1992 NCAA Division I-A season
Number of teams	107[1]
Preseason AP No. 1	Miami (FL)[2]
Postseason
Bowl games	18
Heisman Trophy	Gino Torretta (quarterback,Miami (FL))
Bowl Coalition Championship
1993 Sugar Bowl
Site	Louisiana Superdome,New Orleans, Louisiana
Champion(s)	Alabama (AP, Coaches, FWAA)
Division I-A football seasons
← 1991 1993 →

The1992 NCAA Division I-A football season was the first year of theBowl Coalition and concluded withAlabama's first national championship in thirteen years—their first since the departure ofBear Bryant. One of Bryant's former players,Gene Stallings, was the head coach, and he used a style similar to Bryant's, a smashmouth running game combined with a tough defense.

The top-tier games of the Bowl Coalition were theSugar Bowl,Orange Bowl,Cotton Bowl Classic, andFiesta Bowl. Under the agreement, the Sugar Bowl, Orange Bowl, and Cotton Bowl Classic hosted theSoutheastern Conference,Big 8, andSouthwest Conference champions, respectively, and then a pool of at large teams was formed between theAtlantic Coast Conference champ, theBig East champ, Notre Dame, and two conference runners-up from the Big 8, SWC, ACC, Big East and Pac-10. The highest ranked host team would play the highest-ranked at-large team. If the two highest ranked teams were both at-large teams, the championship game would be hosted by the Fiesta Bowl. Three other bowls—theBlockbuster Bowl,Gator Bowl, andJohn Hancock Bowl—were second-tier games of the Bowl Coalition.

For this year, (host) SEC champ Alabama played (at-large) Big East ChampMiami-FL, the Orange Bowl featured (host) Big-8 champNebraska and (at-large) ACC champFlorida St., the Cotton Bowl Classic featured (host) SWC champTexas A&M and (at-large) independentNotre Dame, and the Fiesta Bowl featured (at-large) Big East runner upSyracuse and (at-large) Big 8 runner upColorado.

The 1992 season also saw the expansion of the SEC and the first conference championship game to be played in the country. Before the 1992 season, theArkansas Razorbacks and theSouth Carolina Gamecocks joined the SEC, which expanded the conference to twelve teams. The conference then split into two divisions, and the winner of each division would face off in theSEC Championship Game inBirmingham's historicLegion Field (later moved toAtlanta'sGeorgia Dome, in 1994). In the first year of the new system, Alabama won the SEC West,Florida won the SEC East, and the Tide won the match-up 28–21 on anAntonio Langham interception return for a touchdown in the closing minutes.

In theSugar Bowl, to decide the national champion, Miami came in a heavy favorite with even heavier swagger. The Tide defense, however, with its eleven-man fronts and zone blitzes, heavily confusedHeisman Trophy winnerGino Torretta and Alabama won in a defensive rout, 34–13.

In other circles, theBig West Conference lost two members;Fresno State left for theWAC andLong Beach State stopped sponsoring football, but they also gained a member inNevada, which made the jump fromDivision I-AA. Nevada went 5–1 in conference, winning the Big West championship and representing the conference in the1992 Las Vegas Bowl (formerly theCalifornia Bowl held inFresno, California).

• Fumbles could now be recovered and advanced by the defense anywhere on the field (previously it only applied to fumbles beyond the line of scrimmage), except for backward passes and muffed punts/kickoffs, which could be recovered by the defense but not advanced.
  • Today, the defense is still not allowed to advance muffed kicks, but has been allowed to advance backward passes since 1998.
• While overtime was not introduced for regular-season games until 1996 (and Division I-A bowl games in 1995), theKansas tiebreaker procedure was permitted (but not needed) for theSEC Championship Game beginning in 1992. Both teams would be allowed a chance to score by beginning their drive at the opponent's 25-yard-line.

• Florida State played its first season ofACC football in 1992 after many years as an independent. The Seminoles had joined the ACC in all other sports in 1991.
• Arkansas and theSouth Carolina joined the SEC, expanding the conference to twelve teams. Both the Razorbacks and the Gamecocks had joined the SEC in all other sports in 1991. This allowed the SEC to stage a championship game.
• Akron joined theMid-American Conference.
• Fresno State departed theBig West for theWAC and were replaced byNevada, formerly of Division I-AA.
• Long Beach State dropped its football program, which had been a member of the Big West.

