1993 NCAA Division I-A football season

1993 NCAA Division I-A season

Total # of teams

106^[1]

Preseason AP #1

Florida State Seminoles^[2]

Number of bowls

National championship

1994 Orange Bowl

Location of championship

Miami Orange Bowl,
Miami, Florida

Champions

Florida State Seminoles

Heisman

Charlie Ward,
Florida State QB

NCAA Division I-A football season

«1992

1994»

The 1993 NCAA Division I-A football season saw Florida State crowned national champions, in both the AP and Coaches poll. The alumni and fans of Notre Dame wanted there to be controversy, but the experts who voted in the Coaches and AP poll saw the Notre Dame loss to Boston College, and their weak strength of schedule too much to overcome. A week after upsetting the Seminoles the Irish fell in the polls and control of its own destiny by losing at home to Boston College. Notre Dame and its dreams of a National Championship ended before the bowl season began. Notre Dame's weak schedule could not justify an invite to play for the 1993 National Title by the AP and Coaches poll. Notre Dame played only 3 teams in the top 25 during the regular season not named FSU and the highest ranking team was #15 Michigan ( 8–4 final record). Notre Dame dropped to #4 after the humiliating loss to Boston College in the last game of regular season before bowl invites were given. Notre Dame was behind #1 FSU, #2 Nebraska, and #3 West Virginia for the right to play in the 1993 National Championship game. Notre Dame looked unimpressive in their final 2 games losing to Boston College and squeaking by Texas A&M, while FSU beat #4 Florida in Gainesville and #2 Nebraska in the Orange Bowl defending their #1 ranking against 2 of the top 5 teams in their final 2 games.

Under the Bowl Coalition, undefeated Big 8 champ and #2 ranked Nebraska hosted ACC champ and #1 ranked Florida State in the Orange Bowl. This produced a clear champion in the Coaches Poll and the AP poll, however the alumni and fans brushed aside the loss to a huge underdog in South Bend and declared themselves national champions Notre Dame because they beat then #1 Florida State 31–24 during the regular season, in a game known by many as the "Game of the Century". This much hyped clash between #1 and #2 was the site of the first ever "live" broadcast of the ESPN College GameDay show and did not fail to live up to expectations as Irish defensive back Shawn Wooden batted down a Charlie Ward pass in the end zone with three seconds left to play. Despite the win over Florida State, Notre Dame's title chances ended the very next week when the Fighting Irish lost to #17 Boston College. Further controversy surrounded the inclusion of one-loss Florida State in the national title game over undefeated West Virginia, who was ranked #2 (ahead of Florida State) by the final regular season coaches' poll but not the AP (Nebraska was #2 in the AP). But West Virginia's schedule was very weak, and could not justify in invite to play for the National Title. FSU and its 6–1 record vs. top 17 teams including 4 games vs. top 7 teams proved that FSU earned the right to play in the Orange Bowl as one of the 2 best teams in the nation. In the final Coaches Poll of the 1993 season including bowl games, FSU had played the #2, #3, and #4 ranked teams all on the road, winning 2 of the 3 contests. FSU was the clear National Champion of 1993 by both the Coaches Poll and the AP poll.

Despite beating Florida State in the regular season, Notre Dame finished #2 in the two major polls due to the teams ranked ahead of them losing. Florida State, during the 1993 regular season played #2 Notre Dame, #2 Nebraska, #3 Miami, #7 Florida, #13 North Carolina, #15 Virginia, and #17 Clemson. FSU went 3–1 vs top 7 teams while playing only 1 home game in the 4 contests. Notre Dame and its humiliating loss at home to Boston College was enough to keep Notre Dame out of the National Championship game. They had no chance at the #1 ranking even before the bowl season started. When #2 Nebraska lost to FSU in the National Championship Game, and #3 WVU lost its bowl game, Notre Dame fans demanded to be crowned National Champions. Only the fans and alumni of Notre Dame could justify their weak schedule and the devastating loss to Boston College at home in the last game of the regular season as reason to be voted National Champions. The rest of the College football world saw them as the 4th best team at the end of the 1993 regular season. The 1993 season was not a debate about who was #1. It was about who was #2.

Florida State's Charlie Ward threw for 3,032 yards, completed 70 percent of his passes and became the first player to win the Heisman Trophy and the national championship in the same season since Pittsburgh's Tony Dorsett in 1976.

Penn State also played their first year as a member of the Big Ten Conference.

Another Big West member and Cal State school dropped football, this time Cal State Fullerton. The league picked up four other teams; Southwest Louisiana (later Louisiana-Lafayette) and Arkansas State which had just made the jump to Division IA, and former independents Northern Illinois and Louisiana Tech.

