2003 Fiesta Bowl

2003 Tostitos Fiesta Bowl
BCS National Championship Game
Ohio State Buckeyes Miami Hurricanes (13–0) (12–0) Big Ten Big East 31 24 Head coach:  Jim Tressel Head coach:  Larry Coker AP Coaches BCS 2 2 2 AP Coaches BCS 1 1 1
1 2 3 4 OT 2OT Total Ohio State 0 14 3 0 7 7 31 Miami 7 0 7 3 7 0 24
Date	January 3, 2003
Season	2002
Stadium	Sun Devil Stadium
Location	Tempe, AZ
MVP	Craig Krenzel, QB Mike Doss, S
Favorite	Miami by 11.5[1]
National anthem	The Singing Sergeants [1]
Referee	Randy Christal (Big 12)
Halftime show	Ohio State and Miami Marching Bands [2]
Attendance	77,502
United States TV coverage
Network	ABC
Announcers	Keith Jackson (play-by-play) Dan Fouts (analyst) Lynn Swann (sideline) Todd Harris (sideline)
Nielsen ratings	29.1 million viewers; 17.2 rating (Pre Game: 19.7 million/11.9 rating)[2]
Fiesta Bowl  < 2002  2004 >  College Football Championship Game  < 2002 2004 >

The 2003 Tostitos Fiesta Bowl was a college football bowl game that was the designated Bowl Championship Series (BCS) National Championship Game for the 2002 NCAA Division I-A football season, taking place on January 3, 2003 at Sun Devil Stadium in Tempe, Arizona. The Ohio State Buckeyes, co-champions of the Big Ten Conference, defeated the heavily favored Miami Hurricanes, defending national champions and champions of the Big East Conference, in double overtime by a final score of 31 - 24. The game was only the second overtime result in either the BCS or its predecessors, the Bowl Alliance and Bowl Coalition, following the 2000 Orange Bowl between the Alabama Crimson Tide and the Michigan Wolverines.^[3] By virtue of their victory, Ohio State won its first consensus national title since 1968 and became the first team in college football history to finish a season with a 14-0 record.

In the midst of a resurgence after a period of turmoil in the 1990s, Miami had won the previous season's national championship in dominant^[4] fashion and entered the Fiesta Bowl with a 34-game win streak. Ohio State, meanwhile, had narrowly missed national championship opportunities in the 90s, and their most recently claimed championship followed the 1970 season.^[5] The two teams represented a contrast of styles: Ohio State played an older variation of power football that emphasized running and dominant defense, while Miami used the speed of their skill position players to overwhelm opponents. Leading up to the game, there was speculation as to whether the Buckeyes would be able to contend with the speed advantage of the Hurricanes, who were installed as 11.5 point favorites.

Following the game, controversy arose surrounding the validity of a crucial pass interference penalty during the first overtime period, without which a Hurricanes victory would have resulted. The trajectories of the two programs subsequently diverged after the season: Ohio State maintained national competitiveness despite two national championship losses later in the decade (they eventually went on to win another national championship in 2014), while Miami fell from their elite status, eventually becoming mired in a scandal from which they've yet to fully recover. Considering the differing courses of the two programs, the game and its controversial ending have become known as pivotal moments in the greater history of American college football. As such, it is often referred to as one of the greatest college football games ever played.^[6][7]