1988 NCAA Division I-A football season

1988 NCAA Division I-A season
Number of teams	104
Preseason AP #1	Florida State Seminoles^[1]
Post-season
Bowl games	17
Heisman Trophy	Barry Sanders Oklahoma State RB
Winner	Notre Dame Fighting Irish
Division I-A football seasons
← 1987 1989 →

The 1988 NCAA Division I-A football season ended with Notre Dame winning the national championship. The Fighting Irish won the title via a 34-21 defeat of previously unbeaten West Virginia in the Fiesta Bowl in Tempe, Arizona.

Notre Dame had several notable victories this season, including a 19–17 victory over #9 Michigan, won on a last drive field goal, which started off the championship season. The season's marquee game was a 31–30 victory over #1 Miami. Entering the game, Miami had a 36 game regular season winning streak, 20 straight road victories and a 16-game winning streak overall. This year was also the first time Notre Dame and USC had ever met when ranked #1 and #2. Most notable about this game is Notre Dame coach Lou Holtz's decision to leave behind two of his stars, Tony Brooks and Ricky Watters because they were late, cementing discipline as the main theme of this championship team.

This year's edition of the UCLA-USC rivalry game featured a second ranked USC and a fourth ranked UCLA. For the second year in a row the Rose Bowl berth was on the line but for USC it also had national title implications as the rivalry game with Notre Dame was the following week. USC beat UCLA but lost to Notre Dame, and then lost to Michigan in the Rose Bowl.

Oklahoma State running back Barry Sanders ran the Wing T offense all the way to the Heisman Trophy and numerous rushing records.

Rule changes

Defensive teams can now return blocked PAT kicks and interceptions on two-point conversion attempts for a defensive score worth two points. Fumbles on PAT/two-point conversions cannot be recovered and advanced by the offensive team other than the fumbling player, and the defense cannot convert fumbles into two point defensive scores.
Teams are permitted to take consecutive time-outs, previously this was prohibited.
Illegal use of hands penalties are increased from 5 to 10 yards.

Conference and program changes

The Pacific Coast Athletic Association (PCAA) changed its name to the Big West Conference, its current name, prior to the season.

Conference standings

1988 ACC football standings
	Conf					Overall
Team	W		L		T	W		L		T
#9 Clemson $	6	–	1	–	0	10	–	2	–	0
Virginia	5	–	2	–	0	7	–	4	–	0
NC State	4	–	2	–	1	8	–	3	–	1
Wake Forest	4	–	3	–	0	6	–	4	–	1
Maryland	4	–	3	–	0	5	–	6	–	0
Duke	3	–	3	–	1	7	–	3	–	1
North Carolina	1	–	6	–	0	1	–	10	–	0
Georgia Tech	0	–	7	–	0	3	–	8	–	0

$ – Conference champion Rankings from AP Poll

1988 Big 8 football standings
	Conf					Overall
Team	W		L		T	W		L		T
#10 Nebraska $	7	–	0	–	0	11	–	2	–	0
#14 Oklahoma	6	–	1	–	0	9	–	3	–	0
#11 Oklahoma State	5	–	2	–	0	10	–	2	–	0
Colorado	4	–	3	–	0	8	–	4	–	0
Iowa State	3	–	4	–	0	5	–	6	–	0
Missouri	2	–	5	–	0	3	–	7	–	1
Kansas	1	–	6	–	0	1	–	10	–	0
Kansas State	0	–	7	–	0	0	–	11	–	0

$ – Conference champion Rankings from AP Poll

1988 Big Ten football standings
	Conf					Overall
Team	W		L		T	W		L		T
#4 Michigan $	7	–	0	–	1	9	–	2	–	1
Michigan State	6	–	1	–	1	6	–	5	–	1
Illinois	5	–	2	–	1	6	–	5	–	1
Iowa	4	–	1	–	3	6	–	4	–	3
#20 Indiana	5	–	3	–	0	8	–	3	–	1
Purdue	3	–	5	–	0	4	–	7	–	0
Ohio State	2	–	5	–	1	4	–	6	–	1
Northwestern	2	–	5	–	1	2	–	8	–	1
Wisconsin	1	–	7	–	0	1	–	10	–	0
Minnesota	0	–	6	–	2	2	–	7	–	2

$ – Conference champion Rankings from AP Poll

1988 Big West Conference football standings
	Conf					Overall
Team	W		L		T	W		L		T
Fresno State $	7	–	0	–	0	10	–	2	–	0
Cal State Fullerton	5	–	2	–	0	5	–	6	–	0
Utah State	4	–	3	–	0	4	–	7	–	0
San Jose State	4	–	3	–	0	4	–	8	–	0
UNLV	3	–	4	–	0	4	–	7	–	0
Long Beach State	3	–	4	–	0	3	–	9	–	0
Pacific	2	–	5	–	0	2	–	9	–	0
New Mexico State	0	–	7	–	0	1	–	10	–	0

