1999 NCAA Division I-A football season

American college football season August 2023 December 2025 1999 Superdome Sunset.jpg The Superdome was the site of the national championship 114 Florida State 23 December 18, 1999 January 4, 2000 Bowl Championship Series 2000 Sugar Bowl Louisiana Superdome,New Orleans, Louisiana Florida State Wisconsin running back Ron Dayne The 1999 NCAA Division I-A football season saw Florida State named national champions, defeating Virginia Tech in the BCS Sugar Bowl. Florida State became the first team in history to start out preseason No. 1 and remain there through the entire season. Their 12–0 season gave them 109 victories in the '90s, the most for any decade. Virginia Tech also had a remarkable season behind freshman quarterback Michael Vick, who was being touted as college football's best player. Vick was outshone in the national championship game by Florida State wide receiver Peter Warrick. Warrick had early problems with the law, charged with a misdemeanor he sat out two games early in the season. But he scored three touchdowns in the title game, earning MVP honors. The BCS adopted a new rule after the previous season, nicknamed the "Kansas State Rule," which stated that any team ranked in the top four in the final BCS poll is assured of an invitation to a BCS bowl game. Many teams faced debacles. East Carolina faced Hurricane Floyd, and in that same week, faced the No. 9 Miami Hurricanes. The Pirates were down, 23–3, but scored 24 unanswered points to win the football game, 27–23. Kansas State finished 6th in the BCS standings but again received no BCS bowl invitation, this time being passed over in favor of Michigan (ranked eighth). Kansas State's predicament demonstrated early on the problem of trying to balance historic bowl ties and creating a system which gives top bowl bids to the most deserving teams. In addition, for a second straight season, a team from outside the BCS Automatic Qualifying conferences (Marshall) went undefeated but did not receive a bid to a BCS bowl game, which illustrated the problem of BCS Non-Automatic Qualifying conference teams being shut out of the BCS bowls. Rule changes The NCAA Rules Committee adopted the following changes for the 1999 season:NCAA Rules Changes 1999 http://football.refs.org/rules/NCAA99pr.htmlaccessdate=2012-12-31February 2019 InternetArchiveBot yes Holding penalties committed behind the line of scrimmage will be enforced from the previous spot, modifying a 1991 rule that penalized holding (as well as illegal use of hands and clipping) committed behind the scrimmage line from the spot of the foul. The penalty for intentional grounding was changed from a five-yard penalty from the spot of the foul plus loss-of-down to simply a loss-of-down at the spot of the foul. Bandannas that are visible are considered illegal equipment. Offensive teams may not break a huddle with 12 or more players. Continuing action dead-ball fouls against both teams are disregarded, however any disqualified players must leave the game. Conference and program changes Two teams upgraded from Division I-AA, thus increasing the number of Division I-A schools from 112 to 114. The Mountain West Conference was formed prior to the season by eight former members of the Western Athletic Conference. Arkansas State joined the Big West Conference as its seventh member after three seasons as an independent. Alabama–Birmingham joined the Conference USA after playing three seasons as an I-A Independent. Two schools made the move up to Division I-A football this season: the University at Buffalo and Middle Tennessee State University. Conference