American college football season
The2008 NCAA Division I FBS football season was the highest level ofcollege football competition in the United States organized by theNational Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA).
The regular season began on August 28, 2008, and ended on December 6, 2008. The postseason concluded on January 8, 2009, with theBCS National Championship Game inMiami Gardens, Florida , which featured the top two teams ranked by theBowl Championship Series (BCS): theNo. 2 Florida Gators (No. 1 in theAP Poll ) andNo. 1 Oklahoma Sooners (No. 2 in the AP Poll).[ 1] Utah Utes were selected national champions byAnderson & Hester after beating theAlabama Crimson Tide in the2009 Sugar Bowl , finishing the season as the nation's only undefeated team.[ 2]
The NCAA football rules committee made rule changes for 2008, including the following:[ 3] [ 4]
Teams have 40 seconds from the time a ball is declared dead to snap the ball. The 25 second play clock will still be used for administrative stoppages and penalties. The 15 second play clock after a TV timeout (adopted in the2007 season ) is repealed and returned to 25 seconds. Outside of the final two minutes of each half, if a runner goes out of bounds, the game clock restarts after the ball is spotted. The penalty for kicking the ball out of bounds on the kickoff is increased, placing the ball at the 40-yard line, similar to the NFL. Reinforcing that contact that leads with the crown of the helmet to another player (targeting) is a foul, penalized 15 yards. All face-mask penalties result in a 15-yard penalty. Incidental contact with the face mask is no longer penalized. Sideline warnings are now penalized five yards for the first two occurrences, and 15 yards (unsportsmanlike conduct) for the third and subsequent violations. Previously the officials gave teams two warnings before a five-yard penalty was called. Allhorse-collar tackles are now subject to a 15-yard penalty. If a coach challenges a play, and he wins the challenge, then he is given a second challenge to use later in the game, but each coach has a maximum of two challenges per game even if both are decided in his favor. Conference and program changes [ edit ] Western Kentucky upgraded fromDivision I FCS and played the 2008 season as a transitional Division I FBS member.
Regular season top 10 matchups [ edit ] Rankings reflect theAP Poll . Rankings for Week 8 and beyond will listBCS Rankings first andAP Poll second. Teams that failed to be a top 10 team for one poll or the other will be noted.
Week 3 Week 4 Week 5 Week 7 Week 9 Week 10 Week 11 Week 13 Week 15 Most-watched regular season games [ edit ] Rank Date Matchup Channel Viewers 1 December 6, 4:00 ET No. 2 Florida vs.No. 1 Alabama CBS ,SEC Championship 15.061 Million 2 November 1, 8:00 ET No. 1 Texas vs.No. 7 Texas Tech ESPN on ABC 12.204 Million 3 September 13, 8:00 ET No. 5 Ohio State vs.No. 1 USC ESPN on ABC 11.800 Million 4 November 22, 8:00 ET No. 2 Texas Tech vs.No. 5 Oklahoma ESPN on ABC 10.742 Million 5 October 25, 8:00 ET No. 3 Penn State vs.No. 9 Ohio State ESPN on ABC 10.367 Million 6 November 29, 8:00 ET No. 3 Oklahoma vs.No. 12 Oklahoma State ESPN on ABC 9.525 Million 7 December 6, 8:00 ET No. 20 Missouri vs.No. 2 Oklahoma ESPN on ABC ,Big 12 Championship 8.762 Million 8 November 8, 8:00 ET No. 9 Oklahoma State vs.No. 2 Texas Tech ,No. 21 California vsNo. 7 USC RegionalESPN on ABC 8.483 Million 9 November 8, 3:30 ET No. 1 Alabama vs.No. 16 LSU CBS 8.137 Million 10 October 11, 12:00 ET No. 5 Texas vs.No. 1 Oklahoma ESPN on ABC 7.726 Million[ 5]
Conference standings [ edit ] FCS team wins over FBS teams [ edit ] Italics denotes FCS teams.
Conference champions [ edit ] Conference championship games [ edit ] Rankings reflect the Week 14 AP Poll before the games were played.
Other conference champions [ edit ] Rankings are from the Week 15 AP Poll.
Winners are listed inboldface . Rankings are from the final pre-bowl AP Poll.
