2001 NCAA Division I-A football season

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2001 NCAA Division I-A season
Rosebowl.JPG
The BCS Rose Bowl was the site of the national championship played for the 2001 season
Number of teams 117[1]
Preseason AP #1 Florida Gators
Post-season
Duration December 18, 2001 –
January 3, 2002
Bowl games 25
Heisman Trophy Eric Crouch, Nebraska QB
Bowl Championship Series
2002 Rose Bowl
Site Rose Bowl Stadium,
Pasadena, California
Winner Miami Hurricanes
Division I-A football seasons
← 2000
2002 →

The 2001 NCAA Division I-A football season ended with the University of Miami winning the national title for the fifth time.

The Hurricanes were led by Larry Coker, who was in his first year as head coach after five years as Miami's offensive coordinator under Butch Davis and became the first head coach since 1989's Dennis Erickson from the University of Miami to win a national title in his first season. Coker had the benefit of inheriting a star-studded program that Davis had rebuilt in the aftermath of NCAA sanctions in the mid-to-late '90s. Miami completed a perfect 12–0 season, which culminated in a 37–14 win over Nebraska in the Rose Bowl BCS National Championship Game.

In yet another controversial season for the BCS, (AP) #4 Nebraska was chosen as the national title opponent despite not having even played in the Big 12 championship game. The Huskers went into their last regularly scheduled game at Colorado undefeated, but left Boulder having lost the game by a score of 62–36. The Buffaloes went on to win the Big 12 championship game. The BCS computers, among other things, didn't weigh later games any more heavily than earlier games, and one-loss Nebraska came out ahead of two-loss #3 Colorado and one-loss, #2 Oregon. Some fans chanted "number 4" at the title game held at the Rose Bowl.

Florida State did not win the ACC championship for the first time since joining the conference in 1991, losing out to Maryland. Steve Spurrier left the Florida Gators at the end of the season to coach the Washington Redskins, accepting what was then the largest salary for an NFL head coach.

The season had one of the more competitive Heisman Trophy races with Eric Crouch of Nebraska winning by only a small margin over Rex Grossman of Florida. All of the five finalists played the quarterback position. Two of the finalists were coached at some point by Oregon offensive coordinator Jeff Tedford. Indiana quarterback Antwaan Randle El earned first-team All-America honors from the FWAA after becoming the first NCAA Division I-A quarterback to throw for 40 touchdowns and rush for 40 touchdowns in a career. He also became the first player in NCAA I-A history to record 2,500 total yards from scrimmage in four consecutive seasons.

The newly formed Boise State/Fresno State rivalry would be a major factor in the race to be the "BCS buster" for several seasons.

The Aloha Bowl and Oahu Bowl lost funding after Chrysler Corporation, which owned the former bowl's sponsor of Jeep, was acquired by Daimler-Benz and became DaimlerChrysler. The Aloha Bowl moved to Seattle and became the Seattle Bowl.

The New Orleans Bowl began play, the host team being the Sun Belt champion.

End of season upsets and BCS drama

The final 3 weeks of the regular season saw an incredible amount of drama as several teams were in prime position to earn their way to the Rose Bowl to play Miami. On November 23, the day after Thanksgiving, Nebraska was the number one team in the BCS heading to Boulder to play the Colorado Buffaloes. After a devastating 62–36 loss, they were unable to win their division and their season seemed to fall by the wayside, allowing the Florida Gators the inside track to meet Miami if they were able to win out.

This also gave the Oklahoma Sooners the opportunity to earn their way to the National Championship if Florida was to stumble against either Tennessee or in the SEC Championship game. Those hopes would soon dissolve the day after Nebraska's loss as the Sooners were upset at home by Oklahoma State 16–13, ending their title hopes and knocking them out of the Big 12 Championship game as well.

Florida had an inside track to the National Championship game until the following week in their matchup with Tennessee, losing that game 34–32 in Gainesville. The loss not only ended their dreams of a trip to the Rose Bowl, but also ended their shot at going to Atlanta for the SEC title game. Tennessee then stepped into the number 2 spot the following week going into the SEC Championship against LSU, but was upset by the Tigers 31–20, and their hopes of National Championship appearance were gone as quickly as they had come.