changes School 1998 Conference 1999 Conference Air Force Falcons WAC Mountain West Alabama–Birmingham Blazers I-A Independent Conference USA Arkansas State Indians I-A Independent Big West Buffalo Bulls I-AA Independent MAC (I-A) BYU Cougars WAC Mountain West Colorado State Rams WAC Mountain West Middle Tennessee Blue Raiders Ohio Valley (I-AA) I-A Independent New Mexico Lobos WAC Mountain West San Diego State Aztecs WAC Mountain West UNLV Rebels WAC Mountain West Utah Utes WAC Mountain West Wyoming Cowboys WAC Mountain West Program changes Two programs, each playing as independents, changed their names prior to the season: After Northeast Louisiana University changed its name to the University of Louisiana at Monroe, the Northeast Louisiana Indians became the Louisiana–Monroe Indians. Similarly, after the University of Southwestern Louisiana changed its name to the University of Louisiana at Lafayette, the Southwestern Louisiana Ragin' Cajuns became the Louisiana–Lafayette Ragin' Cajuns. Regular season August–September In the preseason AP Poll, No. 1 Florida State was followed by No. 2 Tennessee, the team which had defeated them in last year's championship game. The top five were rounded out by No. 3 Penn State, No. 4 Arizona, and No. 5 Florida. August 28: No. 1 Florida State beat Louisiana Tech 41–7, and No. 3 Penn State blasted No. 4 Arizona by the same 41–7 score in the Pigskin Classic. The other highly ranked teams had not begun their seasons, and the next AP Poll featured No. 1 Florida State, No. 2 Penn State, No. 3 Tennessee, No. 4 Florida, and No. 5 Nebraska (who moved up from sixth place). September 4: No. 1 Florida State was idle. No. 2 Penn State posted another blowout win, 70–24 over Akron. No. 3 Tennessee began their schedule with a 42–17 defeat of Wyoming, No. 4 Florida beat Western Michigan 55–26, and No. 5 Nebraska won 42–7 at Iowa. The top five remained the same in the next poll. September 11: No. 1 Florida State got past No. 10 Georgia Tech by a 41–35 score. No. 2 Penn State had an even closer call, needing a late field goal and a block of a potential game-tying kick with time running out to preserve a 20–17 win over rival Pittsburgh. No. 3 Tennessee was idle. No. 4 Florida beat Central Florida 58–27, and No. 5 Nebraska shut out California 45–0. The next poll featured No. 1 Florida State, No. 2 Tennessee, and No. 3 Penn State, with Florida and Nebraska tied at No. 4. September 18: No. 1 Florida State beat No. 20 North Carolina State 42–11. No. 2 Tennessee visited No. 4 Florida, whom they had defeated in 1998 after several frustrating losses earlier in the decade. This time, the Gators went back on top in a 23–21 squeaker. No. 3 Penn State edged past No. 8 Miami as the Nittany Lions followed a crucial fourth-down stop with a 79-yard touchdown pass to win 27–23. No. 4 Nebraska dropped out of the top five after struggling to beat Southern Mississippi 20–13. A tie-breaking safety proved to be the key play in No. 6 Michigan's 18–13 win at Syracuse, while No. 7 Texas A&M overwhelmed Tulsa 62–13. The next poll featured No. 1 Florida State, No. 2 Penn State, No. 3 Florida, No. 4 Michigan, and No. 5 Texas A&M. September 25: No. 1 Florida State visited North Carolina for a 42–10 victory, No. 2 Penn State defeated Indiana 45–24, and No. 3 Florida won 38–10 at Kentucky. No. 4 Michigan held eventual Heisman Trophy winner Ron Dayne without a single rushing yard in the second half of the Wolverines' 21–16 victory at No. 20 Wisconsin. No. 5 Texas A&M beat Southern Mississippi 23–6, and the top five remained the same in the next poll. October October 2: No. 1 Florida State beat Duke 51–23. No. 