Miami andWashington, the co-champions of the 1991 season, were again ranked No. 1 and No. 2 in the preseason poll for 1992. They were followed by No. 3Notre Dame, No. 4Florida, and No. 5Florida State. None of the top five teams had started their schedule by the time the second poll was taken, but the AP voters dropped Florida to No. 6 behind No. 4 Florida State and No. 5Michigan.

September 5: No. 1 Miami won 24-7 at No. 23Iowa, No. 2 Washington visited Arizona State for a 31-7 win, and No. 3 Notre Dame beat Northwestern 42-7 in Chicago. No. 4 Florida State, playing their first year in the ACC after having previously been an independent, defeated Duke 48-21. Neither No. 5 Michigan nor No. 6 Florida had started their schedules, but the voters shuffled them again in the next poll: No. 1 Miami, No. 2 Washington, No. 3 Notre Dame, No. 4 Florida, and No. 5 Florida State, with Michigan dropping to sixth.

September 12: No. 1 Miami was idle. No. 2 Washington defeated Wisconsin 27-10. No. 3 Notre Dame played No. 6 Michigan to a 17-17 tie; the Irish came back from a 10-point fourth-quarter deficit but ran out of time on their final drive. No. 4 Florida started their season with a 35-19 win over Kentucky, and No. 5 Florida State edged No. 15Clemson 24-20. No. 7Texas A&M beat Tulsa 19-9 and moved into the top five in the next poll: No. 1 Miami, No. 2 Washington, No. 3 Florida State, No. 4 Florida, and No. 5 Texas A&M.

September 19: No. 1 Miami shut out Florida A&M 38-0, No. 2 Washington beat No. 12Nebraska 29-14, and No. 3 Florida State won 34-13 at No. 16North Carolina State. No. 4 Florida fell 31-14 at No. 14Tennessee, while No. 5 Texas A&M visited Missouri for a 26-13 victory and No. 6 Michigan defeated Oklahoma State 35-3. The top five in the next poll were No. 1 Miami, No. 2 Washington, No. 3 Florida State, No. 4 Michigan, and No. 5 Texas A&M.

September 26: No. 1 Miami barely escapedArizona, coming away with an 8-7 victory only when the Wildcats missed a field goal with time running out. No. 2 Washington and No. 5 Texas A&M were idle. No. 3 Florida State defeated Wake Forest 35-7, and No. 4 Michigan overwhelmed Houston 61-7. Miami’s close call led the AP voters to drop them out of first place in the next poll: No. 1 Washington, No. 2 Miami, No. 3 Florida State, No. 4 Michigan, and No. 5 Texas A&M.

October 3: No. 1 Washington beat No. 20USC 17-10, with the key play being a late-game interception in the end zone.The game between No. 2 Miami and No. 3 Florida State was remarkably similar totheir matchup from the previous year. Despite being held without an offensive touchdown, the Seminoles led 16-10 in the fourth quarter (they had returned the opening kickoff for a TD and kicked three field goals), but the Hurricanes drove for a touchdown and later increased their lead to 19-16 by forcing a safety. Florida State got the ball back with 95 seconds left and drove to the Miami 22-yard line, but for the second year in a row their kicker’s field goal attempt went wide right as time ran out. No. 4 Michigan defeated Iowa 52-28. No. 5 Texas A&M’s game also came down to a last-second field goal, but this time the kick was successful in delivering the Aggies a 19-17 win over Texas Tech. No. 7 Tennessee shut out LSU 20-0 and moved up in the next poll: No. 1 Washington, No. 2 Miami, No. 3 Michigan, No. 4 Tennessee, and No. 5 Texas A&M.

October 10: No. 1 Washington defeated No. 24California 35-16, No. 2 Miami survived a third straight close game with a 17-14 win at No. 7Penn State, and No. 3 Michigan beat Michigan State 35-10. No. 4 Tennessee held a commanding lead over Arkansas with a few minutes left, but the Razorbacks (playing their first season in the SEC after moving from their longtime home in the SWC) scored a touchdown, recovered an onside kick, and converted a game-ending field goal for a 25-24 victory. No. 5 Texas A&M was idle, while No. 6 Alabama shut out Tulane 37-0. For the third time in four weeks, Texas A&M was jumped by a lower-ranked team which had pulled off an impressive win: No. 1 Washington, No. 2 Miami, No. 3 Michigan, No. 4 Alabama, and No. 5 Texas A&M.