The Alamo Bowl played its inaugural game.

The Sunshine Classic was no longer sponsored by Blockbuster Entertainment, and was now known as the Carquest Bowl.

1 Rule Changes
2 Final Conference Standings
3 #1 and #2 Progress
4 Bowl Games
5 Final AP Poll
6 Final Coaches Poll
7 Heisman Trophy Voting
8 Other Major Awards
9 References

Rule Changes[edit]

Players who are bleeding or have open wounds are required to leave the game until the bleeding is stopped and the wound treated.
The "fumblerooski" play is outlawed as intentional fumbles are now illegal.

Final Conference Standings[edit]

v t e
1993 ACC football standings
Team	W		L	W		L
#1 Florida State †	8	–	0	12	–	1
#19 North Carolina	6	–	2	10	–	3
#23 Clemson	5	–	3	9	–	3
Virginia	5	–	3	7	–	5
NC State	4	–	4	7	–	5
Georgia Tech	3	–	5	5	–	6
Duke	2	–	6	3	–	8
Maryland	2	–	6	2	–	9
Wake Forest	1	–	7	2	–	9

† – Conference champion Rankings from AP Poll

v t e	Conf					Overall
1993 Big Eight football standings
Team	W		L		T	W		L		T^[3]
#3 Nebraska †	7	–	0	–	0	11	–	1	–	0
#16 Colorado	5	–	1	–	1	8	–	3	–	1
#20 Kansas State	4	–	2	–	1	9	–	2	–	1
#17 Oklahoma ‡	4	–	3	–	0	9	–	3	–	0
Kansas	3	–	4	–	0	5	–	7	–	0
Missouri	2	–	5	–	0	3	–	7	–	1
Iowa State	2	–	5	–	0	3	–	8	–	0
Oklahoma State	0	–	7	–	0	3	–	8	–	0

*† – Bowl Coalition representative as champion ‡ – Bowl Coalition at-large representative Rankings from AP Poll

v t e	Conf					Overall
1993 Big East football standings
Team	W		L		T	W		L		T
#7 West Virginia †	7	–	0	–	0	11	–	1	–	0
#15 Miami	6	–	1	–	0	9	–	3	–	0
#13 Boston College	5	–	2	–	0	9	–	3	–	0
#22 Virginia Tech	4	–	3	–	0	9	–	3	–	0
Syracuse	3	–	4	–	0	6	–	4	–	1
Pittsburgh	2	–	5	–	0	3	–	8	–	0
Rutgers	1	–	6	–	0	4	–	7	–	0
Temple	0	–	7	–	0	1	–	10	–	0

† – Conference champion Rankings from AP Poll

v t e	Conf					Overall
1993 Big Ten football standings
Team	W		L		T	W		L		T
#6/5 Wisconsin §	6	–	1	–	1	10	–	1	–	1
#11/10 Ohio State §	6	–	1	–	1	10	–	1	–	1
#8/7 Penn State	6	–	2	–	0	10	–	2	–	0
Indiana	5	–	3	–	0	8	–	4	–	0
#21/19 Michigan	5	–	3	–	0	8	–	4	–	0
Illinois	5	–	3	–	0	5	–	6	–	0
Michigan State	4	–	4	–	0	6	–	6	–	0
Iowa	3	–	5	–	0	6	–	6	–	0
Minnesota	3	–	5	–	0	4	–	7	–	0
Northwestern	0	–	8	–	0	2	–	9	–	0
Purdue	0	–	8	–	0	1	–	10	–	0

§ – Conference co-champions Rankings from AP Poll / Coaches' Poll

v t e	Conf					Overall
1993 Big West Conference football standings
Team	W		L		T	W		L		T
Southwestern Louisiana §	5	–	1	–	0	8	–	3	–	0
Utah State §	5	–	1	–	0	7	–	5	–	0
Nevada	5	–	2	–	0	7	–	4	–	0
New Mexico State	4	–	3	–	0	5	–	6	–	0
Northern Illinois	3	–	3	–	0	4	–	7	–	0
Pacific	2	–	4	–	0	3	–	8	–	0
UNLV	2	–	4	–	0	3	–	8	–	0
Louisiana Tech	2	–	4	–	0	2	–	9	–	0
San Jose State	2	–	4	–	0	2	–	9	–	0
Arkansas State	1	–	5	–	0	2	–	8	–	1