2 Penn State was idle. No. 3 Florida hosted No. 21 Alabama for a thriller in which the Crimson Tide's Shaun Alexander ran for four touchdowns, including game-tying scores both at the end of regulation and in overtime. Alabama missed the extra point on the latter touchdown, but an offsides penalty gave their kicker a second chance, and this time he converted the point-after for a 40-39 finish which was Florida's first loss at home in five years. No. 4 Michigan defeated No. 11 Purdue 38–12, but No. 5 Texas A&M was upset 21–19 by Texas Tech. No. 6 Nebraska won 38–14 over Oklahoma State, and No. 8 Virginia Tech pulled off a 31–7 victory at No. 24 Virginia. The next poll featured No. 1 Florida State, No. 2 Penn State, No. 3 Michigan, No. 4 Nebraska, and No. 5 Virginia Tech. October 9: No. 1 Florida State hosted No. 19 Miami and won 31–21, while No. 2 Penn State visited Iowa for a 31–7 victory. No. 3 Michigan fell 34–31 to No. 11 Michigan State as the Spartans' Bill Burke and Plaxico Burress set school records for passing and receiving yards. No. 4 Nebraska defeated Iowa State 49–14, and No. 5 Virginia Tech won 58–20 at Rutgers. The next poll featured No. 1 Florida State, No. 2 Penn State, No. 3 Nebraska, No. 4 Virginia Tech, and No. 5 Michigan State. October 16: No. 1 Florida State beat Wake Forest 33–10, and No. 2 Penn State defeated No. 18 Ohio State 23–10. No. 3 Nebraska was idle. No. 4 Virginia Tech overwhelmed No. 16 Syracuse 62–0; not only did the Hokies' offense put on a show, but the defense also returned two fumbles and an interception for touchdowns. No. 5 Michigan State lost 52–28 at No. 20 Purdue. No. 6 Tennessee was idle, but nevertheless moved back into the top five: No. 1 Florida State, No. 2 Penn State, No. 3 Nebraska, No. 4 Virginia Tech, and No. 5 Tennessee. October 23: Clemson coach Tommy Bowden nearly pulled off an upset against his father Bobby's top-ranked Florida State team, but the Seminoles escaped with a 17–14 victory. No. 2 Penn State looked ineffective on offense, but the Nittany Lions converted three turnovers into touchdowns in a 31–25 win at No. 16 Purdue which moved coach Joe Paterno into third place on the all-time wins list. No. 3 Nebraska also struggled to hold onto the ball, losing three fumbles (including a crucial one at their opponent's 2-yard line) in a 24–20 loss at No. 18 Texas. No. 4 Virginia Tech was idle. No. 5 Tennessee visited No. 10 Alabama for a 21–7 win, and idle No. 6 Florida returned to the top five: No. 1 Florida State, No. 2 Penn State, No. 3 Virginia Tech, No. 4 Tennessee, and No. 5 Florida. The first BCS standings, released after this weekend's games, had the same top four but placed Kansas State at No. 5. October 30: No. 1 Florida State won 35–10 at Virginia, No. 2 Penn State went to Illinois for a 27–7 victory, No. 3 Virginia Tech was a 30–17 winner at Pittsburgh, No. 4 Tennessee beat South Carolina 30–7, and No. 5 Florida defeated No. 10 Georgia 30–14. The top five remained the same in the AP Poll, and Florida's big victory was sufficient to move the Gators from sixth to fourth place in the BCS standings. November November 6: No. 1 Florida State was idle. Unranked Minnesota completed a 4th-and-16 pass to set up a game-winning field goal and stun No. 2 Penn State 24–23; after their hot start, the Nittany Lions would lose all of their remaining regular-season games by a touchdown or less. Another thriller took place in Morgantown, where No. 3 Virginia Tech led West Virginia 19–7 with five minutes left but then allowed two Mountaineers touchdowns in quick succession. In a last-ditch effort, Michael Vick led the Hokies on a 58-yard drive resulting