Fiesta Bowl in Tempe, Arizona.
Contents
- Rule changes
- Conference and program changes
- Bowl games
- Final AP Poll
- Final Coaches Poll
- Heisman Trophy
- Other major awards
- References
Notre Dame had several notable victories this season, including a 19–17 victory over #9 Michigan, won on a last drive field goal, which started off the championship season. The season's marquee game was a 31–30 victory over #1 Miami. Entering the game, Miami had a 36 game regular season winning streak, 20 straight road victories and a 16-game winning streak overall. This year was also the first time Notre Dame and USC had ever met when ranked #1 and #2. Most notable about this game is Notre Dame coach Lou Holtz's decision to leave behind two of his stars, Tony Brooks and Ricky Watters because they were late, cementing discipline as the main theme of this championship team.
This year's edition of the UCLA-USC rivalry game featured a second ranked USC and a fourth ranked UCLA. For the second year in a row the Rose Bowl berth was on the line but for USC it also had national title implications as the rivalry game with Notre Dame was the following week. USC beat UCLA but lost to Notre Dame, and then lost to Michigan in the Rose Bowl.
Oklahoma State running back Barry Sanders ran the Wing T offense all the way to the Heisman Trophy and numerous rushing records.
Rule changes
Conference and program changes
Bowl games
Final AP Poll
- Notre Dame
- Miami (FL)
- Florida State
- Michigan
- West Virginia
- UCLA
- Southern California
- Auburn
- Clemson
- Nebraska
- Oklahoma State
- Arkansas
- Syracuse
- Oklahoma
- Georgia
- Washington State
- Alabama
- Houston
- LSU
- Indiana
Final Coaches Poll
- Notre Dame
- Miami (FL)
- Florida State
- Michigan
- West Virginia
- UCLA
- Auburn
- Clemson
- Southern California
- Nebraska
- Oklahoma State
- Syracuse
- Arkansas
- Oklahoma
- Georgia
- Washington State
- Alabama
- North Carolina State
- Indiana
- Wyoming
Heisman Trophy
- Winner: Barry Sanders, Oklahoma State, Jr. RB
- Rodney Peete, Southern California, Sr. QB
- Troy Aikman, UCLA, Sr. QB
- Steve Walsh, Miami (FL), Jr. QB
- Major Harris, West Virginia, So. QB