Bowl Championship Series [ edit ] After the completion of the regular season and conference championship games, seven teams had secured BCS berths: ACC championVirginia Tech , Big East championCincinnati , Big Ten championPenn State , Big 12 championOklahoma , Pac-10 championUSC , SEC championFlorida , andMountain West championUtah , who qualified as the highest-ranked BCS non-AQ conference champion. With Oklahoma and Florida being selected to play in the championship, Texas and Alabama assumed their conference's berths in theFiesta andSugar Bowls , respectively. The remaining at-large berth was awarded toOhio State , who were selected despite being ranked No. 10 by the BCS, behindNo. 9 Boise State . BCSNo. 7 Texas Tech did not receive an at-large bid because the Big 12 had already been awarded the maximum of two BCS selections per conference.
Bowl Game Date Visitor Home Score TV EagleBank Bowl (Washington, D.C. )December 20 Wake Forest Navy 29–19 ESPN New Mexico Bowl (Albuquerque, NM )December 20 Colorado State Fresno State 40–35 ESPN magicJack St. Petersburg Bowl (St. Petersburg, FL )December 20 Memphis South Florida 14–41 ESPN2 Pioneer Las Vegas Bowl (Las Vegas, NV )December 20 No. 17 BYU Arizona 21–31 ESPN R+L Carriers New Orleans Bowl (New Orleans, LA)December 21 Southern Mississippi Troy 30–27 ESPN SDCCU Poinsettia Bowl (San Diego, CA )December 23 No. 9 Boise State No. 11 TCU 16–17 ESPN Sheraton Hawaiʻi Bowl (ʻAiea, HI )December 24 Hawaiʻi Notre Dame 21–49 ESPN Motor City Bowl (Detroit, MI )December 26 Florida Atlantic Central Michigan 24–21 ESPN Meineke Car Care Bowl (Charlotte, NC )December 27 West Virginia North Carolina 31–30 ESPN Champs Sports Bowl (Orlando, FL)December 27 Wisconsin [ 9] Florida State 13–42 ESPN Emerald Bowl (San Francisco, CA )December 27 Miami (FL) California 17–24 ESPN Independence Bowl (Shreveport, LA )December 28 Northern Illinois Louisiana Tech 10–17 ESPN Papajohns.com Bowl (Birmingham, AL )December 29 NC State Rutgers 23–29 ESPN2 Valero Alamo Bowl (San Antonio, TX )December 29 No. 25 Missouri No. 22 Northwestern 30–23 (OT) ESPN Roady's Truck Stops Humanitarian Bowl (Boise, ID )December 30 Maryland Nevada 42–35 ESPN2 Texas Bowl (Houston, TX )December 30 Rice Western Michigan 38–14 NFL Network Pacific Life Holiday Bowl (San Diego, CA)December 30 No. 13 Oklahoma State No. 15 Oregon 31–42 ESPN Bell Helicopters Armed Forces Bowl (Fort Worth, TX )December 31 Houston Air Force 34–28 ESPN Brut Sun Bowl (El Paso, TX )December 31 No. 24 Oregon State No. 18 Pittsburgh [ 10] 3–0 CBS Gaylord Hotels Music City Bowl (Nashville, TN )December 31 Boston College Vanderbilt 14–16 ESPN Insight Bowl (Tempe, AZ )December 31 Kansas [ 11] Minnesota [ 12] 42–21 NFL Chick-fil-A Bowl (Atlanta, GA )December 31 LSU No. 14 Georgia Tech 38–3 ESPN Outback Bowl (Tampa, FL )January 1 South Carolina Iowa 10–31 ESPN Konica Minolta Gator Bowl (Jacksonville, FL )January 1 Nebraska Clemson 26–21 CBS Capital One Bowl (Orlando, FL )January 1 No. 16 Georgia No. 19 Michigan State 24–12 ABC Cotton Bowl Classic (Dallas, TX )January 2 No. 20 Ole Miss No. 8 Texas Tech 47–34 FOX AutoZone Liberty Bowl (Memphis, TN )January 2 Kentucky East Carolina 25–19 ESPN International Bowl (Toronto, ON ,Canada )January 3 Buffalo Connecticut 20–38 ESPN2 GMAC Bowl (Mobile, AL )January 6 Tulsa No. 23 Ball State 45–13 ESPN
Conference Wins Losses Pct. Pac-10 5 0 1.000 SEC 6 2 .750 Big East 4 2 .667 C-USA 4 2 .667 MWC 3 2 .600 Big 12 4 3 .571 Sun Belt * 1 1 .500 ACC 4 6 .400 WAC 1 4 .200 Big Ten 1 6 .143 MAC 0 5 .000
* Does not meet minimum game requirement of three teams needed for a conference to be eligible.
