| 1996 NCAA Division I-A season | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Number of teams | 111[1] |
| Preseason AP No. 1 | Nebraska[2] |
| Postseason | |
| Bowl games | 18 |
| Heisman Trophy | Danny Wuerffel (quarterback, Florida) |
| Bowl Alliance Championship | |
| 1997 Sugar Bowl | |
| Site | Louisiana Superdome, New Orleans, Louisiana |
| Champion(s) | Florida (AP, Coaches, FWAA) |
| Division I-A football seasons | |
← 1995 1997 → | |
The 1996 NCAA Division I-A football season ended with the Florida Gators being crowned National Champions after defeating rival Florida State in the Sugar Bowl, which was the season's designated Bowl Alliance national championship game. Florida had faced Florida State earlier in the year, when they were ranked No. 1 and No. 2, and lost 24–21. However, unranked Texas's upset of No. 3 Nebraska in the first ever Big 12 Championship Game set up the rematch of in-state rivals in New Orleans. In the Sugar Bowl, Florida's Heisman Trophy-winning senior quarterback Danny Wuerffel and head coach Steve Spurrier led the Gators to a 52–20 victory and their first national championship.
Because the Pac-10 and Big Ten Conferences were not yet part of the Bowl Alliance, their champions met in the Rose Bowl as they had for decades. In 1996, these conference champions were potential national title contenders in No. 2 Arizona State and No. 4 Ohio State. In a close Rose Bowl contest, Arizona State's Jake Plummer ran for a touchdown with 1:40 left to play to give his team the lead, but Ohio State responded with its own touchdown drive led by backup quarterback Joe Germaine and won 20–17. Ohio State finished No. 2 in the final AP poll behind No. 1 Florida, and Arizona State finished No. 4 behind Florida State. The poll results helped push the Pac-10 and Big Ten to give up their Rose Bowl tradition. Before the 1998 season, they both agreed to join an expanded Bowl Championship Series (BCS) agreement, giving their programs a chance to play in a national championship game. Another controversy that led to the creation of the BCS was that No. 5 BYU was not invited to a major bowl game but were snubbed in favor of lower ranked teams from Bowl Alliance conferences.
The 1996 season saw ongoing realignment of many conferences. One of the most notable developments was the creation of the Big 12 Conference, which consisted of programs from the old Big 8 along with four former members of the dissolved Southwest Conference, namely Texas, Texas A&M, Texas Tech, and Baylor. The Big 12 began play as a two division conference, with Oklahoma and Oklahoma State joining the South Division, breaking up the classic Nebraska–Oklahoma rivalry, but making the Texas-Oklahoma rivalry, known as the Red River Shootout into a conference game. The first Big 12 football game featured Texas Tech and Kansas State. Kansas State won by a score of 21–14.[3]
The 1996 season was also notable as it marked the end of ties in college football, as an overtime system was put into place across all of Division I. Though it has been modified slightly, the "Kansas Playoff" overtime rules have been used ever since. (The 1995 season also had overtime rules, but only for postseason games. These rules were first used in the 1995 Las Vegas Bowl between Toledo and Nevada.[4])
- ^ "1996 NCAA Division IA Football Power Ratings". www.jhowell.net. Retrieved March 23, 2018.
- ^ "Archived copy". Archived from the original on October 2, 2011. Retrieved January 3, 2009.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link) - ^ DeLassus, David. "Kansas State University football records--1996". College Football Data Warehouse. Archived from the original on October 20, 2012. Retrieved September 4, 2013.
- ^ "No more ties: NDAA D-I football adds tiebreakers". Moscow-Pullman Daily News. (Idaho-Washington). Associated Press. February 17, 1996. p. 4D.