Later that evening, Texas entered the Big 12 Championship game against Colorado in prime time television knowing that a win would seal their spot in the Rose Bowl as the number 2 team in the BCS. Unfortunately they, too, were upset by the Buffaloes, feeling the same sting that Florida, Tennessee, Oklahoma, and Nebraska had felt the previous few weeks.

Miami was left at the top of all the polls, and the debate began about who deserved to play in the Rose Bowl. Many felt Colorado was the hottest team in the country after dismantling Nebraska and then beating the Longhorns in the Big 12 title game, but their 2 losses at the beginning of the year were tough to ignore. Others felt Oregon deserved the honor, being ranked in some polls as the number 2 team in the country. Ultimately, after all of the upsets, Nebraska ended up as the number 2 team in the BCS, despite being the team to start all of the drama 3 weeks earlier.

Rules changes

The NCAA Rules Committee adopted the following rules changes for the 2001 season:

  • Charged team time-outs are reduced to 30 seconds if the team taking the time-out requests it. Otherwise, team time-outs are 90 seconds in length.
  • Eliminated TV/Radio time-outs during overtime periods.
  • All penalties committed by the offense behind the neutral zone are enforced from the previous spot, completely repealing the 1991 rule that enforced offensive holding, clipping, and illegal use of hands occurring behind the line from the spot of the foul.
  • Stopping the clock once a runner's helmet comes off.
  • Runners are exempt from being called for hurdling.
  • Roughing the passer penalties committed during a two-point conversion will be assessed on the ensuing kickoff or, if committed during overtime, on the succeeding spot.
  • Guidelines for officials on lightning-related game issues are included in the rulebook.

Conference and program changes

One team upgraded from Division I-AA, thus increasing the number of Division I-A schools from 116 to 117.

School 2000 Conference 2001 Conference
Arkansas State Indians Big West Sun Belt
Boise State Broncos Big West WAC
Idaho Vandals Big West Sun Belt
Louisiana–Lafayette Ragin' Cajuns I-A Independent Sun Belt
Louisiana–Monroe Warhawks I-A Independent Sun Belt
Middle Tennessee Blue Raiders I-A Independent Sun Belt
New Mexico State Aggies Big West Sun Belt
North Texas Mean Green Big West Sun Belt
Troy Trojans I-AA Independent I-A Independent
Utah State Aggies Big West I-A Independent