Heisman Trophy voting [ edit ] TheHeisman Trophy is given to the year's most outstanding player
Other major award winners [ edit ] Top Player
Coaching
Offense
Defense
Lineman
Special teams
Other
2008 Consensus All-America Team Offense Position Name Height Weight (lbs.) Class Hometown Team QB Sam Bradford 6'4" 223 So. Oklahoma City, Oklahoma Oklahoma RB Shonn Greene 5'11" 235 Sr. Atco, New Jersey Iowa RB Javon Ringer 5'9" 202 Sr. Dayton, Ohio Michigan State WR Michael Crabtree 6'3" 214 So. Dallas, Texas Texas Tech WR Dez Bryant 6'2" 225 So. Lufkin, Texas Oklahoma State TE Chase Coffman 6'6" 244 Sr. Peculiar, Missouri Missouri T Andre Smith 6'4" 330 Jr. Birmingham, Alabama Alabama T Michael Oher 6'5" 322 Sr. Memphis, Tennessee Mississippi G Duke Robinson 6'5" 329 Sr. Atlanta, Georgia Oklahoma G Brandon Carter 6'7" 334 Jr. Longview, Texas Texas Tech C Antoine Caldwell 6'3" 305 Sr. Montgomery, Alabama Alabama
Defense Position Name Height Weight (lbs.) Class Hometown Team DE Brian Orakpo 6'3" 263 Sr. Greenwood, Mississippi Texas DE Aaron Maybin 6'4" 249 Jr. Baltimore, Maryland Penn State DT Terrence Cody 6'5" 365 Jr. Fort Myers, Florida Alabama DE Jerry Hughes 6'3" 257 Jr. Sugar Land, Texas TCU LB Rey Maualuga 6'2" 260 Sr. Eureka, California USC LB James Laurinaitis 6'4" 244 Sr. Wayzata, Minnesota Ohio State LB Brandon Spikes 6'3" 249 Jr. Shelby, North Carolina Florida CB Malcolm Jenkins 6'0" 204 Sr. Piscataway, New Jersey Ohio State CB Alphonso Smith 5'9" 190 Sr. Pahokee, Florida Wake Forest Safety Eric Berry 6'0" 211 So. Fairburn, Georgia Tennessee Safety Taylor Mays 6'3" 230 Jr. Irving, Texas USC
Statistical leaders [ edit ] Team scoring most points: Oklahoma, 716 Rank Associated Press USA TODAY/AFCA* 1 Florida Florida 2 Utah Southern California 3 Southern California Texas 4 Texas Utah≠ 5 Oklahoma Oklahoma 6 Alabama Alabama 7 Texas Christian Texas Christian 8 Penn State Penn State 9 Ohio State Oregon 10 Oregon Georgia 11 Boise State Ohio State 12 Texas Tech Texas Tech 13 Georgia Boise State 14 Mississippi Virginia Tech 15 Virginia Tech Mississippi 16 Oklahoma State Missouri 17 Cincinnati Cincinnati 18 Oregon State Oklahoma State 19 Missouri Oregon State 20 Iowa Iowa 21 Florida State Brigham Young 22 Georgia Tech Georgia Tech 23 West Virginia Florida State 24 Michigan State Michigan State 25 Brigham Young California
* - The AFCA requires that their voters make the winner of the BCS Championship at the number one position in the final poll.≠ Kyle Whittingham , head coach of Utah, broke the AFCA requirement and voted his team number one on his ballot.