$ – Conference champion Rankings from AP Poll

1988 Mid-American football standings
	Conf					Overall
Team	W		L		T	W		L		T
Western Michigan $	7	–	1	–	0	9	–	3	–	0
Eastern Michigan	5	–	2	–	1	6	–	3	–	1
Ball State	5	–	3	–	0	8	–	3	–	0
Central Michigan	5	–	3	–	0	7	–	4	–	0
Ohio	4	–	3	–	1	4	–	6	–	1
Toledo	4	–	4	–	0	6	–	5	–	0
Kent State	3	–	5	–	0	5	–	6	–	0
Bowling Green	1	–	6	–	1	2	–	8	–	1
Miami	0	–	7	–	1	0	–	10	–	1

$ – Conference champion Rankings from AP Poll

1988 Pacific-10 football standings
	Conf					Overall
Team	W		L		T	W		L		T
#7 USC $	8	–	0	–	0	10	–	2	–	0
#6 UCLA	6	–	2	–	0	10	–	2	–	0
#16 Washington State	5	–	3	–	0	9	–	3	–	0
Arizona	5	–	3	–	0	7	–	4	–	0
Arizona State	3	–	4	–	0	6	–	5	–	0
Washington	3	–	5	–	0	6	–	5	–	0
Oregon	3	–	5	–	0	6	–	6	–	0
Oregon State	2	–	5	–	1	4	–	6	–	1
Stanford	1	–	5	–	2	3	–	6	–	2
California	1	–	5	–	1	5	–	5	–	1

$ – Conference champion Rankings from AP Poll

1988 SEC football standings
	Conf					Overall
Team	W		L		T	W		L		T
#8 Auburn +	6	–	1	–	0	10	–	2	–	0
#19 LSU +	6	–	1	–	0	8	–	4	–	0
#15 Georgia	5	–	2	–	0	9	–	3	–	0
#17 Alabama	4	–	3	–	0	9	–	3	–	0
Florida	4	–	3	–	0	7	–	5	–	0
Tennessee	3	–	4	–	0	5	–	6	–	0
Ole Miss	3	–	4	–	0	5	–	6	–	0
Kentucky	2	–	5	–	0	5	–	6	–	0
Vanderbilt	2	–	5	–	0	3	–	8	–	0
Mississippi State	0	–	7	–	0	1	–	10	–	0

+ – Conference co-champions Rankings from AP Poll

1988 Southwest Conference football standings
	Conf					Overall
Team	W		L		T	W		L		T
#12 Arkansas $	7	–	0	–	0	10	–	2	–	0
Texas A&M*	6	–	1	–	0	7	–	5	–	0
Houston	5	–	2	–	0	9	–	3	–	0
Texas Tech	4	–	3	–	0	5	–	6	–	0
Baylor	2	–	5	–	0	6	–	5	–	0
Texas	2	–	5	–	0	4	–	7	–	0
TCU	2	–	5	–	0	4	–	7	–	0
Rice	0	–	7	–	0	0	–	11	–	0

$ – Conference champion *- Ineligible for conference championship and postseason bowl games due to NCAA sanctions. Rankings from AP Poll

1988 WAC football standings
	Conf					Overall
Team	W		L		T	W		L		T
Wyoming $	8	–	0	–	0	11	–	2	–	0
UTEP	6	–	2	–	0	10	–	3	–	0
Hawaii	5	–	3	–	0	9	–	3	–	0
BYU	5	–	3	–	0	9	–	4	–	0
Utah	4	–	4	–	0	6	–	5	–	0
Air Force	3	–	5	–	0	5	–	7	–	0
San Diego State	3	–	5	–	0	3	–	8	–	0
New Mexico	1	–	7	–	0	2	–	10	–	0
Colorado State	1	–	7	–	0	1	–	10	–	0

$ – Conference champion Rankings from AP Poll

1988 Division I-A independents football records
	Conf					Overall
Team	W		L		T	W		L		T
#1 Notre Dame		–		–		12	–	0	–	0
#2 Miami (FL)		–		–		11	–	1	–	0
#3 Florida State		–		–		11	–	1	–	0
#5 West Virginia		–		–		11	–	1	–	0
Southern Miss		–		–		10	–	2	–	0
#13 Syracuse		–		–		10	–	2	–	0
Army		–		–		9	–	3	–	0
Louisville		–		–		8	–	3	–	0
South Carolina		–		–		8	–	4	–	0
Northern Illinois		–		–		7	–	4	–	0
Pittsburgh		–		–		6	–	5	–	0
Memphis		–		–		6	–	5	–	0
Rutgers		–		–		6	–	5	–	0
Southwest Louisiana		–		–		6	–	5	–	0
Akron		–		–		5	–	6	–	0
Penn State		–		–		5	–	6	–	0
Tulane		–		–		5	–	6	–	0
Temple		–		–		4	–	7	–	0
Tulsa		–		–		4	–	7	–	0
Boston College		–		–		3	–	8	–	0
Cincinnati		–		–		3	–	8	–	0
East Carolina		–		–		3	–	8	–	0
Navy		–		–		3	–	8	–	0
Virginia Tech		–		–		3	–	8	–	0

