1998 NCAA Division I-A football season

American college football season August 2023 December 2025 1998 File:NCAA primary logo 1980.svg 112 Ohio State 22 December 19, 1998 January 4, 1999 Bowl Championship Series 1999 Fiesta Bowl Sun Devil Stadium,Tempe, Arizona Tennessee Texas running back Ricky Williams The 1998 NCAA Division I-A football season, play of college football in the United States organized by the National Collegiate Athletic Association at the Division I-A level, began in late summer 1998 and culminated with the major bowl games in early January 1999. It was the first season of the Bowl Championship Series (BCS), which saw the Tennessee Volunteers win the national championship. Tennessee defeated the Florida State Seminoles, 23–16, in the Fiesta Bowl in Tempe, Arizona, to secure the inaugural BCS National Championship. 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 bowl games, with 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 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 early in the season and a loss late in the season were on equal footing). Like the Bowl Coalition, the BCS bowls not hosting the national championship game would retain their traditional conference 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; Texas A&M, who upset K-State in the Big 12 title game, took the league's automatic bid. 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 low strength of schedule. Rule changes The following rule changes were adopted by the NCAA Rules Committee during their 1998 meeting:NCAA Rules Changes 1998 http://football.refs.org/rules/NCAA98pr.htmlaccessdate=2012-12-31February 2019 InternetArchiveBot yes Defensive players are allowed to recover and advance backward passes. Previously the defense was only allowed to recover but not advance backward passes. Illegal touching of a forward pass by an ineligible receiver is a five-yard penalty from the previous spot but no loss-of-down. Defensive players may not rough an offensive player in position to receive a backward pass (i.e. trail man on option play). Standardized uniform recognition regarding memorializing of deceased or severely ill teammates/coaches. Eyeshields must be clear. The titles of side judge and field judge were swapped, with the field judge now working on the same side of the field as the line judge (and ruling on placements with the back judge), and the side judge on the same side as the head linesman. Coincidentally, the NFL swapped the titles of back judge and field judge to match the NCAA prior to its 1998 season. Conference and program changes With no teams upgrading from Division I-AA, the number of Division I-A schools was fixed at 112. Army broke away from almost one hundred years of tradition as an independent, joining Conference USA.Sports Briefs: Army set to join Conference USA Las Vegas Sun 1997-03-11 https://lasvegassun.com/news/1997/mar/11/sports-briefs-army-set-to-join-conference-usa/ 2025-04-11 The Western Athletic Conference realigned their Divisions. Pod two and Pod three swap the DivisionsWestern Athletic Conference football 2025-01-04 Wikipedia https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Western_Athletic_Conference_football#Divisional%20alignment 2025-05-18 en School 1997 Conference 1998 Conference Army Cadets I-A Independent Conference USA Regular season August–September The AP voters selected Ohio State as the top-ranked team to begin the season, followed by No. 2 Florida State and No. 3 Florida. Last year’s co-champions, Nebraska and Michigan, were ranked No. 4 and No. 5 respectively. August 29–31: No. 2 Florida State beat No. 14 Texas A&M 23–14 in the Kickoff Classic while No. 4 Nebraska defeated Louisiana Tech 56–27 in the Eddie Robinson Classic. Most other teams had not begun their schedules, so no new poll was taken until the following week. September 5: No. 1 Ohio State won 34–17 at No. 11 West Virginia. No. 2 Florida State was idle. No. 3 Florida opened their schedule with a 49–10 victory over The Citadel, while No. 4 Nebraska beat Alabama-Birmingham 38–7. No. 5 Michigan was upset 36–20 at No. 22 Notre Dame. No. 6 Kansas State blanked Indiana State 66–0 and moved up in the next poll: No. 1 Ohio State, No. 2 Florida State, No. 3 Florida, No. 4 Nebraska, and No. 5 Kansas State. September 12: No. 1 Ohio State shut out Toledo 49–0. No. 2 Florida State fell 24–7 at North Carolina State, just their second loss in ACC play since joining the conference in 1992. No. 3 Florida beat Northeast Louisiana 42–10, No. 4 Nebraska won 24–3 at California, No. 5 Kansas State blew out Northern Illinois 73–7, and No. 6 UCLA defeated No. 23 Texas 49–31. The next poll featured No. 1 Ohio State, No. 2 Florida, No. 3 Nebraska, No. 4 UCLA, and No. 5 Kansas State. September 19: No. 1 Ohio State beat No. 21 Missouri 35–14. The biggest game of the weekend took place in Knoxville between No. 2 Florida and No. 6 Tennessee. The Volunteers had lost to the Gators each of the past five years, despite having Hall of Famer Peyton Manning under center in four of those games. This time they finally came away with the victory, as Florida missed a 32-yard field goal in overtime to seal a 20–17 Tennessee triumph. No. 3 Nebraska was idle, No. 4 UCLA won 42–24 at Houston, and No. 5 Kansas State defeated Texas 48–7. The next poll featured No. 1 Ohio State, No. 2 Nebraska, No. 3 UCLA, No. 4 Tennessee, and No. 5 Kansas State. September 26: No. 1 Ohio State was idle. No. 2 Nebraska overwhelmed No. 9 Washington 55–7. No. 3 UCLA’s game against Miami was postponed due to a hurricane, a situation which would have repercussions later in the season. No. 4 Tennessee defeated Houston 42–7, and No. 5 Kansas State blew out Northeast Louisiana 62–7. The next poll featured No. 1 Ohio State, No. 2 Nebraska, No. 3 Tennessee, No. 4 UCLA, and No. 5 Kansas State. October October 3: No. 1 Ohio State opened conference play with a 28–9 victory over No. 7 Penn State. No. 2 Nebraska needed a fourth-quarter punt return for a touchdown and a game-ending goal line stand to get past Oklahoma State 24–17. No. 3 Tennessee won 17–9 at Auburn, No. 4 UCLA beat Washington State 49–17, and No. 5 Kansas State was idle. The next poll featured No. 1 Ohio State, No. 2 Nebraska, No. 3 UCLA, No. 4 Tennessee, and No. 5 Kansas State. October 10: No. 1 Ohio State shut out Illinois 41–0. No. 2 Nebraska suffered their first regular-season loss to a conference opponent since 1992, falling 28–21 to No. 18 Texas A&M. No. 3 UCLA visited No. 10 Arizona for a 52–28 victory. No. 4 Tennessee also had an easy time against a highly-ranked foe, beating No. 7 Georgia by a 22–3 score. After outscoring their first four opponents 249-21, No. 5 Kansas State was forced into a defensive battle against No. 14 Colorado, but the Wildcats still prevailed 16–9. No. 6 Florida beat No. 11 LSU 22–10 to move back into the top five: No. 1 Ohio State, No. 2 UCLA, No. 3 Tennessee, No. 4 Kansas State, and No. 5 Florida. October 17: No. 1 Ohio State defeated Minnesota 45–15. No. 2 UCLA ran out to a 17-point lead against No. 11 Oregon but allowed the Ducks to come all the way back; the lead changed hands several times before the Bruins finally won 41–38 on a field goal in overtime. No. 3 Tennessee was idle, No. 4 Kansas State beat Oklahoma State 52–20, and No. 5 Florida breezed past Auburn 24–3. The top five remained the same in the next poll. October 24: No. 1 Ohio State won 36–10 at Northwestern, No. 2 UCLA visited California for a 28–16 victory, No. 3 Tennessee beat Alabama 35–18, and No. 4 Kansas State crushed Iowa State 52–7. No. 5 Florida was idle, and No. 6 Florida State’s 34–7 win at No. 20 Georgia Tech was impressive enough to move the Seminoles ahead of their in-state rivals in the next AP Poll: No. 1 Ohio State, No. 2 UCLA, No. 3 Tennessee, No. 4 Kansas State, and No. 5 Florida State. The first-ever BCS standings were released on October 26 and featured UCLA in the top spot, followed by Ohio State in second and the next three teams in the same order as the AP Poll. October 31: AP No. 1 Ohio State posted another dominant win, 38–7 at Indiana. BCS No. 1 UCLA trailed by 10 points in the fourth quarter against a Stanford team with a 1–6 record, but the Bruins scored two late touchdowns for a 28–24 victory. UCLA’s close shave against inferior competition caused them to drop in both the BCS and the human polls. No. 3 Tennessee won 49–14 at South Carolina and No. 4 Kansas State visited Kansas for a 54–6 triumph. No. 5 Florida State beat North Carolina 39–13, but No. 6 Florida’s 38–7 blowout of No. 11 Georgia led the voters to switch the two teams again. The AP and BCS had the same top five: No. 1 Ohio State, No. 2 Tennessee, No. 3 UCLA, No. 4 Kansas State, and No. 5 Florida. November November 7: No. 1 Ohio State, having won all of their previous games by at least 17 points, was heavily favored to beat Michigan State at home. The Buckeyes held a 24–9 lead in the third quarter, but the Spartans (under the direction of up-and-coming head coach Nick Saban) responded with 19 unanswered points and sealed their 28–24 victory with an interception in the end zone on Ohio State’s last drive. No. 2 Tennessee defeated Alabama-Birmingham 37–13. No. 3 UCLA had another close call, needing a last-minute touchdown to beat Oregon State 41–34. No. 4 Kansas State won 49–6 at Baylor, No. 5 Florida visited Vanderbilt for a 45–13 win, and No. 6 Florida State handled No. 12 Virginia 45–14. The AP’s top five were No. 1 Tennessee, No. 2 Kansas State, No. 3 UCLA, No. 4 Florida, and No. 5 Florida State. The BCS also had Tennessee at No. 1, but placed UCLA over KSU and Florida State above Florida. The Coaches Poll further muddied the waters by placing Tennessee and Kansas State in a tie for first. November 14: No. 1 Tennessee trailed No. 10 Arkansas by double digits at the half, and the Razorbacks still led by four points with three minutes left. But a snap went over their punter’s head for a safety, and a fumble on Arkansas’ next possession enabled a Volunteers touchdown drive for a 28–24 win (the third time in three weeks that a No. 1 team played a game with that score). No. 2 Kansas State beat No. 11 Nebraska 40–30 to clinch the Big 12 North title and end the Cornhuskers’ 29-game winning streak over the Wildcats, one of the longest in NCAA history. No. 3 UCLA won 36–24 at Washington, No. 4 Florida defeated South Carolina 33–14, and No. 5 Florida State visited Wake Forest for a 24–7 victory. The AP and BCS top five remained the same, but Kansas State now stood alone at No. 1 in the Coaches Poll. November 21: No. 1 Tennessee clinched a spot in the SEC Championship Game by defeating Kentucky 59–21. No. 2 Kansas State completed an undefeated regular season with a 31–25 victory over No. 19 Missouri. No. 3 UCLA beat USC 34–17 and earned the outright Pac-10 title. No. 4 Florida fell 23–12 at No. 5 Florida State. After their crushing defeat two weeks earlier, No. 7 Ohio State found some solace in a 31–16 win over No. 11 Michigan, the team which had dealt them several upset losses in recent years. The next AP Poll featured No. 1 Tennessee, No. 2 Kansas State, No. 3 UCLA, No. 4 Florida State, and No. 5 Ohio State. The BCS standings kept their previous top four and elevated Texas A&M, champion of the Big 12 South, to fifth place. November 28: No. 1 Tennessee put an exclamation mark on their regular season with a 41–0 shutout of Vanderbilt. No. 2 Kansas State and No. 3 UCLA were idle, and No. 4 Florida State and No. 5 Ohio State had finished their schedules. The AP and Coaches top five remained the same, but the BCS standings moved Ohio State to No. 5 when Texas A&M lost their regular season finale 26–24 at Texas. December December 5: Despite being ranked first in the Coaches Poll and second in the AP ratings, Kansas State was No. 3 in the BCS standings and needed a loss by one of the teams ahead of them in order to have a shot at the championship. The game between UCLA and Miami—a makeup of the hurricane-canceled contest from September—turned out to be just what the Wildcats needed: the Bruins blew a 17-point second-half lead as Edgerrin James ran for a Miami record 299 yards and led the Hurricanes to a 49–45 win. As time was running out on UCLA, Kansas State held a 17–3 lead over No. 10 Texas A&M in the second quarter of the Big 12 Championship Game, and the crowd roared at the announcement of Miami’s victory. However, the Aggies chipped away at the Wildcats’ lead and tied the score at 27 with one minute to play. Kansas State quarterback Michael Bishop completed a 55-yard Hail Mary with time running out, but the receiver was tackled just short of the goal line and the game went into overtime. The teams traded field goals until A&M’s Branndon Stewart threw a 32-yard touchdown pass to Sirr Parker that gave the Aggies a 36–33 double-overtime triumph and ended Kansas State’s dreams of an unlikely championship. The day almost went three-for-three on upsets as No. 23 Mississippi State held a slim lead over No. 1 Tennessee in the fourth quarter of the SEC Championship Game. However, the Volunteers scored a touchdown on a long pass by Tee Martin, forced a fumble on the next play, and immediately picked up another TD on another throw by Martin. The game ended 24–14 in favor of Tennessee, and the final AP Poll of the regular season featured No. 1 Tennessee, No. 2 Florida State, No. 3 Ohio State, No. 4 Kansas State, and No. 5 Arizona. The final BCS standings were topped by Tennessee, Florida State, Kansas State, Ohio State, and UCLA in that order. The Fiesta Bowl would feature a battle for the national championship between No. 1 Tennessee—the only undefeated team from the major conferences—and No. 2 Florida State, the highest-rated of several one-loss teams. (The Seminoles had previously defeated Miami and Texas A&M, the two teams which had just ended UCLA and Kansas State’s perfect seasons.) The Rose Bowl featured the traditional Pac-10 vs. Big Ten matchup between No. 6 UCLA and No. 9 Wisconsin. No. 3 Ohio State, who had tied the Badgers for the conference title, went to the Sugar Bowl against No. 8 Texas A&M. The final at-large BCS spot went to No. 7 Florida, who would face Big East champion No. 18 Syracuse in the Orange Bowl. Controversially, No. 4 Kansas State was left out of the BCS bowls despite their high ranking, instead being sent to play unranked Purdue in the Alamo Bowl. No. 10 Tulane was undefeated, but their light schedule eliminated them from championship consideration; the Green Wave would match up against Brigham Young in the Liberty Bowl. Regular-season top-10 matchups 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 No. 6 Tennessee defeated No. 2 Florida, 20–17 OT (Neyland Stadium, Knoxville, Tennessee) Week 4 No. 2 Nebraska defeated No. 9 Washington, 55–7 (Memorial Stadium, Lincoln, Nebraska) Week 5 No. 1 Ohio State defeated No. 7 Penn State 28–9, (Ohio Stadium, Columbus, Ohio) Week 6 No. 3 UCLA defeated No. 10 Arizona 52–28, (Arizona Stadium, Tucson, Arizona) No. 4 Tennessee defeated No. 7 Georgia 22–3, (Sanford Stadium, Athens, Georgia) Week 11 No. 1/1 Tennessee defeated No. 7/10 Arkansas, 28–24 (Neyland Stadium, Knoxville, Tennessee) Week 12 No. 4/5 Florida State defeated No. 5/4 Florida, 23–12 (Doak Campbell Stadium, Tallahassee, Florida) Week 14 No. 8/10 Texas A&M defeated No. 3/2 Kansas State, 36–33 2OT (1998 Big 12 Championship Game, Trans World Dome, St. Louis, Missouri) Conference standings I-AA team wins over I-A teams Italics denotes I-AA teams. no no September 3 no 5 (I-AA) Northern Iowa Eastern Michigan Rynearson Stadium Ypsilanti, Michigan no 13–10 12,305 FCS wins vs. FBS teams: All-time victories, upsets, wins vs. ranked teams https://www.ncaa.com/news/football/article/fcs-wins-vs-fbs-teams-all-time-victories-upsets NCAA.com September 7, 2025 October 2, 2025 September 12 no 14 (I-AA) Northwestern State Southwestern Louisiana Cajun Field Lafayette, Louisiana no 24–22 September 12 no Youngstown State Kent State Dix Stadium Kent, Ohio no 24–10 September 19 no Eastern Illinois Northern Illinois Huskie Stadium DeKalb, Illinois no 24–10 20,184 October 3 no 10 (I-AA) Appalachian State Wake Forest Groves Stadium Winston-Salem, North Carolina no 30–27 OT 26,885 October 3 no 13 (I-AA) William & Mary Temple Veterans Stadium Philadelphia, Pennsylvania no 45–38 16,281 Rankings 1998 NCAA Division I-A football rankings The top 25 from the AP and USA Today/ESPN Coaches Polls. Preseason polls APRankingTeam 1 Ohio State (30) 2 Florida State (22) 3 Florida (5) 4 Nebraska (4) 5 Michigan (4) 6 Kansas State (2) 7 UCLA (1) 8 Arizona State (2) 9 LSU 10 Tennessee 11 West Virginia 12 North Carolina 13 Penn State 14 Texas A&M 15 Colorado State 16 Virginia 17 Syracuse 18 Washington 19 Georgia 20 Wisconsin 21 Southern Miss 22 Notre Dame 23 Michigan State 24 Arizona 25 Auburn USA Today/ESPN coachesRankingTeam 1 Ohio State (31) 2 Florida State (10) 3 Nebraska (12) 4 Florida (1) 5 Michigan (4) 6 Kansas State (1) 7 UCLA (3) 8 LSU 9 Arizona State 10 Tennessee 11 North Carolina 12 West Virginia 13 Penn State 14 Syracuse 15 Texas A&M 16 Colorado State 17 Washington 18 Georgia 19 Virginia 20 Wisconsin 21 Southern Miss 22 Auburn 23 Michigan State 24 Notre Dame 25 Arizona BCS final rankings Rank Team Conference and standing Bowl game 1 Tennessee SEC Champions Fiesta Bowl (BCS National Championship) 2 Florida State Co-ACC Champions Fiesta Bowl (BCS National Championship) 3 Kansas State Big 12 North Division Champions Alamo Bowl 4 Ohio State Co-Big Ten Champions Sugar Bowl 5 UCLA Pac-10 Champions Rose Bowl 6 Texas A&M Big 12 Champions Sugar Bowl 7 Arizona Pac-10 second place Holiday Bowl 8 Florida SEC Eastern Division second place Orange Bowl 9 Wisconsin Co-Big Ten Champions Rose Bowl 10 Tulane Conference USA Champions Liberty Bowl 11 Nebraska Big 12 North Division second place (tie) Holiday Bowl 12 Virginia ACC third place Peach Bowl 13 Arkansas Co-SEC Western Division Champions Citrus Bowl 14 Georgia Tech Co-ACC Champions Gator Bowl 15 Syracuse Big East Champions Orange Bowl Final polls RankAssociated PressCoaches' Poll 1 Tennessee (70) Tennessee (62) 2 Ohio State Ohio State 3 Florida State Florida State 4 Arizona Arizona 5 Florida Wisconsin 6 Wisconsin Florida 7 Tulane Tulane 8 UCLA UCLA 9 Georgia Tech Kansas State 10 Kansas State Air Force 11 Texas A&M Georgia Tech 12 Michigan Michigan 13 Air Force Texas A&M 14 Georgia Georgia 15 Texas Penn State 16 Arkansas Texas 17 Penn State Arkansas 18 Virginia Virginia 19 Nebraska Virginia Tech 20 Miami (FL) Nebraska 21 Missouri Miami (FL) 22 Notre Dame Notre Dame 23 Virginia Tech Purdue 24 Purdue Syracuse 25 Syracuse Missouri Bowl games 1998–99 NCAA football bowl games BowlSiteFiesta BowlNo. 1 Tennessee 23No. 2 Florida State 16Tempe, AZSugar BowlNo. 4 Ohio State 24No. 8 Texas A&M 14New Orleans, LAOrange BowlNo. 7 Florida 31No. 18 Syracuse 10Miami, FLRose BowlNo. 9 Wisconsin 38No. 6 UCLA 31Pasadena, CACotton Bowl Classic No. 20 Texas 38 No. 25 Mississippi State 11Dallas, TXPeach BowlNo. 19 Georgia 35No. 13 Virginia 33Atlanta, GAFlorida Citrus BowlNo. 15 Michigan 45No. 11 Arkansas 31Orlando, FLOutback BowlNo. 22 Penn State 26 Kentucky 14Tampa, FL1999 Gator Bowl Gator Bowl Gator BowlNo. 12 Georgia Tech 35No. 17 Notre Dame 28Jacksonville, FL1998 MicronPC Bowl MicronPC Bowl MicronPC BowlNo. 24 Miami (FL) 46NC State 23Miami, FL1998 Sun Bowl Sun Bowl Sun BowlTCU 28USC 19El Paso, TXAlamo Bowl Purdue 37No. 3 Kansas State 34San Antonio, TXInsight.com BowlNo. 23 Missouri 34West Virginia 31Tempe, AZHoliday BowlNo. 5 Arizona 23No. 14 Nebraska 20San Diego, CA1998 Liberty Bowl Liberty Bowl Liberty BowlNo. 10 Tulane 41BYU 27Memphis, TN1998 Aloha Bowl Aloha Bowl Aloha BowlColorado 51No. 21 Oregon 43Honolulu, HI1998 Oahu Bowl Oahu Bowl Oahu BowlNo. 16 Air Force 45Washington 25Honolulu, HI1998 Independence Bowl Independence Bowl Independence BowlMississippi 35Texas Tech 18Shreveport, LAMusic City BowlVirginia Tech 38Alabama 7Nashville, TNLas Vegas BowlNorth Carolina 20San Diego State 13Las Vegas, NV1998 Motor City Bowl Motor City Bowl Motor City BowlMarshall 48Louisville 29Detroit, MIHumanitarian BowlIdaho 42Southern Mississippi 35Boise, ID Rankings are from the AP Poll. Heisman Trophy voting The Heisman Trophy is given to the year's most outstanding player Player School Position 1st 2nd 3rd Total Ricky Williams Texas RB 714 91 31 2,355 Michael Bishop Kansas State QB 41 250 169 792 Cade McNown UCLA QB 28 217 178 696 Tim Couch Kentucky QB 26 153 143 527 Donovan McNabb Syracuse QB 13 54 85 232 Daunte Culpepper UCF QB 5 11 30 67 Champ Bailey Georgia CB 6 8 21 55 Torry Holt NC State WR 2 8 22 44 Joe Germaine Ohio State QB 2 11 15 43 Shaun King Tulane QB 1 11 13 38 Other major awards Maxwell Award (College Player of the Year) - Ricky Williams, Texas Walter Camp Award (Back) - Ricky Williams, Texas Davey O'Brien Award (Quarterback) - Michael Bishop, Kansas St. Johnny Unitas Golden Arm Award (Senior Quarterback) - Cade McNown, UCLA Doak Walker Award (Running Back) - Ricky Williams, Texas Fred Biletnikoff Award (Wide Receiver) - Troy Edwards, Louisiana Tech Bronko Nagurski Trophy (Defensive Player) - Champ Bailey, Georgia Chuck Bednarik Award - Dat Nguyen, Texas A&M Dick Butkus Award (Linebacker) - Chris Claiborne, USC Lombardi Award (Lineman or Linebacker) - Dat Nguyen, Texas A&M Outland Trophy (Interior Lineman) - Kris Farris, UCLA Jim Thorpe Award (Defensive Back) - Antoine Winfield, Ohio St. Lou Groza Award (Placekicker) - Sebastian Janikowski, Florida St. Paul "Bear" Bryant Award - Bill Snyder, Kansas St. Football Writers Association of America Coach of the Year Award - Phillip Fulmer, Tennessee Attendances # Team Games Total Average 1 Michigan 6 665,787 110,965 2 Tennessee 6 641,484 106,914 3 Penn State 6 579,190 96,532 4 Ohio State 6 561,014 93,502 5 Georgia 6 513,710 85,618 6 Florida 6 511,792 85,299 7 Alabama 7 578,693 82,670 8 Auburn 7 567,773 81,110 9 Florida State 6 482,941 80,490 10 LSU 6 481,739 80,290 11 Notre Dame 6 480,072 80,012 12 Texas 6 464,642 77,440 13 Wisconsin 6 464,570 77,428 14 Nebraska 7 533,305 76,186 15 South Carolina 6 448,463 74,744 16 UCLA 5 368,547 73,709 17 Washington 6 428,134 71,356 18 Oklahoma 5 353,885 70,777 19 Michigan State 7 490,989 70,141 20 Clemson 7 482,500 68,929 21 Iowa 6 409,981 68,330 22 BYU 6 376,210 62,702 23 Arizona State 6 368,335 61,389 24 Southern California 7 426,295 60,899 25 Texas A&M 6 349,755 58,293 26 Kentucky 6 346,422 57,737 27 Missouri 6 344,010 57,335 28 North Carolina 5 278,350 55,670 29 West Virginia 6 324,816 54,136 30 Purdue 6 318,396 53,066 31 Arkansas 6 315,597 52,600 32 Virginia Tech 6 294,267 49,045 33 California 6 292,500 48,750 34 Arizona 6 287,494 47,916 35 Syracuse 6 287,386 47,898 36 Colorado 6 279,019 46,503 37 Mississippi 6 276,551 46,092 38 Air Force 6 273,924 45,654 39 Oregon 6 265,011 44,169 40 Virginia 5 218,800 43,760 41 Texas Tech 6 259,537 43,256 42 Miami Hurricanes 6 259,209 43,202 43 Kansas State 7 295,537 42,220 44 Oklahoma State 5 208,280 41,656 45 Boston College 6 247,201 41,200 46 Pittsburgh 7 286,660 40,951 47 Northwestern 6 245,441 40,907 48 Georgia Tech 6 242,825 40,471 49 North Carolina State 6 239,645 39,941 50 Minnesota 5 199,214 39,843 51 Louisville 6 238,071 39,679 52 Illinois 6 237,539 39,590 53 Utah 6 232,880 38,813 54 Mississippi State 5 186,925 37,385 55 Fresno State 5 185,511 37,102 56 Army 5 184,641 36,928 57 Indiana 5 182,262 36,452 58 Iowa State 6 211,085 35,181 59 Stanford 6 208,656 34,776 60 Washington State 6 208,002 34,667 61 Baylor 5 168,485 33,697 62 Navy 6 199,301 33,217 63 Kansas 6 194,200 32,367 64 East Carolina 5 158,716 31,743 65 Vanderbilt 6 190,385 31,731 66 Colorado State 4 125,169 31,292 67 Hawaii 8 234,821 29,353 68 Oregon State 6 171,288 28,548 69 Maryland 5 141,736 28,347 70 Tulane 6 167,661 27,944 71 TCU 6 163,088 27,181 72 New Mexico 6 158,834 26,472 73 Marshall 7 173,516 24,788 74 Southern Miss 5 122,807 24,561 75 San Diego State 6 146,878 24,480 76 Cincinnati 6 144,808 24,135 77 Toledo 6 142,866 23,811 78 Duke 5 118,482 23,696 79 Boise State 7 165,515 23,645 80 Memphis 6 140,871 23,479 81 Rutgers 6 139,783 23,297 82 UCF 5 113,252 22,650 83 Rice 5 110,573 22,115 84 Western Michigan 5 109,334 21,867 85 Nevada 5 105,467 21,093 86 Wake Forest 6 125,600 20,933 87 Central Michigan 5 102,995 20,599 88 Ball State 4 81,683 20,421 89 New Mexico State 5 101,711 20,342 90 UTEP 5 100,723 20,145 91 Tulsa 6 116,063 19,344 92 Ohio 5 92,088 18,418 93 SMU 6 109,306 18,218 94 UAB 6 108,991 18,165 95 UNLV 5 90,002 18,000 96 Wyoming 6 107,553 17,926 97 Louisiana Tech 5 83,738 16,748 98 Houston 5 81,477 16,295 99 Northeast Louisiana 6 91,431 15,239 100 Miami RedHawks 4 60,518 15,130 101 Temple 5 75,635 15,127 102 Utah State 6 85,480 14,247 103 Idaho 4 53,156 13,289 104 Arkansas State 6 79,558 13,260 105 San Jose State 5 62,659 12,532 106 Northern Illinois 5 62,591 12,518 107 Eastern Michigan 5 60,012 12,002 108 Bowling Green 5 56,385 11,277 109 North Texas 4 40,904 10,226 110 Southwestern Louisiana 4 38,193 9,548 111 Akron 5 42,065 8,413 112 Kent 5 38,514 7,703 Sources:Football Records https://s3.amazonaws.com/fs.ncaa.org/Docs/stats/football_records/Attend.pdf ATTENDANCE RECORDSNCAA Football Attendance – kenn.com blog https://kenn.com/blog/sports-attendance/ncaa-football-attendance/ 2026-01-26 kenn.com References