in a field goal which put them back on top 22–20 as time expired. No. 4 Tennessee beat No. 24 Notre Dame 38–14, No. 5 Florida escaped Vanderbilt 13–6, and No. 6 Kansas State held off Colorado 20–14. The next AP Poll featured No. 1 Florida State, No. 2 Virginia Tech, No. 3 Tennessee, No. 4 Florida, and No. 5 Kansas State; the BCS standings had Tennessee second and Virginia Tech third. November 13: No. 1 Florida State defeated Maryland 49–10. No. 2 Virginia Tech beat No. 19 Miami 43–10. No. 3 Tennessee blew a fourth-quarter lead to Arkansas and lost 28–24, while No. 4 Florida won 20–3 at South Carolina to clinch a spot in the SEC Championship Game. No. 5 Kansas State fell 41–15 at No. 7 Nebraska. No. 9 Wisconsin breezed past Iowa 41–3 to win the Big Ten title and a spot in the Rose Bowl. The next AP Poll featured No. 1 Florida State, No. 2 Virginia Tech, No. 3 Florida, No. 4 Nebraska, and No. 5 Wisconsin, while the BCS standings had Nebraska third, Florida fourth, and Tennessee fifth. November 20: Undefeated No. 1 Florida State visited one-loss No. 3 Florida with a spot in the national title game likely at stake, and the Seminoles prevailed 30–23. No. 2 Virginia Tech, the only other undefeated squad in the major conferences, blew out Temple 62–7. No. 4 Nebraska was idle, and No. 5 Wisconsin had already finished their schedule. The next AP Poll featured No. 1 Florida State, No. 2 Virginia Tech, No. 3 Nebraska, No. 4 Wisconsin, and No. 5 Florida; the BCS standings ranked Tennessee fourth rather than Wisconsin. November 26: No. 1 Florida State, No. 4 Wisconsin, and No. 5 Florida had all finished their schedules. No. 2 Virginia Tech completed their undefeated season with a 38–14 defeat of No. 22 Boston College. No. 3 Nebraska blew a 27–3 fourth-quarter lead over Colorado and gave the Buffaloes a chance to win in regulation, but a missed field goal sent the game to overtime. After Colorado opened the extra period with a field goal, Eric Crouch's one-yard touchdown run gave the Cornhuskers a 33–30 win and a berth in the Big 12 Championship Game. The top five remained the same in the next AP Poll; the BCS standings had Florida fourth and Tennessee fifth. December December 4: In the Big 12 Championship Game, No. 3 Nebraska faced No. 12 Texas, the only team that had defeated them in the regular season. The Cornhuskers redeemed themselves this time, breezing to a 22–6 victory. The SEC Championship Game between No. 5 Florida and No. 7 Alabama had a much more surprising result. After the favored Gators scored the first touchdown, the Crimson Tide ran off 34 points in a row on their way to a 34–7 victory. The final AP Poll of the regular season featured No. 1 Florida State, No. 2 Virginia Tech, No. 3 Nebraska, No. 4 Wisconsin, and No. 5 Alabama; the final BCS standings had the same top three, Alabama fourth, and Tennessee fifth. As the only two unbeaten teams in the major conferences, No. 1 Florida State and No. 2 Virginia Tech were the obvious choices to play for the national championship in the Sugar Bowl. No. 3 Nebraska drew No. 6 Tennessee, who earned an at-large BCS bid, in the Fiesta Bowl. The Rose Bowl featured the usual Big Ten/Pac-10 matchup between No. 4 Wisconsin and No. 22 Stanford. No. 8 Michigan, who finished second in the Big Ten, got the other at-large spot and faced No. 5 Alabama in the Orange Bowl. For the second year in a row, No. 7 Kansas State was kept out of the BCS bowls despite having just one loss; the Wildcats' opponent would be Washington in the Holiday Bowl. No. 11 Marshall, who finished undefeated but was not part of a major conference, went up against Brigham Young in the