§ – Conference co-champions Rankings from AP Poll

v t e	Conf					Overall
1993 Mid-American Conference football standings
Team	W		L		T	W		L		T
Ball State †	7	–	0	–	1	8	–	3	–	1
Western Michigan	6	–	1	–	1	7	–	3	–	1
Bowling Green	5	–	1	–	2	6	–	3	–	2
Central Michigan	5	–	4	–	0	5	–	6	–	0
Akron	4	–	4	–	0	5	–	6	–	0
Ohio	4	–	5	–	0	4	–	7	–	0
Eastern Michigan	3	–	5	–	0	4	–	7	–	0
Toledo	3	–	5	–	0	4	–	7	–	0
Miami	3	–	6	–	0	4	–	7	–	0
Kent State	0	–	9	–	0	0	–	11	–	0

† – Conference champion Rankings from AP Poll

v t e	Conf					Overall
1993 Pacific-10 football standings
Team	W		L		T	W		L		T
#18 UCLA §	6	–	2	–	0	8	–	4	–	0
#10 Arizona §	6	–	2	–	0	10	–	2	–	0
USC §	6	–	2	–	0	8	–	5	–	0
Washington	5	–	3	–	0	7	–	4	–	0
#25 California	4	–	4	–	0	9	–	4	–	0
Arizona State	4	–	4	–	0	6	–	5	–	0
Washington State	3	–	5	–	0	5	–	6	–	0
Oregon	2	–	6	–	0	5	–	6	–	0
Stanford	2	–	6	–	0	4	–	7	–	0
Oregon State	2	–	6	–	0	4	–	7	–	0

§ – Conference co-champions Rankings from AP Poll

v t e	Conf					Overall
1993 SEC football standings
Team	W		L		T	W		L		T
Eastern Division
#5 Florida ^x†	7	–	1	–	0	11	–	2	–	0
#12 Tennessee	6	–	1	–	1	9	–	2	–	1
Kentucky	4	–	4	–	0	6	–	6	–	0
Georgia	2	–	6	–	0	5	–	6	–	0
South Carolina	2	–	6	–	0	4	–	7	–	0
Vanderbilt	1	–	7	–	0	4	–	7	–	0
Western Division
#4 Auburn	8	–	0	–	0	11	–	0	–	0
#14 Alabama ^x	5	–	2	–	1	9	–	3	–	1
Arkansas	3	–	4	–	1	5	–	5	–	1
LSU	3	–	5	–	0	5	–	6	–	0
Ole Miss	3	–	5	–	0	5	–	6	–	0
Mississippi State	2	–	5	–	1	3	–	6	–	2
Championship: Florida 28, Alabama 13
† – Conference champion x – Division champion/co-champions Auburn had the best division record, but did not participate in postseason play due to NCAA probation. Alabama later forfeited all 1993 regular season wins and one tie due to NCAA violations. Rankings from AP Poll

v t e	Conf					Overall
1993 Southwest Conference football standings
Team	W		L		T	W		L		T
#9 Texas A&M †	7	–	0	–	0	10	–	2	–	0
Texas	5	–	2	–	0	5	–	5	–	1
Texas Tech	5	–	2	–	0	6	–	6	–	0
Rice	3	–	4	–	0	6	–	5	–	0
Baylor	3	–	4	–	0	5	–	6	–	0
TCU	2	–	5	–	0	4	–	7	–	0
SMU	1	–	5	–	1	2	–	7	–	2
Houston	1	–	5	–	1	1	–	9	–	1

† – Conference champion Rankings from AP Poll

v t e	Conf					Overall
1993 WAC football standings
Team	W		L		T	W		L		T
Fresno State §	6	–	2	–	0	8	–	4	–	0
Wyoming §	6	–	2	–	0	8	–	4	–	0
BYU §	6	–	2	–	0	6	–	6	–	0
Utah	5	–	3	–	0	7	–	6	–	0
Colorado State	5	–	3	–	0	5	–	6	–	0
New Mexico	4	–	4	–	0	6	–	5	–	0
San Diego State	4	–	4	–	0	6	–	6	–	0
Hawaii	3	–	5	–	0	6	–	6	–	0
Air Force	1	–	7	–	0	4	–	8	–	0
UTEP	0	–	8	–	0	1	–	11	–	0

§ – Conference co-champions Rankings from AP Poll

v t e	Conf			Overall
1993 Division I-A independents football records
Team	W	L	T	W		L		T
#2 Notre Dame		–		11	–	1	–	0
#24 Louisville		–		9	–	3	–	0
Cincinnati		–		8	–	3	–	0
Army		–		6	–	5	–	0
Memphis		–		6	–	5	–	0
Tulsa		–		4	–	6	–	1
Navy		–		4	–	7	–	0
Tulane		–		3	–	9	–	0
Southern Miss		–		2	–	8	–	1
East Carolina		–		2	–	9	–	0

Rankings from AP Poll

#1 and #2 Progress[edit]

Florida State's Seminoles were the unanimous choice for #1 beginning with the October 19 poll and the three after that, receiving all 62 votes. After Notre Dame's 31-24 defeat of Florida State on November 13, Notre Dame got all 62 first place votes in the next poll.

