Preseason AP #1 Ohio State Buckeyes Heisman Trophy Ricky Williams, Texas National championship 1999 Fiesta Bowl Site Sun Devil Stadium | Bowl games 22 Winner Tennessee Volunteers Start date 1998 Number of teams 112 | |
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Duration December 19, 1998 –
January 4, 1999 Champion Marshall Thundering Herd football Similar 1999 NCAA Division I, 2001 NCAA Division I, 2002 NCAA Division I, 1982 NCAA Division I |
1998 ncaa division i a football season top 10 facts
The 1998 NCAA Division I-A football season was the first of the Bowl Championship Series, which saw Tennessee win the national championship, one year after star quarterback Peyton Manning left for the NFL. The Volunteers defeated the Florida State Seminoles 23-16 in the Tostitos Fiesta Bowl in Tempe, Arizona to secure the inaugural BCS National Championship.
Contents
- 1998 ncaa division i a football season top 10 facts
- Rule changes
- Conference and program changes
- Bowl games
- Heisman Trophy voting
- Other major awards
- References
The BCS combined elements of the old Bowl Coalition and the Bowl Alliance it replaced. The agreement existed between the Rose, Fiesta, Sugar, and Orange Bowls, the Cotton Bowl Classic diminishing in status since the breakup of the Southwest Conference. Like the Bowl Alliance, a national championship game would rotate between the four bowls, with the top two teams facing each other. These teams were chosen based upon a BCS poll, combining the AP poll, the Coaches poll, and a third computer component. The computer factored in things such as strength of schedule, margin of victory, and quality wins without taking into account time (in other words a loss in October and a loss in November were on equal footing).
However, like the Bowl Coalition, the bowls not hosting the national championship would retain their traditional tie-ins.
The first run of the Bowl Championship Series was not without controversy as Kansas State finished third in the final BCS standings but was not invited to a BCS bowl game. Ohio State (ranked 4th) and two-loss Florida (8th) received the at-large bids instead. Also, Tulane went undefeated but finished 10th in the BCS standings and was not invited to a BCS bowl because of their strength of schedule.
Rule changes
The following rule changes were adopted by the NCAA Rules Committee during their 1998 meeting:
Conference and program changes
With no teams upgrading from Division I-AA, the number of Division I-A schools was fixed at 112.
Bowl games
Rankings are from the AP Poll.
Heisman Trophy voting
The Heisman Memorial Trophy Award is given to the
Most Outstanding Player of the year
Winner: Ricky Williams, Texas, Running Back (2335 points)