October 17: No. 1 Washington won 24-3 at Oregon. No. 2 Miami finally had an easy victory, 45-10 over TCU. No. 3 Michigan beat Indiana 31-3, No. 4 Alabama defeated No. 13 Tennessee 17-10 thanks to a late-game interception, and No. 5 Texas A&M won 35-9 over Rice. Washington and Miami tied for No. 1 in the next poll, with the following three teams remaining the same.

October 24: No. 1 Washington beat Pacific 31-7, while fellow No. 1 Miami won 43-23 at Virginia Tech. No. 3 Michigan defeated Minnesota 63-13, No. 4 Alabama won 31-10 over Mississippi, and No. 5 Texas A&M had a controversial 19-13 win over Baylor (a first-quarter Baylor touchdown was nullified on a disputed call, and the Bears later lost the opportunity to kick a field goal when the operator failed to stop the clock after an incomplete pass). Miami was elevated to the sole No. 1 spot in the next poll, with Washington falling to No. 2 and the other teams remaining the same.

October 31: No. 1 Miami defeated West Virginia 35-23, No. 2 Washington beat No. 15Stanford 41-7, and No. 3 Michigan won 24-17 at Purdue. No. 4 Alabama was idle, and No. 5 Texas A&M was a 41-7 victor at SMU. The AP voters shuffled the order of the top teams in the next poll: No. 1 Washington, No. 2 Miami, No. 3 Alabama, No. 4 Michigan, and No. 5 Texas A&M.

November 7: No. 1 Washington visited No. 12 Arizona, the same team which had nearly upset Miami six weeks earlier. The Huskies were not so fortunate, falling 16-3. No. 2 Miami was idle. No. 3 Alabama won 31-11 at LSU, No. 4 Michigan went to Northwestern for a 40-7 win, No. 5 Texas A&M beat Louisville 40-18, and No. 6 Florida State moved back into the top five with a 69-21 defeat of Maryland: No. 1 Miami, No. 2 Alabama, No. 3 Michigan, No. 4 Texas A&M, and No. 5 Florida State.

November 12–14: No. 1 Miami shut out Temple 48-0. No. 2 Alabama won 30-21 at No. 16Mississippi State, clinching the SEC Western Division title and a berth in the conference’s first-ever championship game. Having already tied Notre Dame in their first game of the season, No. 3 Michigan repeated the process with a 22-22 deadlock against Illinois. Nevertheless, the Wolverines were far enough ahead in the Big Ten standings to clinch the conference title and aRose Bowl berth. No. 4 Texas A&M beat Houston 38-30, and No. 5 Florida State overwhelmed Tulane 70-7. No. 6 Washington beat Oregon State 45-16, earning the Pac-10 crown and a bowl matchup with Michigan. The next poll featured No. 1 Miami, No. 2 Alabama, No. 3 Florida State, No. 4 Texas A&M, and No. 5 Washington.

November 21: No. 1 Miami held No. 8Syracuse to negative-one offensive yards in the first half. The Orangemen mounted a comeback, but the Hurricanes came away with a 16-10 win when a Syracuse receiver was tackled at the Miami 3-yard line as time ran out. No. 2 Alabama and No. 3 Florida State were idle. No. 4 Texas A&M clinched the SWC title and aCotton Bowl berth with a 37-10 victory over TCU, but No. 5 Washington finished their season with a 42-23 loss at Washington State. No. 6 Michigan closed their year with yet another tie (13-13 at No. 17Ohio State), giving idle No. 7 Notre Dame the opportunity to move up in the next poll: No. 1 Miami, No. 2 Alabama, No. 3 Florida State, No. 4 Texas A&M, and No. 5 Notre Dame.

November 26–28: No. 1 Miami wrapped up an undefeated regular season with a 63-17 win at San Diego State, No. 2 Alabama shut out Auburn 17-0, No. 3 Florida State beat No. 6 Florida 45-24, No. 4 Texas A&M won 34-13 at Texas, and No. 5 Notre Dame visited No. 19 USC for a 31-23 victory. The top five remained the same in the next poll.

