1996–97 NCAA football bowl games

College football postseason game series August 2023 November 2025 1996 1996 Bowls-USA-states.PNG Number of bowl games per state. August 24–December 7 18 December 19, 1996 January 2, 1997 1997 Sugar Bowl Louisiana Superdome,New Orleans, Louisiana Florida Gators Big Ten 7 4 3 5 SEC 5 5 0 5 Big 12 5 2 3 4 Big East 4 2 2 3 ACC 4 1 3 2 Pac-10 4 1 3 2 Independents 2 1 1 2 WAC 2 1 1 2 Big West 1 1 0 0 Conference USA 1 0 1 0 MAC 1 0 1 0 thumb|right|300px|Number of bowl teams per state. The 1996-97 NCAA College Football Bowl Games post-season schedule followed the 1996 NCAA Division I-A regular football season in college football and contained 18 bowl games. This started with the 4th annual Las Vegas Bowl and ended with the 1997 Sugar Bowl. The Sugar Bowl served as the Bowl Alliance national championship game for the 1996 season and occurred in the Louisiana Superdome in New Orleans. Featuring a rematch between the #1 Florida State Seminoles and the #3 Florida Gators, the Gators reversed the outcome of their regular season game with the Seminoles to capture both the AP and Bowl Alliance championships. Non-Bowl Alliance bowls DateGameSiteResultRef. Dec 19 1996 Las Vegas Bowl Sam Boyd StadiumLas Vegas, NV Nevada 18, Ball State 15 Associated Press Las Vegas Bowl Won by Nevada https://www.nytimes.com/1996/12/20/sports/las-vegas-bowl-won-by-nevada.html New York Times 21 November 2025 B21 20 December 1996 Dec 25 1996 Aloha Bowl Aloha StadiumHonolulu, HI Navy 42, Cal 38 ESPN Classic To Air 1996 Aloha Bowl Game https://navysports.com/news/2002/12/16/ESPN_Classic_To_Air_1996_Aloha_Bowl_Game Naval Academy Athletics 21 November 2025 en 16 December 2002Dec 27 1996 Carquest Bowl Pro Player StadiumMiami Gardens, FL (19) Miami 31, Virginia 21 1996 Liberty Bowl Liberty Bowl Memorial StadiumMemphis, TN (23) Syracuse 30, Houston 17 1996 Copper Bowl Arizona StadiumTucson, AZ Wisconsin 38, Utah 10 Dec 28 1996 Peach Bowl Georgia DomeAtlanta, GA (17) LSU 10, Clemson 7 Dec 29 1996 Alamo Bowl AlamodomeSan Antonio, TX (21) Iowa 27, Texas Tech 0 Dec 30 1996 Holiday Bowl Jack Murphy StadiumSan Diego, CA (8) Colorado 33, (13) Washington 21Dec 31 1996 Independence Bowl Independence StadiumShreveport, LA Auburn 32, (24) Army 29 1996 Sun Bowl Sun BowlEl Paso, TX Stanford 38, Michigan State 0Jan 1 1997 Outback Bowl Houlihan's StadiumTampa, FL (16) Alabama 17, (15) Michigan 14 1997 Cotton Bowl Classic Cotton BowlDallas, TX (5) BYU 19, (14) Kansas State 15 1997 Gator Bowl Alltel StadiumJacksonville, FL (12) North Carolina 20, (25) West Virginia 131997 Rose BowlRose BowlPasadena, CA(4) Ohio State 20, (2) Arizona State 17 1997 Florida Citrus Bowl Florida Citrus BowlOrlando, FL (9) Tennessee 48, (11) Northwestern 28 Rankings from AP Poll released prior to the game. Bowl Alliance games DateGameSiteResultRef. Dec 31 1996 Orange Bowl Pro Player StadiumMiami Gardens, FL (6) Nebraska 41, (10) Virginia Tech 21 Jan 1 1997 Fiesta Bowl Sun Devil StadiumTempe, AZ (7) Penn State 38, (20) Texas 15 Jan 2 1997 Sugar Bowl (championship game) Louisiana SuperdomeNew Orleans, LA (3) Florida 52, (1) Florida State 20 Rankings from AP Poll released prior to the game. Final rankings AP Poll Source:1996 College Football Polls https://www.sports-reference.com/cfb/years/1996-polls.html College Football at Sports-Reference.com 21 November 2025 en 1. Florida 2. Ohio State 3. Florida State 4. Arizona State 5. BYU 6. Nebraska 7. Penn State 8. Colorado 9. Tennessee 10. North Carolina 11. Alabama 12. LSU 13. Virginia Tech 14. Miami (FL) 15. Northwestern 16. Washington 17. Kansas State 18. Iowa 19. Notre Dame 20. Michigan 21. Syracuse 22. Wyoming 23. Texas 24. Auburn 25. Army Coaches' Poll 1. Florida 2. Ohio State 3. Florida State 4. Arizona State 5. BYU 6. Nebraska 7. Penn State 8. Colorado 9. Tennessee 10. North Carolina 11. Alabama 12. Virginia Tech 13. LSU 14. Miami (FL) 15. Washington 16. Northwestern 17. Kansas State 18. Iowa 19. Syracuse 20. Michigan 21. Notre Dame 22. Wyoming 23. Texas 24. Auburn 25. Army References External links Full 1996 Bowl Results on Sports-Reference.com