Conference standings

2001 ACC football standings
Conf     Overall
Team   W   L         W   L  
#11 Maryland $   7 – 1         10 – 2  
#15 Florida State   6 – 2         8 – 4  
North Carolina   5 – 3         8 – 5  
Clemson   4 – 4         7 – 5  
#24 Georgia Tech   4 – 4         8 – 5  
NC State   4 – 4         7 – 5  
Wake Forest   3 – 5         6 – 5  
Virginia   3 – 5         5 – 7  
Duke   0 – 8         0 – 11  
  • $ – BCS representative as conference champion
Rankings from AP Poll
2001 Big East football standings
Conf     Overall
Team   W   L         W   L  
#1 Miami (FL) $#   7 – 0         12 – 0  
#14 Syracuse   6 – 1         10 – 3  
#21 Boston College   4 – 3         8 – 4  
#18 Virginia Tech   4 – 3         8 – 4  
Pittsburgh   4 – 3         7 – 5  
Temple   2 – 5         4 – 7  
West Virginia   1 – 6         3 – 8  
Rutgers   0 – 7         2 – 9  
  • # – BCS National Champion
  • $ – BCS representative as conference champion
Rankings from AP Poll
2001 Big Ten football standings
Conf     Overall
Team   W   L         W   L  
#12 Illinois $   7 – 1         10 – 2  
#20 Michigan   6 – 2         8 – 4  
Ohio State   5 – 3         7 – 5  
Iowa   4 – 4         7 – 5  
Purdue   4 – 4         6 – 6  
Penn State   4 – 4         5 – 6  
Indiana   4 – 4         5 – 6  
Michigan State   3 – 5         7 – 5  
Wisconsin   3 – 5         5 – 7  
Minnesota   2 – 6         4 – 7  
Northwestern   2 – 6         4 – 7  
  • $ – BCS representative as conference champion
Rankings from AP Poll
2001 Big 12 football standings
Conf     Overall
Team   W   L         W   L  
Northern Division
#9 Colorado xy$   7 – 1         10 – 3  
#8 Nebraska x%   7 – 1         11 – 2  
Iowa State   4 – 4         7 – 5  
Kansas State   3 – 5         6 – 6  
Missouri   3 – 5         4 – 7  
Kansas   1 – 7         3 – 8  
Southern Division
#5 Texas xy   7 – 1         11 – 2  
#6 Oklahoma   6 – 2         11 – 2  
Texas A&M   4 – 4         8 – 4  
Texas Tech   4 – 4         7 – 5  
Oklahoma State   2 – 6         4 – 7  
Baylor   0 – 8         3 – 8  
Championship: Colorado 39, Texas 37
  • $ – BCS representative as conference champion
  • % – BCS at-large representative
  • x – Division champion/co-champions
  • y – Championship game participant
Rankings from AP Poll
2001 Conference USA football standings
Conf     Overall
Team   W   L         W   L  
#17 Louisville $   6 – 1         11 – 2  
Cincinnati   5 – 2         7 – 5  
UAB   5 – 2         6 – 5  
East Carolina   5 – 2         6 – 6  
Southern Miss   4 – 3         6 – 5  
TCU   4 – 3         6 – 6  
Memphis   3 – 4         5 – 6  
Army   2 – 5         3 – 8  
Tulane   1 – 6         3 – 9  
Houston   0 – 7         0 – 11  
  • $ – Conference champion
Rankings from AP Poll
2001 Mid-American Conference football standings
Div     Conf     Overall
Team   W   L         W   L         W   L  
East Division
Marshall x   6 – 0         8 – 0         11 – 2  
Miami   4 – 2         6 – 2         7 – 5  
Bowling Green   4 – 2         5 – 3         8 – 3  
Kent State   3 – 3         5 – 3         6 – 5  
Akron   3 – 3         4 – 4         4 – 7  
Buffalo   1 – 5         1 – 7         3 – 8  
Ohio   0 – 6         1 – 7         1 – 10  
West Division
#23 Toledo xy$   4 – 1         5 – 2         10 – 2  
Northern Illinois x   4 – 1         4 – 3         6 – 5  
Ball State x   4 – 1         4 – 3         5 – 6  
Western Michigan   2 – 3         4 – 4         5 – 6  
Central Michigan   1 – 4         2 – 6         3 – 8  
Eastern Michigan   0 – 5         1 – 6         2 – 9  
Championship: Toledo 41, Marshall 36
  • $ – Conference champion
  • x – Division champion/co-champions
  • Due to an unbalanced conference schedule, the team with best division record within each division was awarded that division's championship game berth.
Rankings from AP Poll
2001 Mountain West Conference football standings
Conf     Overall
Team   W   L         W   L  
#25 BYU $   7 – 0         12 – 2  
Colorado State   5 – 2         7 – 5  
Utah   4 – 3         8 – 4  
New Mexico   4 – 3         6 – 5  
Air Force   3 – 3         6 – 6  
UNLV   3 – 4         4 – 7  
San Diego State   2 – 5         3 – 8  
Wyoming   0 – 7         2 – 9  
  • $ – Conference champion
Rankings from AP Poll
2001 Pacific-10 football standings
Conf     Overall
Team   W   L         W   L  
#2 Oregon $   7 – 1         11 – 1  
#10 Washington State   6 – 2         10 – 2  
#16 Stanford   6 – 2         9 – 3  
#19 Washington   6 – 2         8 – 4  
USC   5 – 3         6 – 6  
UCLA   4 – 4         7 – 4  
Oregon State   3 – 5         5 – 6  
Arizona   2 – 6         5 – 6  
Arizona State   1 – 7         4 – 7  
California   0 – 8         1 – 10  
  • $ – Conference champion
Rankings from AP Poll
2001 SEC football standings
Conf     Overall
Team   W   L         W   L  
Eastern Division
#4 Tennessee x   7 – 1         11 – 2  
#3 Florida  %   6 – 2         10 – 2  
#13 South Carolina   5 – 3         9 – 3  
#22 Georgia   5 – 3         8 – 4  
Kentucky   1 – 7         2 – 9  
Vanderbilt   0 – 8         2 – 9  
Western Division
#7 LSU xy$   5 – 3         10 – 3  
Auburn x   5 – 3         7 – 5  
Ole Miss   4 – 4         7 – 4  
Alabama   4 – 4         7 – 5  
Arkansas   4 – 4         7 – 5  
Mississippi State   2 – 6         3 – 8  
Championship: LSU 31, Tennessee 20
  • $ – BCS representative as conference champion
  • % – BCS at-large representative
  • x – Division champion/co-champions
  • y – Championship game participant
Rankings from AP Poll
2001 Sun Belt football standings
Conf     Overall
Team   W   L         W   L  
Middle Tennessee +   5 – 1         8 – 3  
North Texas +   5 – 1         5 – 7  
New Mexico State   4 – 2         5 – 7  
Louisiana–Lafayette   2 – 4         3 – 8  
Arkansas State   2 – 4         2 – 9  
Louisiana–Monroe   2 – 4         2 – 9  
Idaho   1 – 5         1 – 10  
  • + – Conference co-champions
Rankings from AP Poll
2001 WAC football standings
Conf     Overall
Team   W   L         W   L  
Louisiana Tech $   7 – 1         7 – 5  
Fresno State   6 – 2         11 – 3  
Boise State   6 – 2         8 – 4  
Hawaii   5 – 3         9 – 3  
Rice   5 – 3         8 – 4  
SMU   4 – 4         4 – 7  
Nevada   3 – 5         3 – 8  
San Jose State   3 – 5         3 – 9  
UTEP   1 – 7         2 – 9  
Tulsa   0 – 8         1 – 10  
  • $ – Conference champion
Rankings from AP Poll
2001 Division I-A independents football records
Conf     Overall
Team   W   L         W   L  
South Florida   –         8 – 3  
Troy   –         7 – 4  
UCF   –         6 – 5  
Notre Dame   –         5 – 6  
Utah State   –         4 – 7  
Connecticut   –         2 – 9  
Navy   –         0 – 10  
Rankings from AP Poll

