# 2002–03 NCAA football bowl games

The 2002–03 NCAA football bowl games were a series of 28 post-season games (including the Bowl Championship Series) played in December 2002 and January 2003 for Division I-A football teams and their all-stars. The post-season began with the New Orleans Bowl on December 17, 2002, and concluded on February 1, 2003, with the season-ending Hula Bowl.
A new record of 28 team-competitive bowls, and two all-star games, were played, including the inaugural Continental Tire Bowl, Hawaii Bowl and San Francisco Bowl. To fill the 56 available team-competitive bowl slots, a total of three teams with non-winning seasons participated in bowl games—all three had a .500 (6–6) season.

## Poll rankings

The below table lists top teams (per polls taken after the completion of the regular season and any conference championship games), their win–loss records (prior to bowl games), and the bowls they later played in. The AP column represents rankings per the AP Poll, while the BCS column represents the Bowl Championship Series rankings.
| AP | BCS | Team | W–L | Bowl |
| 1 | 1 | Miami Hurricanes | 12–0 | Fiesta Bowl † |
| 2 | 2 | Ohio State Buckeyes | 13–0 | Fiesta Bowl † |
| 3 | 5 | Iowa Hawkeyes | 11–1 | Orange Bowl † |
| 4 | 3 | Georgia Bulldogs | 12–1 | Sugar Bowl † |
| 5 | 4 | USC Trojans | 10–2 | