2000 NCAA Division I-A football season

American college football season August 2023 December 2025 2000 Dolphin Stadium.jpg Pro Player Stadium was the site of the national championship 116http://www.jhowell.net/cf/cf2000.htm 2000 NCAA Division IA Football Power Ratings www.jhowell.net 23 March 2018 Nebraska 25 December 20, 2000 January 3, 2001 Bowl Championship Series 2001 Orange Bowl Pro Player Stadium, Miami Gardens, Florida Oklahoma Chris Weinke (quarterback, Florida State The 2000 NCAA Division I-A football season ended with the Oklahoma Sooners beating the defending national champion Florida State Seminoles to claim the Sooners' seventh national championship and their thirty-seventh conference championship, the first of each since the 1988 departure of head coach Barry Switzer. Oklahoma coach Bob Stoops was in his second season as head coach, having been the defensive coordinator of Steve Spurrier's 1996 National Champion Florida Gators, and also having helped Bill Snyder turn the Kansas State Wildcats around in the early 1990s. Stoops erased a three-game losing streak against rival Texas by a score of 63–14, one of the worst defeats in Texas' football history. Despite the lopsided victory, this game marked a return of the Red River Shootout to a rivalry game with national title implications. The BCS title game, held at the Orange Bowl that year, was not without controversy, as the system shut fourth-ranked Washington out of the championship game, despite being the only team who had beaten each No. 2 Miami and No. 5 Oregon State and having the same 10–1 record as No. 3 Florida State during the regular season. 10–1 Miami, who handed No. 3 Florida State their only loss, was ranked higher in both the AP Writers' Poll and the ESPN/USA Today Coaches' Poll, and had the same record as the Seminoles, was also seen as a possible title contender. Virginia Tech also was left out of the BCS bowls, despite being ranked higher than one of the at-large teams, Notre Dame. The South Carolina Gamecocks broke a 21-game losing streak, stretching back into 1998, to go 8–4 including a win over Ohio State in the Outback Bowl. Two new bowl games began in the 2000 season: the Silicon Valley Bowl, which had a contractual tie-in with the WAC, and the Galleryfurniture.com Bowl. Rules changes The following rules changes were passed by the NCAA Rules Committee in 2000: The definition of an illegal block is expanded to include any high-low or low-high combination block by any two offensive players when the initial contact clearly occurs beyond the neutral zone. Crack-back blocks are now prohibited from any offensive player in motion in any direction (previously it was in motion toward the ball) and the restricted zone is now 10 yards beyond the neutral zone in all directions. Offensive teams in the process of substituting or simulated substituting are prohibited from rushing to the line of scrimmage to snap the ball to give the defense a disadvantage. The penalty for a first offense is five yards, additional violations are considered unsportsmanlike conduct (15 yards). Defensive players lined up within one yard of the line of scrimmage are prevented from rushing up to the line with the obvious intent of causing an offensive player to false start. Passers who are not within five yards of the sideline from the original position of the ball (aka the "tackle box") are allowed to throw the ball so it lands beyond the neutral zone without penalty. Conference and program changes Two teams upgraded from Division I-AA, thus increasing the number of Division I-A schools from 114 to 116. Nevada left the Big West Conference to become the ninth member of the Western Athletic Conference. The University of Connecticut joined Division I-A football this season. School 1999 Conference 2000 Conference Connecticut Huskies I-AA Independent I-A Independent Nevada Wolf Pack Big West WAC Regular season August–September Nebraska was voted No. 1 in the preseason AP Poll, followed by defending national champion Florida State at No. 2. Alabama and Wisconsin, last year’s winners of the SEC and Big Ten, were third and fourth, with Big East runner-up Miami at No. 5. August 26: The only highly ranked team to play this week was No. 2 Florida State, who defeated Brigham Young 29-3 in the Pigskin Classic. The top five remained the same in the next AP Poll. August 31-September 2: No. 1 Nebraska defeated San Jose State 49-13, and No. 2 Florida State was idle. No. 3 Alabama lost 35-24 at UCLA; the Crimson Tide turned out to be dramatically overrated to start the season, as they ended up finishing last in the SEC West with a 3-8 record. No. 4 Wisconsin beat Western Michigan 19-7, No. 5 Miami blasted McNeese State 61-14, and No. 6 Michigan won 42-7 over Bowling Green. The next poll featured No. 1 Nebraska, No. 2 Florida State, No. 3 Michigan, No. 4 Miami, and No. 5 Wisconsin. September 9: No. 1 Nebraska held a 14-point second-half lead over No. 23 Notre Dame, but the Irish responded with a 100-yard kickoff return and an 83-yard punt return to force overtime. After a Notre Dame field goal, Eric Crouch ran for his third touchdown of the game to seal a 27-24 Cornhuskers win. No. 2 Florida State needed a fourth-quarter comeback of their own to beat Georgia Tech 26-21. No. 3 Michigan defeated Rice 38-7, but No. 4 Miami fell 34-29 at No. 15 Washington. Michael Bennett ran for 290 yards and led No. 5 Wisconsin to a 27-23 victory over Oregon, while No. 6 Texas overwhelmed Louisiana-Lafayette 52-10. The next poll featured No. 1 Nebraska, No. 2 Florida State, No. 3 Michigan, No. 4 Wisconsin, and No. 5 Texas. September 16: No. 1 Nebraska was idle. No. 2 Florida State blew out North Carolina 63-14. No. 3 Michigan fell 23-20 to No. 14 UCLA, the Bruins’ second win in three weeks over a third-ranked team. With five starters suspended for receiving unauthorized shoe store discounts, No. 4 Wisconsin barely escaped Cincinnati in a 28-25 overtime win; the Badgers fell out of the top five in the next poll. No. 5 Texas lost 27-24 to Stanford when a late Cardinal touchdown drive erased a fourth-quarter Longhorns comeback. No. 6 Florida’s game against No. 11 Tennessee ended in controversy when a pass was knocked out of Gators receiver Jabar Gaffney’s hands in the end zone with time running out. The referees ruled that Gaffney had possession long enough for the touchdown to count, giving Florida a 27-23 win. No. 7 Kansas State shut out Ball State 76-0, and No. 8 Virginia Tech blanked Rutgers 49-0. The next poll featured No. 1 Nebraska, No. 2 Florida State, No. 3 Florida, No. 4 Kansas State, and No. 5 Virginia Tech. September 23: No. 1 Nebraska