# College football team Average attendance[ 30] 1 Michigan Wolverines 108,571 2 Penn State Nittany Lions 108,254 3 Ohio State Buckeyes 104,976 4 Tennessee Volunteers 101,448 5 Texas Longhorns 98,046 6 Georgia Bulldogs 92,746 7 LSU Tigers 92,383 8 Alabama Crimson Tide 92,138 9 Florida Gators 90,544 10 Auburn Tigers 86,915 11 USC Trojans 86,793 12 Oklahoma Sooners 85,075 13 Nebraska Cornhuskers 85,071 14 Texas A&M Aggies 82,193 15 Wisconsin Badgers 81,088 16 Notre Dame Fighting Irish 80,795 17 South Carolina Gamecocks 80,529 18 Clemson Tigers 78,001 19 Florida State Seminoles 77,968 20 Michigan State Spartans 74,858 21 UCLA Bruins 72,795 22 Iowa Hawkeyes 70,169 23 Kentucky Wildcats 69,434 24 Arkansas Razorbacks 68,740 25 Virginia Tech Hokies 66,233 26 Missouri Tigers 64,520 27 BYU Cougars 64,102 28 Arizona State Sun Devils 63,837 29 Washington Huskies 63,640 30 Illinois Fighting Illini 61,707 31 California Golden Bears 61,634 32 Oregon Ducks 58,444 33 West Virginia Mountaineers 58,085 34 North Carolina Tar Heels 57,829 35 Purdue Boilermakers 56,702 36 NC State Wolfpack 56,665 37 Virginia Cavaliers 53,815 38 Texas Tech Red Raiders 53,625 39 Ole Miss Rebels 53,005 40 Arizona Wildcats 52,440 41 Kansas Jayhawks 50,907 42 South Florida Bulls 49,690 43 Colorado Buffaloes 49,476 44 Pittsburgh Panthers 49,352 45 Minnesota Golden Gophers 48,958 46 Oklahoma State Cowboys 48,261 47 Maryland Terrapins 47,954 48 Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets 47,489 49 Iowa State Cyclones 47,429 50 Miami Hurricanes 46,299 51 Utah Utes 45,542 52 Kansas State Wildcats 45,190 53 Oregon State Beavers 44,931 54 Mississippi State Bulldogs 43,453 55 Rutgers Scarlet Knights 42,378 56 East Carolina Pirates 42,016 57 Boston College Eagles 41,037 58 Hawai'i Rainbow Warriors 41,010 59 Navy Midshipmen 40,802 60 Louisville Cardinals 39,680 61 UCF Knights 39,596 62 Connecticut Huskies 39,331 63 Vanderbilt Commodores 38,460 64 Air Force Falcons 38,134 65 Fresno State Bulldogs 37,864 66 UTEP Miners 37,296 67 Stanford Cardinal 34,258 68 Baylor Bears 34,124 69 Syracuse Orange 33,474 70 Boise State Broncos 32,275 71 Cincinnati Bearcats 31,965 72 Indiana Hoosiers 31,782 73 Wake Forest Demon Deacons 31,666 74 Washington State Cougars 30,719 75 TCU Horned Frogs 30,389 76 Southern Miss Golden Eagles 30,102 77 New Mexico Lobos 29,713 78 Duke Blue Devils 28,727 79 Northwestern Wildcats 28,590 80 Army Black Knights 27,752 81 Memphis Tigers 25,003 82 Marshall Thundering Herd 24,766 83 San Diego State Aztecs 24,376 84 Tulsa Golden Hurricane 24,368 85 Tulane Green Wave 22,750 86 Central Michigan Chippewas 22,659 87 Houston Cougars 21,518 88 Louisiana Ragin' Cajuns 21,468 89 Arkansas State Red Wolves 21,105 90 Colorado State Rams 21,008 91 San José State Spartans 20,952 92 UNLV Rebels 20,849 93 Middle Tennessee Blue Raiders 20,227 94 Rice Owls 20,179 95 SMU Mustangs 19,780 96 Louisiana-Monroe Warhawks 19,519 97 Troy Trojans 19,231 98 Ball State Cardinals 19,201 99 UAB Blazers 19,062 100 Nevada Wolf Pack 19,043 101 Eastern Michigan Eagles 18,951 102 Western Michigan Broncos 18,547 103 Wyoming Cowboys 18,234 104 Northern Illinois Huskies 18,185 105 Louisiana Tech Bulldogs 18,020 106 New Mexico State Aggies 17,756 107 Toledo Rockets 17,008 108 North Texas Mean Green 16,956 109 Buffalo Bulls 16,924 110 Florida Atlantic Owls 16,126 111 Bowling Green Falcons 15,701 112 Temple Owls 15,582 113 Miami RedHawks 15,435 114 Idaho Vandals 15,340 115 Ohio Bobcats 15,276 116 Utah State Aggies 14,736 117 Akron Zips 14,342 118 FIU Panthers 13,852 119 Kent State Golden Flashes 10,639
^ Western Kentucky University was in a two-year process of transition to FBS status in 2008 (completed in 2009), and, therefore, some sources list the total for 2008 as 119.