College football’sfirst-ever conference championship game was played onDecember 5, when No. 2 Alabama met No. 12 Florida for the SEC title and aSugar Bowl berth. The Gators came back from a 14-point deficit to tie the game in the fourth quarter, but an interception return for a touchdown sealed a 28-21 Alabama victory. Thus, the Crimson Tide would face No. 1 Miami for the national championship. No. 3 Florida State would play in theOrange Bowl against No. 11 Nebraska, the Big 8 champion. No. 4 Texas A&M was undefeated and untied, but their relatively light schedule took them out of championship contention; they would face No. 5 Notre Dame in the Cotton Bowl. The major postseason matchups were rounded out by No. 6 Syracuse against No. 10Colorado in theFiesta Bowl and No. 7 Michigan against No. 9 Washington in the Rose Bowl.

Italics denotes I-AA teams.

Note:No. 7 (I-AA)Youngstown State atAkron tied 10–10.

Until the November 10, 1992, poll, No. 1 and No. 2 shifted between Miami and Seattle, as theMiami Hurricanes and theWashington Huskies were only points apart at the top. In the preseason poll, Miami had 40 of the 62 first place votes cast, and Washington 12. After both teams went 5–0, they each got first place votes from 31 electors, split 31½ each, and on October 13, the Huskies were ahead by a single point 1,517½ to 1,516½. The following week, there was a tie for first place for the first time in the history of the AP poll, with Miami and Washington each collecting 1,517 points (Miami had more first place votes, 31 to 30, as another writer went with 7–0–0Alabama). The next week, Miami was ahead 1,517 to 1,516, and the week after, Washington was on top again. On November 7, the Huskies lost atArizona, 16–3 to fall to 8–1–0. In the remaining polls, Miami was the clear cut favorite for No. 1, with 61 of the 62 votes, and Alabama was everyone's favorite No. 2. Both finished the regular season unbeaten. Since Miami was an "at-large" school, and Alabama was the highest ranked of the "host schools" (qualifying for theSugar Bowl as the Southeastern Conference champion), the No. 1 vs. No. 2 matchup would take place inNew Orleans.

1. Alabama
2. Florida State
3. Miami (FL)
4. Notre Dame
5. Michigan
6. Syracuse
7. Texas A&M
8. Georgia
9. Stanford
10. Florida
11. Washington
12. Tennessee
13. Colorado
14. Nebraska
15. Washington State
16. Mississippi
17. N.C. State
18. Ohio State
19. North Carolina
20. Hawaii
21. Boston College
22. Kansas
23. Mississippi State
24. Fresno State
25. Wake Forest

1. Alabama
2. Florida State
3. Miami (FL)
4. Notre Dame
5. Michigan
6. Texas A&M
7. Syracuse
8. Georgia
9. Stanford
10. Washington
11. Florida
12. Tennessee
13. Colorado
14. Nebraska
15. N.C. State
16. Mississippi
17. Washington State
18. North Carolina
19. Ohio State
20. Hawaii
21. Boston College
22. Fresno State
23. Kansas
24. Penn State
25. Wake Forest

TheHeisman Trophy is given to the year's most outstanding player

• Maxwell Award (College Player of the Year) - Gino Torretta, Miami-FL
• Walter Camp Award (Back) - Gino Torretta
• Davey O'Brien Award (Quarterback) - Gino Torretta
• Doak Walker Award (Running Back) - Garrison Hearst, Georgia
• Dick Butkus Award (Linebacker) - Marvin Jones, Florida State
• Lombardi Award (Lineman or Linebacker) - Marvin Jones, Florida State
• Outland Trophy (Interior Lineman) - Will Shields, Nebraska
• Jim Thorpe Award (Defensive Back) - Deon Figures, Colorado
• AFCA Coach of the Year - Gene Stallings, Alabama
• Paul "Bear" Bryant Coach of the Year - Gene Stallings, Alabama

• 1992 NCAA Division I-A football season

• CS1 maint: archived copy as title
• Articles with short description
• Short description matches Wikidata
• Use mdy dates from August 2023