Motor City 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 0 No. 3 Penn State defeated No. 4 Arizona, 41–7 (Beaver Stadium, University Park, Pennsylvania) Week 2 No. 1 Florida State defeated No. 10 Georgia Tech, 41–35 (Doak Campbell Stadium, Tallahassee, Florida) Week 3 No. 3 Penn State defeated No. 8 Miami, 27–23 (Miami Orange Bowl, Miami, Florida) No. 4 Florida defeated No. 2 Tennessee, 23–21 (Ben Hill Griffin Stadium, Gainesville, Florida) Week 6 No. 6 Tennessee defeated No. 10 Georgia, 37–20 (Neyland Stadium, Knoxville, Tennessee) Week 8 No. 5 Tennessee defeated No. 10 Alabama, 21–7 (Bryant-Denny Stadium, Tuscaloosa, Alabama) Week 9 No. 6/5 Florida defeated No. NR/10 Georgia, 30–14 (Alltel Stadium, Jacksonville, Florida) Week 11 No. 6/7 Nebraska defeated No. 5/5 Kansas State, 41–15 (Memorial Stadium, Lincoln, Nebraska) No. 9/11 Alabama defeated No. 10/8 Mississippi State, 19–7 (Bryant-Denny Stadium, Tuscaloosa, Alabama) Week 12 No. 1/1 Florida State defeated No. 4/3 Florida, 30–23 (Ben Hill Griffin Stadium, Gainesville, Florida) Week 14 No. 7/7 Alabama defeated No. 4/5 Florida, 34–7 (1999 SEC Championship Game, Georgia Dome, Atlanta, Georgia) Conference standings I-AA team wins over I-A teams Italics denotes I-AA teams. no no September 2 no 20 (I-AA) Western Illinois Northern Illinois Huskie Stadium DeKalb, Illinois no 27–21 17,930 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 11 no 9 (I-AA) Northern Iowa Ohio Peden Stadium Athens, Ohio no 36–21 21,275 September 11 no 10 (I-AA) Troy State Cincinnati Nippert Stadium Cincinnati, Ohio no 31–24 16,091 September 18 no Buffalo Connecticut Memorial Stadium Storrs, Connecticut no 0–23 12,547 October 30 no 12 (I-AA) Furman North Carolina Kenan Memorial Stadium Chapel Hill, North Carolina no 28–3 33,000 November 6 no 10 (I-AA) Hofstra Buffalo University at Buffalo Stadium Amherst, New York no 20–13 8,699 Rankings 1999 NCAA Division I-A football rankings The top 25 from the AP and USA Today/ESPN Coaches Polls. Pre-season polls APRankingTeam 1 Florida State (48) 2 Tennessee (15) 3 Penn State (4) 4 Arizona (1) 5 Florida (1) 6 Nebraska 7 Texas A&M 8 Michigan 9 Ohio State 10 Wisconsin 11 Georgia Tech 12 Miami (FL) 13 Virginia Tech (1) 14 Georgia 15 Colorado 16 UCLA 17 Texas 18 Notre Dame 19 USC 20т Alabama Kansas State 22 Arkansas 23 Purdue 24 Virginia 25 Arizona State USA Today/ESPN CoachesRankingTeam 1 Florida State (36) 2 Tennessee (13) 3 Arizona (2) 4 Penn State (8) 5 Florida 6 Nebraska 7 Michigan 8 Texas A&M 9 Ohio State 10 Wisconsin 11 Georgia Tech 12 Miami (FL) 13 Georgia 14 Virginia Tech 15 UCLA 16 Texas 17 Colorado 18 Notre Dame 19 Kansas State 20 Alabama 21 USC 22 Arkansas 23 Purdue 24 Virginia 25 Arizona State BCS final rankings Rank Team Conference and standing Bowl game 1 Florida State ACC champions Sugar Bowl (BCS National Championship) 2 Virginia Tech Big East champions Sugar Bowl (BCS National Championship) 3 Nebraska Big 12 Champions Fiesta Bowl 4 Alabama SEC Champions Orange Bowl 5 Tennessee SEC Eastern Division second place Fiesta Bowl 6 Kansas State Co-Big 12 North Division Champions Holiday Bowl 7 Wisconsin Big Ten Champions Rose Bowl 8 Michigan Big Ten second place (tie) Orange Bowl 9 Michigan State Big Ten second place (tie) Citrus Bowl 10 Florida SEC Eastern Division champions Citrus Bowl 11 Penn State Big Ten fourth place (tie) Alamo Bowl 12 Marshall MAC Champions Motor City Bowl 13 Minnesota Big Ten fourth place (tie) Sun Bowl 14 Texas A&M Big 12 South Division second place (tie) Alamo Bowl 15 Texas Big 12 South Division Champions Cotton Bowl Final polls RankAssociated PressCoaches' Poll 1 Florida State (70) Florida State (59) 2 Virginia Tech Nebraska 3 Nebraska Virginia Tech 4 Wisconsin Wisconsin 5 Michigan Michigan 6 Kansas State Kansas State 7 Michigan State Michigan State 8 Alabama Alabama 9 Tennessee Tennessee 10 Marshall Marshall 11 Penn State Penn State 12 Florida Mississippi State 13 Mississippi State Southern Miss 14 Southern Miss Florida 15 Miami (FL) Miami (FL) 16 Georgia Georgia 17 Arkansas Minnesota 18 Minnesota Oregon 19 Oregon Arkansas 20 Georgia Tech Texas A&M 21 Texas Georgia Tech 22 Ole Miss Ole Miss 23 Texas A&M Texas 24 Illinois Stanford 25 Purdue Illinois Bowl games 1999–2000 NCAA football bowl games Rankings from final regular season AP poll BCS bowls Sugar Bowl: No. 1 Florida State (BCS No. 1, ACC Champ) 46, No. 2 Virginia Tech (BCS No. 2, Big East Champ) 29 Orange Bowl: No. 8 Michigan (At Large) 35, No. 5 Alabama (SEC Champ) 34 (OT) Rose Bowl: No. 4 Wisconsin (Big 10 Champ) 17, No. 22 Stanford (Pac-10 Champ) 9 Fiesta Bowl: No. 3 Nebraska (Big 12 Champ) 31, No. 6 Tennessee (At Large) 21 Other New Years Day bowls Cotton Bowl Classic: No. 24 Arkansas 27, No. 12 Texas (Big 12 Runner Up) 6 Florida Citrus Bowl: No. 9 Michigan State 37, No. 10 Florida (SEC Runner Up) 34 Outback Bowl: No. 21 Georgia 28, No. 19 Purdue 25 (OT) 2000 Gator Bowl Gator Bowl Gator Bowl: No. 23 Miami 28, No. 17 Georgia Tech 13 December bowl games Peach Bowl: No. 16 Mississippi State 17, Clemson 7 1999 MicronPC Bowl MicronPC Bowl MicronPC Bowl: Illinois 63, Virginia 21 Sun Bowl: Oregon 24, No. 13 Minnesota 20 Alamo Bowl: No. 14 Penn State* 24, No. 18 Texas A&M 0 Insight.com Bowl: Colorado 62, No. 25 Boston College 28 Holiday Bowl: No. 7 Kansas State 24, Washington 20 1999 Liberty Bowl Liberty Bowl Liberty Bowl: No. 15 Southern Mississippi (C-USA Champ) 23, Colorado State 17 Aloha Bowl: Wake Forest 23, Arizona State 3 Oahu Bowl: Hawaii-Manoa (WAC Champ) 23, Oregon State 17 Independence Bowl: Mississippi 27, Oklahoma 25 Music City Bowl: Syracuse 20, Kentucky 13 Las Vegas Bowl: Utah 17, Fresno State 16 1999 Motor City Bowl Motor City Bowl Motor City Bowl: No. 11 Marshall (MAC Champ) 21, BYU (MWC Champ) 3 Humanitarian Bowl: Boise State (Big West Champ) 34, Louisville 31 Mobile Alabama Bowl: TCU 28, No. 20 East Carolina 14 Heisman Trophy voting The Heisman Trophy is given to the year's most outstanding player Player School Position 1st 2nd 3rd Total Ron Dayne Wisconsin RB 586 121 42 2,042 Joe Hamilton Georgia Tech QB 96 285 136 994 Michael Vick Virginia Tech QB 25 72 100 319 Drew Brees Purdue QB 3 89 121 308 Chad Pennington Marshall QB 21 45 94 247 Peter Warrick Florida State WR 14 50 61 203 Shaun Alexander Alabama RB 11 43 52 171 Thomas Jones Virginia RB 10 32 46 140 LaVar Arrington Penn State LB 3 14 17 54 Tim Rattay Louisiana Tech QB 1 5 16 29 Other major awards Maxwell Award (College Player of the Year) – Ron Dayne, Wisconsin Walter Camp Award (Back) – Ron Dayne, Wisconsin Davey O'Brien Award (Quarterback) – Joe Hamilton, Georgia Tech Johnny Unitas Golden Arm Award (Senior Quarterback) – Chris Redman, Louisville Doak Walker Award (Running Back) – Ron Dayne, Wisconsin Fred Biletnikoff Award (Wide Receiver) – Troy Walters, Stanford Bronko Nagurski Trophy (Defensive Player) – Corey Moore, Virginia Tech, DE Chuck Bednarik Award – LaVar Arrington, Penn State Dick Butkus Award (Linebacker) – LaVar Arrington, Penn State Lombardi Award (Lineman or Linebacker) – Corey Moore, Virginia Tech, DE Outland Trophy (Interior Lineman) – Chris Samuels, Alabama, OT Jim Thorpe Award (Defensive Back) – Tyrone Carter, Minnesota Lou Groza Award (Placekicker) – Sebastian Janikowski, Florida St. Paul "Bear" Bryant Award – Frank Beamer, Virginia