^a b c d e f "Future BCS Schedules" .BCSFootball.org . Fox Sports. Archived fromthe original on October 24, 2007. RetrievedOctober 29, 2007 .^ "Football Bowl Subdivision Records" (PDF) .ncaa.org . RetrievedAugust 28, 2018 .^ "NCAA Football Rules Committee Proposes Rules to Enhance Student-Athlete Safety and Encourage Consistent Pace of Play" (Press release). Archived fromthe original on December 23, 2008. RetrievedDecember 23, 2008 .^ "More new timing rules among NCAA proposal" . RetrievedDecember 23, 2008 .^ "NCAA Football Season Review" . RetrievedOctober 12, 2011 .^a b "FCS wins vs. FBS teams: All-time victories, upsets, wins vs. ranked teams" .NCAA.com . September 7, 2025. RetrievedOctober 2, 2025 .^ "Penn State Rose Bowl Bound" .Yahoo! . RetrievedNovember 23, 2008 .[dead link ^ "Virginia Tech takes down BC,headed down to Orange Bowl again" . Associated Press. Archived fromthe original on December 8, 2008. RetrievedDecember 5, 2008 .^ http://www.uwbadgers.com/sport_news/fb/headlines/story.html?sportid=111&storyid=16009 [dead link ^ "PittsburghPanthers.com - University of Pittsburgh Official Athletic Site - Football" .cstv.com . Archived fromthe original on March 9, 2009. RetrievedMarch 22, 2018 .^ "KU headed to Insight Bowl" .KUsports.com . December 4, 2008. RetrievedMarch 22, 2018 .^ Gophers, Jayhawks to meet in Insight Bowl Archived December 25, 2008, at theWayback Machine ^ UA's Saban Named Home Depot Coach of the Year Archived 2009-02-13 at theWayback Machine ^ "Liberty Mutual Coach of the Year" . Archived fromthe original on July 8, 2011. RetrievedDecember 30, 2008 .^ "ALABAMA'S SABAN WINS 2008 EDDIE ROBINSON AWARD" . RetrievedJanuary 7, 2009 .^ UF's Tim Tebow is 2008 Wuerffel Trophy Winner Archived December 14, 2008, at theWayback Machine ^ Iowa State's Chizik to Take Over at Auburn Archived December 14, 2008, at theWayback Machine ^a b "San Diego State to hire Ball State's Hoke, source says" .ESPN.com . December 15, 2008.Archived from the original on December 17, 2008. RetrievedDecember 15, 2008 .^ "English to be announced as EMU coach" .ESPN.com . December 15, 2008.Archived from the original on January 8, 2009. RetrievedDecember 20, 2008 .^ Source: Rhoads to be named new ISU football coach [dead link ^ "Ron Prince Will Not Return for 2009" (Press release). Kansas State University Athletic Department. November 5, 2008. Archived fromthe original on December 11, 2008. RetrievedNovember 27, 2008 .^ "Bill Snyder Named Head Football Coach" (Press release). Kansas State University Athletic Department. November 24, 2008. Archived fromthe original on December 3, 2008. RetrievedNovember 27, 2008 .^ "Mike Locksley - New Mexico's 29th Head Football Coach" Archived January 4, 2009, at theWayback Machine . - Lobos Football. - (c/o CBS Interactive). - December 9, 2008.^a b "Kelly succeeds Bellotti as Ducks coach" .ESPN.com . Associated Press. March 13, 2009.Archived from the original on March 17, 2009. RetrievedMarch 15, 2009 .^a b "Plenty Of Reasons For Hope" (Press release). Purdue University Athletics Department. January 11, 2008.Archived from the original on December 8, 2008. RetrievedNovember 27, 2008 .^ "Doug Marrone in Syracuse Friday; will be named head coach" .9wsyr.com . RetrievedMarch 22, 2018 .{{cite web }}:|archive-url= is malformed: timestamp (help )CS1 maint: url-status (link ) ^ Kiffin introduced as Vol's 21st coach » Abilene Reporter-News Archived December 8, 2008, at theWayback Machine ^ "Sources: USC coordinator gets Washington job" .ESPN.com . December 5, 2008. RetrievedMarch 22, 2018 .^ MU's Christensen accepts Wyoming job Archived December 2, 2008, at theWayback Machine ^ "2008 National College Football Attendance" (PDF) . NCAA. RetrievedJune 9, 2025 .
Conference seasons Inter-conference All-Americans
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