Bowl Championship Series rankings

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Main article: 2001 NCAA Division I-A football rankings
WEEK #1 #2 EVENT
OCT 22 Oklahoma Nebraska Nebraska 20, Oklahoma 10
OCT 29 Nebraska Oklahoma Miami 38, Temple 0
NOV 5 Nebraska Miami Nebraska 31, Kansas St. 21
NOV 12 Nebraska Miami Miami 59, Syracuse 0
NOV 19 Nebraska Miami Colorado 62, Nebraska 36
NOV 26 Miami Florida Tennessee 34, Florida 32
DEC 3 Miami Tennessee LSU 31, Tennessee 20
FINAL Miami Nebraska

Final BCS standings[2]

  1. Miami
  2. Nebraska
  3. Colorado
  4. Oregon
  5. Florida
  6. Tennessee
  7. Texas
  8. Illinois
  9. Stanford
  10. Maryland
  11. Oklahoma
  12. Washington State
  13. LSU
  14. South Carolina
  15. Washington

Bowl games

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Main article: 2001–02 NCAA football bowl games

BCS bowls

Other New Years Day bowls

December bowl games

Heisman Trophy voting

The Heisman Memorial Trophy Award is given to the

Most Outstanding Player of the year
 Winner: Eric Crouch, Nebraska, Quarterback (770 points)

Other annual awards

References

  1. ↑ http://www.jhowell.net/cf/cf2001.htm
  2. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
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