defeated Iowa 42-13, No. 2 Florida State shut out Louisville 31-0, and No. 3 Florida beat Kentucky 59-31. No. 4 Kansas State won 55-10 over North Texas, but the Wildcats still switched places with idle No. 5 Virginia Tech in the next poll: No. 1 Nebraska, No. 2 Florida State, No. 3 Florida, No. 4 Virginia Tech, and No. 5 Kansas State. September 28–30: No. 1 Nebraska beat Missouri 42-24, but the AP voters were more impressed by No. 2 Florida State’s 59-7 blowout of Maryland. No. 3 Florida accumulated 494 passing yards and negative 78 rushing yards in a 47-35 loss to Mississippi State. No. 4 Virginia Tech won 48-34 at Boston College, while No. 5 Kansas State was a 44-21 victor at Colorado. No. 7 Clemson beat Duke 52-22 to move up in the next AP Poll: No. 1 Florida State, No. 2 Nebraska, No. 3 Virginia Tech, No. 4 Kansas State, and No. 5 Clemson. Nebraska retained the top spot in the Coaches Poll. October October 7: No. 1 Florida State’s 27-24 loss to No. 7 Miami was a case of deja vu, as the Seminoles again missed a potential game-tying field goal at the end of a game with national championship implications. “Wide Right III” brought back memories of similar Florida State-Miami finishes in 1991 and 1992. No. 2 Nebraska won 49-27 at Iowa State, No. 3 Virginia Tech beat Temple 35-13, No. 4 Kansas State beat Kansas 52-13, and No. 5 Clemson held off North Carolina State 34-27. Nebraska returned to the No. 1 spot in both polls, and they were followed in the AP rankings by No. 2 Kansas State, No. 3 Virginia Tech, No. 4 Miami, and No. 5 Clemson. October 12–14: No. 1 Nebraska dominated Texas Tech 56-3. No. 2 Kansas State fell 41-31 to No. 8 Oklahoma, whose head coach was former Wildcats assistant Bob Stoops. No. 3 Virginia Tech beat West Virginia 48-20, No. 4 Miami was idle, and No. 5 Clemson defeated Maryland 35-14. The next poll featured No. 1 Nebraska, No. 2 Virginia Tech, No. 3 Oklahoma, No. 4 Miami, and No. 5 Clemson. October 21: No. 1 Nebraska shut out Baylor 59-0. No. 2 Virginia Tech spotted Syracuse a two-touchdown lead in the first quarter but came back to win 22-14. No. 3 Oklahoma was idle. No. 4 Miami won 45-17 at Temple, and No. 5 Clemson visited North Carolina for a 38-24 victory. The AP rankings remained the same, but the year’s first BCS rankings (which were released this weekend) had Oklahoma over Virginia Tech and Florida State in fifth place instead of Clemson. October 28: No. 1 Nebraska visited No. 3 Oklahoma for what was expected to be a tight struggle. Instead, the game turned into a rout as the Sooners ran away with a 31-14 victory. No. 2 Virginia Tech lost star quarterback Michael Vick to an ankle injury and needed a last-minute field goal to escape Pittsburgh 37-34. No. 4 Miami, the Hokies’ Big East rival, looked sloppy in a 42-31 win over a 2-7 Louisiana Tech squad. No. 5 Clemson allowed an 80-yard game-ending touchdown drive and fell 31-28 to Georgia Tech. No. 6 Florida State won 58-14 at No. 21 North Carolina State. The next AP Poll featured No. 1 Oklahoma, No. 2 Virginia Tech, No. 3 Miami, No. 4 Florida State, and No. 5 Nebraska. The BCS standings were topped by the same five teams, but with Miami ranked fifth behind the Seminoles and Cornhuskers. November–December November 4: No. 1 Oklahoma blasted Baylor 56-7. With Michael Vick still hobbled by his injured ankle, No. 2 Virginia Tech was no match for No. 3 Miami. The Hokies’ 41-21 loss left Oklahoma as the only undefeated team in the nation. In a father vs. son coaching matchup, Bobby Bowden’s No. 4 Florida State crushed Tommy Bowden’s No. 10 Clemson 54-7. No. 5 Nebraska bounced back with a 56-17 victory over Kansas, and No. 6 Florida won 43-21 at Vanderbilt. The next AP Poll featured No. 1 Oklahoma, No. 2 Miami, No. 3 Florida State, No. 4 Nebraska, and No. 5 Florida, while the BCS continued to rate Florida State second and Miami third. November 11: No. 1 Oklahoma trailed by 10 points in the fourth quarter, but an interception return for a touchdown allowed the Sooners to come back and beat No. 23 Texas A&M 35-31 before a Kyle Field record crowd of 87,188 fans. No. 2 Miami defeated Pittsburgh 35-7. No. 3 Florida State won 35-6 at Wake Forest. No. 4 Nebraska visited No. 16 Kansas State hoping to clinch a spot in the Big 12 title game. Instead, the Wildcats took over the division lead by winning a 29-28 nailbiter in a snowstorm. No. 5 Florida faced No. 21 South Carolina for the SEC East title, and the Gators won 41-21. No. 6 Oregon, the surprise first-place team of the Pac-10, beat California 25-17. The next AP Poll featured No. 1 Oklahoma, No. 2 Miami, No. 3 Florida State, No. 4 Florida, and No. 5 Oregon. The BCS had the same top four but picked Washington at No. 5, despite the Huskies’ early-season loss to the Ducks. November 18: No. 1 Oklahoma clinched a spot in the Big 12 title game with a 27-13 victory over Texas Tech. No. 2 Miami shut out Syracuse 26-0. No. 3 Florida State overwhelmed No. 4 Florida 30-7. No. 5 Oregon and No. 8 Oregon State were both contenders for the Pac-10 title, and for the first time in 36 years the game between the two rivals would help decide the conference’s Rose Bowl representative. The Ducks had the opportunity to clinch the outright title, but Oregon quarterback Joey Harrington threw five interceptions in a 23-13 loss to the Beavers. No. 6 Washington blew out Washington State 51-3 to climb into a three-way tie for the conference lead, and the Huskies (who had beaten Oregon State in October) earned a trip to Pasadena. The next AP Poll featured No. 1 Oklahoma, No. 2 Miami, No. 3 Florida State, No. 4 Washington, and No. 5 Oregon State. However, the BCS was impressed enough with Florida State’s victory over Florida that the Seminoles were elevated back above the Hurricanes into the number-two spot. November 25: Undefeated No. 1 Oklahoma had a tough time with 3-7 Oklahoma State, but the Sooners finally pulled out a 12-7 victory. No. 2 Miami beat Boston College 52-6. No. 3 Florida State, No. 4 Washington, and No. 5 Oregon State had all finished their seasons, and the next AP Poll remained the same. December 2: No. 1 Oklahoma faced No. 8 Kansas State in the Big 12 Championship Game, hoping to preserve their undefeated record and earn a spot in the national title game. The game was tied at 17 going into the fourth quarter, but the Sooners scored a touchdown and kicked a 46-yard field goal to go ahead for good. After Kansas State cut the score to 27-24 with six seconds left, Oklahoma recovered the onside kick to salt away the win. Undefeated No. 1 Oklahoma was guaranteed a spot in the Orange Bowl to play for the national championship, but the BCS caused a controversy by selecting AP No. 3 Florida State rather than No. 2 Miami or No. 4 Washington as the Sooners’ opponent. All three teams had been defeated only once, but Florida State’s loss was to Miami whose loss was to Washington. Miami would go to the Sugar Bowl against No. 7 Florida (who had easily beaten No. 18 Auburn in the SEC Championship Game), while Washington would play No. 14 Purdue in the Rose Bowl’s Pac-10 vs. Big Ten matchup. The BCS bowls were rounded out by two at-large teams, No. 5 Oregon State and No. 10 Notre Dame, who would meet in the Fiesta Bowl. Regular season top 10 matchups Rankings reflect the AP Poll. Rankings for Week 9 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 6 No. 7 Miami defeated No. 1 Florida State, 27–24 (Miami Orange Bowl, Miami, Florida) Week 7 No. 8 Oklahoma defeated No. 2 Kansas State, 41–31 (KSU Stadium, Manhattan, Kansas) Week 9 No. 2/3 Oklahoma defeated No. 1/1 Nebraska, 31–14 (Oklahoma Memorial Stadium, Norman, Oklahoma) Week 10 No. 3/4 Florida State defeated No. 13/10 Clemson, 54–7 (Doak Campbell Stadium, Tallahassee, Florida) No. 5/3 Miami defeated No. 2/2 Virginia Tech, 41–21 (Miami Orange Bowl, Miami, Florida) Week 12 No. 3/3 Florida State defeated No. 4/4 Florida, 30–7 (Doak Campbell Stadium, Tallahassee, Florida) No. 9/8 Oregon State defeated No. 7/5 Oregon, 23–13 (Reser Stadium, Corvallis, Oregon) Week 14 No. 1/1 Oklahoma defeated No. 9/8 Kansas State, 27–24 (2000 Big 12 Championship Game, Arrowhead Stadium, Kansas City, Missouri) Conference standings I-AA team wins over I-A teams Italics denotes I-AA teams. no no August 31 no 6 (I-AA) Appalachian State Wake Forest Groves Stadium Winston-Salem, North Carolina no 20–16 26,853 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 2 no Sam Houston State UL Lafayette Cajun Field Lafayette, Louisiana no 21–14 15,728 September 9 no 10 (I-AA) Montana Idaho Martin Stadium Pullman, Washington Little Brown Stein no 45–38 17,929 September 9 no 12 (I-AA) Portland State Hawaii Aloha Stadium Hālawa, Hawaii no 45–20 50,000 September 9 no 25 (I-AA) Western Illinois Ball State Ball State Stadium Muncie, Indiana no 24–14 12,779 September 16 no Stephen F. Austin Louisiana Tech Joe Aillet Stadium Ruston, Louisiana no 34–31 2OT 17,320 September 16 no Youngstown State Kent State Dix Stadium Kent, Ohio no 26–20 13,642 September 23 no Northeastern Connecticut Memorial Stadium Storrs, Connecticut no 35–27 16,549 September 23 no Northwestern State UL Lafayette Cajun Field Lafayette, Louisiana no 23–21 15,212 September 30 no 19 (I-AA) Richmond Arkansas State Indian Stadium Jonesboro, Arkansas no 30–27 13,116 September 30 no Southwest Texas State UL Monroe Malone Stadium Monroe, Louisiana no 27–7 8,178 November 11 no Jacksonville State UL Lafayette Cajun Field Lafayette, Louisiana no 28–14 8,595 November 11 no Rhode Island Connecticut Memorial Stadium Storrs, Connecticut rivalry no 26–21 9,951 November 18 no Idaho State Utah State Romney Stadium Logan, Utah no 27–24 13,877 November 18 no Wofford UL Monroe Malone Stadium Monroe, Louisiana no 24–6 4,208 Bowl games 2000–01 NCAA football bowl games BCS bowls Orange Bowl: No. 1 Oklahoma (BCS No. 1) 13, No. 3 Florida State (BCS No. 2) 2 Rose Bowl: No. 4 Washington (Pac 10 co-champ) 34, No. 14 Purdue (Big Ten co-Champ) 24 Fiesta Bowl: No. 5 Oregon State (At Large [Pac 10 co-champ]) 41, No. 10 Notre Dame (At Large) 9 Sugar Bowl: No. 2 Miami (Big East Champ) 37, No. 7 Florida (SEC Champ) 20 Other New Year's Day bowls Cotton Bowl Classic: No. 11 Kansas State (Big 12 runner-up) 35, No. 21 Tennessee 21 Florida Citrus Bowl: No. 17 Michigan (Big Ten co-champ) 31, No. 20 Auburn (SEC runner-up) 28 Gator Bowl: No. 6 Virginia Tech 41, No. 16 Clemson 20 Outback Bowl: South Carolina 24, No. 19 Ohio State 7 December bowl games Holiday Bowl: No. 8 Oregon (Pac 10 co-champ) 35, No. 12 Texas 30 Peach Bowl: LSU 28, No. 15 Georgia Tech 14 MicronPC.com Bowl: NC State 38, Minnesota 30 Sun Bowl: Wisconsin 21, UCLA 20 Alamo Bowl: No. 9 Nebraska 66, No. 18 Northwestern (Big Ten co-champ) 17 Insight.com Bowl: Iowa State 37, Pittsburgh 29 Liberty Bowl: No. 23 Colorado State (MWC champ) 22, No. 22 Louisville (C-USA champ) 17 Aloha Bowl: Boston College 31, Arizona State 17 Oahu Bowl: No. 24 Georgia 37, Virginia 14 Independence Bowl: Mississippi State 43, Texas A&M 41 (OT) Music City Bowl: West Virginia 49, Mississippi 38 Las Vegas Bowl: UNLV 31, Arkansas 14 Motor City Bowl: Marshall (MAC champ) 25, Cincinnati 14 Humanitarian Bowl: Boise State (Big West champ) 38, UTEP (WAC co-champ) 23 Mobile Alabama Bowl: Southern Miss 28, No. 13 TCU (WAC co-champ) 21 Silicon Valley Classic: Air Force 37, Fresno State 34 Galleryfurniture.com bowl: East Carolina 40, Texas Tech 27 Final polls 2000 NCAA Division I-A football rankings Heisman Trophy voting The Heisman Trophy is given to the year's most outstanding player Player School Position 1st 2nd 3rd Total Chris Weinke Florida State QB 369 216 89 1,628 Josh Heupel Oklahoma QB 286 290 114 1,552 Drew Brees Purdue QB 69 107 198 619 LaDainian Tomlinson TCU RB 47 110 205 566 Damien Anderson Northwestern RB 6 20 43 101 Michael Vick Virginia Tech QB 7 14 34 83 Santana Moss Miami (FL) WR 3 9 28 55 Marques Tuiasosopo Washington QB 5 8 10 41 Ken Simonton Oregon State RB 1 5 12 25 Rudi Johnson Auburn RB 3 1 9 20 Other major awards Maxwell Award (College Player of the Year) – Drew Brees, Purdue Walter Camp Award (Back) – Josh Heupel, Oklahoma Davey O'Brien Award (Quarterback) – Chris Weinke, Florida State Johnny Unitas Golden Arm Award (Senior quarterback) – Chris Weinke, Florida State Doak Walker Award (Running back) – LaDainian Tomlinson, TCUhttp://football.about.com/cs/history/a/doakwalkeraward.htm Who Has Rushed for Over 2,000 Yards in a Season? about.com 23 March 2018 1 December 2007 https://web.archive.org/web/20071201195020/http://football.about.com/cs/history/a/doakwalkeraward.htm dead Fred Biletnikoff Award (Wide receiver) – Antonio Bryant, Pittsburgh Bronko Nagurski Trophy (Defensive player) – Dan Morgan, Miami Chuck Bednarik Award – Dan Morgan, Miami Dick Butkus Award (Linebacker) – Dan Morgan, Miami Lombardi Award (Lineman or Linebacker) – Jamal Reynolds, Florida State Outland Trophy (Interior lineman) – John Henderson, Tennessee, DT Jim Thorpe Award (Defensive back) – Jamar Fletcher, Wisconsin Lou Groza Award (Placekicker) – Jonathan Ruffin, Cincinnati Paul "Bear" Bryant Award – Bob Stoops, Oklahoma Attendances # Team Games Total Average 1 Michigan 6 664,930 110,822 2 Tennessee 6 645,567 107,595 3 Ohio State 6 586,542 97,757 4 Penn State 6 573,256 95,543 5 LSU 7 614,704 87,815 6 Florida 6 511,518 85,253 7 Georgia 6 506,922 