WEEKS	#1	#2	Event	Date
PRE - 7	Florida State	Alabama	Tennessee 17, Alabama 17	Oct 16
8 - 11	Florida State	Notre Dame	Notre Dame 31, Florida St. 24	Nov 13
12	Notre Dame	Florida State	Boston College 41, Notre Dame 39	Nov 20
13-15	Florida State	Nebraska	Florida State 18, Nebraska 16	Jan 1

Bowl Games[edit]

Main article: 1992–93 NCAA football bowl games

Rose Bowl: #9 Wisconsin 21, #14 UCLA 16
Sugar Bowl: #8 Florida 41, #3 West Virginia 7
Orange Bowl: #1 Florida State 18, #2 Nebraska 16
Cotton Bowl Classic: #4 Notre Dame 24, #7 Texas A&M 21
Fiesta Bowl: #16 Arizona 29, #10 Miami 0
Peach Bowl: #24 Clemson 14, Kentucky 13
Florida Citrus Bowl: #13 Penn State 31, #6 Tennessee 13
Hall of Fame Bowl: #23 Michigan 42, NC State 7
Carquest Bowl: #15 Boston College 31, Virginia 13
John Hancock Bowl: #19 Oklahoma 41, Texas Tech 10
Gator Bowl: #18 Alabama 24, #12 North Carolina 10
Copper Bowl: #20 Kansas State 52, Wyoming 17
Alamo Bowl: California 37, Iowa 3
Holiday Bowl: #11 Ohio State 28, BYU 21
Freedom Bowl: USC 28, Utah 21
Liberty Bowl: #25 Louisville 18, Michigan State 7
Aloha Bowl: #17 Colorado 41, #25 Fresno St 30
Independence Bowl: #22 Virginia Tech 45, #21 Indiana 20
Las Vegas Bowl: Utah State 42, Ball State 33

Final AP Poll[edit]

Final Coaches Poll[edit]

Heisman Trophy Voting[edit]

The Heisman Memorial Trophy Award is given to the Most Outstanding Player of the year

Winner: Charlie Ward, Florida State, Quarterback (2310 votes)

2. Heath Shuler, Tennessee, Jr.. QB (668 votes)
3. David Palmer, Alabama, Jr. WR (292 votes)
4. Marshall Faulk, San Diego State, Jr. RB (250 votes)
5. Glenn Foley, Boston College, Sr. QB (180 votes)

Other Major Awards[edit]

Maxwell Award (College Player of the Year) - Charlie Ward, Florida State
Walter Camp Award (Back) - Charlie Ward, Florida State
Davey O'Brien Award (Quarterback) - Charlie Ward, Florida State
Doak Walker Award (Running Back) - Byron "Bam" Morris, Texas Tech
Dick Butkus Award (Linebacker) - Trev Alberts, Nebraska
Lombardi Award (Lineman or Linebacker) - Aaron Taylor, Notre Dame
Outland Trophy (Interior Lineman) - Rob Waldrop, NG, Arizona
Jim Thorpe Award (Defensive Back) - Antonio Langham, Alabama
AFCA Coach of the Year - Terry Bowden, Auburn
FWAA Coach of the Year - Terry Bowden, Auburn

References[edit]

v t e NCAA college football seasons

Pre-regulation	1869 1870 1871 1872 1873 1874 1875 1876 1877 1878 1879 1880 1881 1882 1883 1884 1885 1886 1887 1888 1889 1890 1891 1892 1893 1894 1895 1896 1897 1898 1899 1900 1901 1902 1903 1904 1905

IAAUS	1906 1907 1908 1909

NCAA	1910 1911 1912 1913 1914 1915 1916 1917 1918 1919 1920 1921 1922 1923 1924 1925 1926 1927 1928 1929 1930 1931 1932 1933 1934 1935 1936 1937 1938 1939 1940 1941 1942 1943 1944 1945 1946 1947 1948 1949 1950 1951 1952 1953 1954 1955

NCAA University Division/ Division I	1956 1957 1958 1959 1960 1961 1962 1963 1964 1965 1966 1967 1968 1969 1970 1971 1972 1973 1974 1975 1976 1977

NCAA Division I-A/FBS	1978 1979 1980 1981 1982 1983 1984 1985 1986 1987 1988 1989 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013

NCAA Division I-AA/FCS	1978 1979 1980 1981 1982 1983 1984 1985 1986 1987 1988 1989 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013