Tech Football Writers Association of America Coach of the Year Award – Frank Beamer, Virginia Tech Attendances # Team Games Total Average 1 Michigan 6 666,049 111,008 2 Tennessee 7 747,870 106,839 3 Penn State 7 675,503 96,500 4 Ohio State 7 654,192 93,456 5 Georgia 6 516,702 86,117 6 Florida 6 512,960 85,493 7 Alabama 7 582,563 83,223 8 Texas 6 496,036 82,673 9 Auburn 7 566,333 80,905 10 Notre Dame 7 560,084 80,012 11 Florida State 6 472,350 78,725 12 LSU 7 550,409 78,630 13 Clemson 5 391,510 78,302 14 South Carolina 6 469,635 78,273 15 Wisconsin 6 468,487 78,081 16 Nebraska 6 466,375 77,729 17 Oklahoma 5 373,320 74,664 18 Michigan State 6 444,886 74,148 19 Texas A&M 6 438,755 73,126 20 Washington 6 430,738 71,790 21 Kentucky 6 406,536 67,756 22 BYU 6 391,111 65,185 23 Purdue 6 380,826 63,471 24 Iowa 6 380,786 63,464 25 Missouri 6 350,242 58,374 26 Southern California 6 345,091 57,515 27 Arizona State 6 343,227 57,205 28 Arkansas 6 321,840 53,640 29 Virginia Tech 6 315,111 52,519 30 Colorado 6 312,751 52,125 31 Arizona 6 306,905 51,151 32 UCLA 6 298,951 49,825 33 Stanford 6 298,430 49,738 34 Kansas State 7 334,959 47,851 35 Mississippi 6 280,973 46,829 36 Syracuse 6 280,445 46,741 37 Virginia 6 277,900 46,317 38 Air Force 5 229,907 45,981 39 Texas Tech 5 229,472 45,894 40 Georgia Tech 6 274,624 45,771 41 West Virginia 6 273,371 45,562 42 Minnesota 7 318,086 45,441 43 Illinois 6 271,745 45,291 44 North Carolina State 5 225,240 45,048 45 Oregon 6 263,622 43,937 46 North Carolina 6 259,000 43,167 47 Oklahoma State 6 258,490 43,082 48 California 5 214,700 42,940 49 East Carolina 7 294,255 42,036 50 Boston College 5 206,734 41,347 51 Pittsburgh 7 287,967 41,138 52 Vanderbilt 7 280,094 40,013 53 Miami Hurricanes 6 235,578 39,263 54 Utah 5 195,853 39,171 55 Iowa State 6 233,578 38,930 56 Hawaii 9 347,712 38,635 57 Louisville 7 268,729 38,390 58 Mississippi State 7 264,749 37,821 59 Fresno State 6 223,384 37,231 60 Indiana 7 255,465 36,495 61 UTEP 5 171,671 34,334 62 Navy 5 170,234 34,047 63 Kansas 7 235,500 33,643 64 Army 6 198,297 33,050 65 Oregon State 6 195,101 32,517 66 Maryland 6 193,275 32,213 67 Northwestern 6 185,070 30,845 68 Baylor 6 175,013 29,169 69 Marshall 7 200,715 28,674 70 San Diego State 5 141,138 28,228 71 Colorado State 5 137,884 27,577 72 Memphis 6 161,597 26,933 73 Western Michigan 5 134,368 26,874 74 Washington State 6 161,229 26,872 75 UNLV 5 131,543 26,309 76 TCU 6 157,738 26,290 77 Rutgers 6 155,188 25,865 78 Southern Miss 5 129,168 25,834 79 Louisiana Tech 4 101,633 25,408 80 Rice 4 101,200 25,300 81 Idaho 4 100,805 25,201 82 New Mexico 6 142,879 23,813 83 Boise State 7 160,853 22,979 84 UCF 6 131,530 21,922 85 Nevada 6 128,841 21,474 86 Toledo 7 149,968 21,424 87 Temple 4 83,084 20,771 88 Tulane 5 103,217 20,643 89 UAB 5 102,244 20,449 90 Houston 5 100,014 20,003 91 Wyoming 6 119,212 19,869 92 Cincinnati 6 118,702 19,784 93 SMU 5 98,127 19,625 94 Wake Forest 6 116,509 19,418 95 Central Michigan 5 96,316 19,263 96 Ohio 5 95,224 19,045 97 Ball State 4 73,541 18,385 98 Duke 5 88,303 17,661 99 North Texas 4 69,793 17,448 100 Utah State 5 87,199 17,440 101 Miami RedHawks 5 86,813 17,363 102 Buffalo 5 84,196 16,839 103 Louisiana-Lafayette 5 79,507 15,901 104 Northern Illinois 5 76,760 15,352 105 Tulsa 6 83,850 13,975 106 Arkansas State 5 68,801 13,760 107 Louisiana-Monroe 4 54,204 13,551 108 New Mexico State 4 52,962 13,241 109 Middle Tennessee State 5 62,359 12,472 110 Eastern Michigan 4 47,290 11,823 111 Bowling Green 5 57,186 11,437 112 Kent 5 51,708 10,342 113 San Jose State 4 23,920 7,973 114 Akron 5 41,378 8,276 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