Rankings from AP Poll

Season summary

#1 and #2 progress

WEEKS	#1	#2	Event
PRE	Florida State	Nebraska	Miami 31, Florida St. 0	Sep 3
1	Miami	Nebraska	UCLA 41, Nebraska 28	Sep 10
2-6	Miami	UCLA	Notre Dame 31, Miami 30	Oct 15
7-8	UCLA	Notre Dame	Washington St. 34, UCLA 30	Oct 29
9-12	Notre Dame	USC	Notre Dame 27, USC 10	Nov 26
13-14	Notre Dame	Miami	Notre Dame 34, West Virginia 21	Jan 1

Bowl games

Rose Bowl: #11 Michigan 22, #5 USC 14
Sugar Bowl: #4 Florida State 13, #7 Auburn 7
Cotton Bowl Classic: #9 UCLA 17, #8 Arkansas 3
Fiesta Bowl: #1 Notre Dame 34, #3 West Virginia 21
Florida Citrus Bowl: #13 Clemson 13, #10 Oklahoma 6
Orange Bowl: #2 Miami (FL) 23, #6 Nebraska 3
Hall of Fame Bowl: #17 Syracuse 23, #16 LSU 10
Gator Bowl: #19 Georgia 34, Michigan State 27
Sun Bowl: #20 Alabama 29, Army 28
Holiday Bowl: #12 Oklahoma State 62, #15 Wyoming 14
Freedom Bowl: BYU 20, Colorado 17
Peach Bowl: NC State 28, Iowa 23
All-American Bowl: Florida 14, Illinois 10
Liberty Bowl: Indiana 34, South Carolina 10
Aloha Bowl: #18 Washington State 24, #14 Houston 22
Independence Bowl: Southern Miss 38, UTEP 18
California Bowl: Fresno State 35, Western Michigan 30

Polls

Final AP Poll

Final Coaches Poll

Awards

Heisman Trophy

Winner: Barry Sanders, Oklahoma State, Jr. RB
Rodney Peete, Southern California, Sr. QB
Troy Aikman, UCLA, Sr. QB
Steve Walsh, Miami (FL), Jr. QB
Major Harris, West Virginia, So. QB

Other major awards

Maxwell (Player): Barry Sanders, Oklahoma State
Camp (Back): Barry Sanders, Oklahoma State
Davey O'Brien Award (QB): Troy Aikman, UCLA
Rockne (Lineman): N/A
Lombardi (Linebacker): Tracy Rocker, Auburn
Outland (Interior): Tracy Rocker, Auburn
Coach of the Year: Don Nehlen, West Virginia

Notes

Leon Moore, David (2005-12-03). "L.A. is capital of football for a day". USA Today. Retrieved 2010-04-20.
"What was the greatest Fighting Irish football game in the history of Notre Dame Stadium?". Retrieved 2005-08-29.
Wood, Bob (Robert) (1989). Big Ten country : a journey through one football season. Morrow. ISBN 0-688-08922-4.

References

↑ http://www.appollarchive.com/football/ap/seasons.cfm?appollid=637

NCAA football seasons

Pre-regulation	1869 1870 1871 1872 1873 1874 1875 1876 1877 1878 1879 1880 1881 1882 1883 1884 1885 1886 1887 1888 1889 1890 1891 1892 1893 1894 1895 1896 1897 1898 1899 1900 1901 1902 1903 1904 1905

IAAUS/NCAA	1906 1907 1908 1909 1910 1911 1912 1913 1914 1915 1916 1917 1918 1919 1920 1921 1922 1923 1924 1925 1926 1927 1928 1929 1930 1931 1932 1933 1934 1935 1936 1937 1938 1939 1940 1941 1942 1943 1944 1945 1946 1947 1948 1949 1950 1951 1952 1953 1954 1955

NCAA University Division/ Division I	1956 1957 1958 1959 1960 1961 1962 1963 1964 1965 1966 1967 1968 1969 1970 1971 1972 1973 1974 1975 1976 1977

NCAA Division I-A/FBS	1978 1979 1980 1981 1982 1983 1984 1985 1986 1987 1988 1989 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017

NCAA Division I-AA/FCS	1978 1979 1980 1981 1982 1983 1984 1985 1986 1987 1988 1989 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017

NCAA Division II	1973 1974 1975 1976 1977 1978 1979 1980 1981 1982 1983 1984 1985 1986 1987 1988 1989 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017

NCAA Division III	1973 1974 1975 1976 1977 1978 1979 1980 1981 1982 1983 1984 1985 1986 1987 1988 1989 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017

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