American college football season
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).
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 No. 2 Florida Gators (No. 1 in the AP Poll ) and No. 1 Oklahoma Sooners (No. 2 in the AP Poll).[ 1] 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. The Utah Utes were selected national champions by Anderson & Hester after beating the Alabama Crimson Tide in the 2009 Sugar Bowl , finishing the season as the nation's only undefeated team.[ 2]
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 The 15 second play clock after a TV timeout (adopted in the 2007 season ) is repealed and returned to 25 seconds.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 [ edit ] Western Kentucky upgraded from Division I FCS and played the 2008 season as a transitional Division I FBS member.
Regular season top 10 matchups [ edit ] Rankings reflect the AP Poll . Rankings for Week 8 and beyond will list BCS Rankings first and AP Poll second. Teams that failed to be a top 10 team for one poll or the other will be noted.
Week 3 Week 4 Week 5 Week 7 Week 9 Week 10 Week 11 Week 13 Week 15 Most-watched regular season games [ edit ] Rank Date Matchup Channel Viewers 1 December 6, 4:00 ET No. 2 Florida vs. No. 1 Alabama CBS , SEC Championship 15.061 Million 2 November 1, 8:00 ET No. 1 Texas vs. No. 7 Texas Tech ESPN on ABC 12.204 Million 3 September 13, 8:00 ET No. 5 Ohio State vs. No. 1 USC ESPN on ABC 11.800 Million 4 November 22, 8:00 ET No. 2 Texas Tech vs. No. 5 Oklahoma ESPN on ABC 10.742 Million 5 October 25, 8:00 ET No. 3 Penn State vs. No. 9 Ohio State ESPN on ABC 10.367 Million 6 November 29, 8:00 ET No. 3 Oklahoma vs. No. 12 Oklahoma State ESPN on ABC 9.525 Million 7 December 6, 8:00 ET No. 20 Missouri vs. No. 2 Oklahoma ESPN on ABC , Big 12 Championship 8.762 Million 8 November 8, 8:00 ET No. 9 Oklahoma State vs. No. 2 Texas Tech , No. 21 California vs No. 7 USC Regional ESPN on ABC 8.483 Million 9 November 8, 3:30 ET No. 1 Alabama vs. No. 16 LSU CBS 8.137 Million 10 October 11, 12:00 ET No. 5 Texas vs. No. 1 Oklahoma ESPN on ABC 7.726 Million [ 5]
Conference standings [ edit ] Conference champions [ edit ] Conference championship games [ edit ] Rankings reflect the Week 14 AP Poll before the games were played.
Other conference champions [ edit ] Rankings are from the Week 15 AP Poll.
Winners are listed in boldface . Rankings are from the final pre-bowl AP Poll.
Bowl Championship Series [ edit ] 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 BCS non-AQ 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 No. 10 by the BCS, behind No. 9 Boise State . BCS No. 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.
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 No. 17 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 No. 9 Boise State No. 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 No. 25 Missouri No. 22 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 No. 13 Oklahoma State No. 15 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 No. 24 Oregon State No. 18 Pittsburgh [ 9] 3–0 CBS Gaylord Hotels Music City Bowl (Nashville, TN ) December 31 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 No. 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 No. 16 Georgia No. 19 Michigan State 24–12 ABC Cotton Bowl Classic (Dallas, TX ) January 2 No. 20 Ole Miss No. 8 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 No. 23 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.
Heisman Trophy voting [ edit ] The Heisman Trophy is given to the year's most outstanding player
Other major award winners [ edit ] Top Player
Coaching
Offense
Defense
Lineman
Special teams
Other
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 [ edit ] Team scoring most points: Oklahoma, 716 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.
^ Western Kentucky University was in a two-year process of transition to FBS status in 2008 (completed in 2009), and, therefore, some sources list the total for 2008 as 119. ^ a b c d e f "Future BCS Schedules" . BCSFootball.org . Fox Sports. Archived from the original on October 24, 2007. Retrieved October 29, 2007 . ^ "Football Bowl Subdivision Records" (PDF) . ncaa.org . Retrieved August 28, 2018 . ^ "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 December 23, 2008 . ^ "More new timing rules among NCAA proposal" . Retrieved December 23, 2008 . ^ "NCAA Football Season Review" . Retrieved October 12, 2011 . ^ "Penn State Rose Bowl Bound" . Yahoo! . Retrieved November 23, 2008 . [dead link ] ^ "Virginia Tech takes down BC,headed down to Orange Bowl again" . Associated Press. Archived from the original on December 8, 2008. Retrieved December 5, 2008 . ^ http://www.uwbadgers.com/sport_news/fb/headlines/story.html?sportid=111&storyid=16009 [dead link ] ^ "PittsburghPanthers.com - University of Pittsburgh Official Athletic Site - Football" . cstv.com . Archived from the original on March 9, 2009. Retrieved March 22, 2018 . ^ "KU headed to Insight Bowl" . KUsports.com . December 4, 2008. Retrieved March 22, 2018 . ^ 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" . Archived from the original on July 8, 2011. Retrieved December 30, 2008 . ^ "ALABAMA'S SABAN WINS 2008 EDDIE ROBINSON AWARD" . Retrieved January 7, 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 ^ a b "San Diego State to hire Ball State's Hoke, source says" . ESPN.com . December 15, 2008. Archived from the original on December 17, 2008. Retrieved December 15, 2008 . ^ "English to be announced as EMU coach" . ESPN.com . December 15, 2008. Archived from the original on January 8, 2009. Retrieved December 20, 2008 . ^ Source: Rhoads to be named new ISU football coach [dead link ] ^ "Ron Prince Will Not Return for 2009" (Press release). Kansas State University Athletic Department. November 5, 2008. Archived from the original on December 11, 2008. Retrieved November 27, 2008 . ^ "Bill Snyder Named Head Football Coach" (Press release). Kansas State University Athletic Department. November 24, 2008. Archived from the original on December 3, 2008. Retrieved November 27, 2008 . ^ "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. ^ a b "Kelly succeeds Bellotti as Ducks coach" . ESPN.com . Associated Press. March 13, 2009. Archived from the original on March 17, 2009. Retrieved March 15, 2009 . ^ a b "Plenty Of Reasons For Hope" (Press release). Purdue University Athletics Department. January 11, 2008. Archived from the original on December 8, 2008. Retrieved November 27, 2008 . ^ "Doug Marrone in Syracuse Friday; will be named head coach" . 9wsyr.com . Archived from the original on December 24, 2008. Retrieved March 22, 2018 . ^ Kiffin introduced as Vol's 21st coach » Abilene Reporter-News Archived December 8, 2008, at the Wayback Machine ^ "Sources: USC coordinator gets Washington job" . ESPN.com . December 5, 2008. Retrieved March 22, 2018 . ^ MU's Christensen accepts Wyoming job Archived December 2, 2008, at the Wayback Machine
Conference seasons Inter-conference All-Americans