84,487 8 Alabama 6 502,622 83,770 9 Texas 6 493,297 82,216 10 Auburn 6 491,433 81,906 11 South Carolina 6 491,425 81,904 12 Florida State 6 484,985 80,831 13 Notre Dame 6 481,813 80,302 14 Wisconsin 7 550,974 78,711 15 Clemson 7 548,647 78,378 16 Nebraska 6 467,269 77,878 17 Texas A&M 6 465,471 77,579 18 Oklahoma 6 450,449 75,075 19 Michigan State 6 444,138 74,023 20 Washington 6 429,829 71,638 21 UCLA 7 470,961 67,280 22 Kentucky 6 392,772 65,462 23 Purdue 6 384,937 64,156 24 Iowa 6 366,737 61,123 25 BYU 6 363,711 60,619 26 Miami Hurricanes 6 350,578 58,430 27 Southern California 7 401,371 57,339 28 Virginia 6 337,623 56,271 29 Illinois 6 335,866 55,978 30 Missouri 6 321,600 53,600 31 Virginia Tech 6 317,154 52,859 32 West Virginia 7 363,948 51,993 33 Arkansas 4 203,238 50,810 34 Arizona State 6 303,671 50,612 35 North Carolina 6 303,000 50,500 36 Kansas State 7 351,820 50,260 37 Colorado 5 249,950 49,990 38 Arizona 6 291,288 48,548 39 Mississippi 7 336,322 48,046 40 Minnesota 6 284,112 47,352 41 North Carolina State 6 280,489 46,748 42 California 5 230,500 46,100 43 Oregon 6 270,559 45,093 44 UTEP 5 223,577 44,715 45 Syracuse 6 258,370 43,062 46 Mississippi State 5 214,790 42,958 47 Georgia Tech 6 256,028 42,671 48 Air Force 6 255,357 42,560 49 Texas Tech 8 337,723 42,215 50 Iowa State 6 252,122 42,020 51 Pittsburgh 6 245,208 40,868 52 Fresno State 5 202,205 40,441 53 Oklahoma State 6 238,875 39,813 54 Louisville 7 278,136 39,734 55 Boston College 6 235,962 39,327 56 Vanderbilt 6 232,464 38,744 57 Utah 6 231,225 38,538 58 Army 5 192,580 38,516 59 Stanford 6 227,880 37,980 60 Hawaii 8 292,548 36,569 61 East Carolina 6 217,742 36,290 62 Maryland 6 204,775 34,129 63 Oregon State 6 201,896 33,649 64 Northwestern 6 200,986 33,498 65 Indiana 6 198,675 33,113 66 TCU 6 195,805 32,634 67 Kansas 6 193,300 32,217 68 Memphis 6 181,720 30,287 69 Navy 5 146,645 29,329 70 Baylor 6 173,462 28,910 71 Southern Miss 4 114,036 28,509 72 Marshall 5 142,488 28,498 73 Colorado State 5 137,662 27,532 74 Central Florida 5 136,393 27,279 75 Toledo 6 161,304 26,884 76 Washington State 6 159,854 26,642 77 Boise State 5 132,463 26,493 78 Western Michigan 5 125,214 25,043 79 Rutgers 6 147,338 24,556 80 San Diego State 5 116,704 23,341 81 New Mexico 6 137,064 22,844 82 Duke 5 110,578 22,116 83 SMU 6 130,888 21,815 84 Wake Forest 6 127,691 21,282 85 Cincinnati 6 125,712 20,952 86 Tulane 5 104,226 20,845 87 UNLV 5 103,491 20,698 88 Central Michigan 5 100,583 20,117 89 Utah State 5 99,549 19,910 90 Ohio 5 99,253 19,851 91 Tulsa 6 116,776 19,463 92 Rice 5 95,885 19,177 93 Temple 6 111,672 18,612 94 UAB 6 111,000 18,500 95 Nevada 5 85,086 17,017 96 Idaho 4 67,412 16,853 97 Louisiana Tech 4 66,542 16,636 98 Miami RedHawks 4 64,638 16,160 99 New Mexico State 5 79,130 15,826 100 Houston 4 63,179 15,795 101 Wyoming 5 74,112 14,822 102 Ball State 5 73,962 14,792 103 Louisiana-Lafayette 5 73,119 14,624 104 North Texas 5 70,900 14,180 105 Northern Illinois 5 60,901 12,180 106 San Jose State 5 60,514 12,103 107 Arkansas State 5 54,784 10,957 108 Akron 6 63,823 10,637 109 Middle Tennessee State 5 51,116 10,223 110 Eastern Michigan 6 60,163 10,027 111 Louisiana-Monroe 5 49,130 9,826 112 Buffalo 5 48,825 9,765 113 Bowling Green 5 42,320 8,464 114 Kent State 5 37,338 7,468 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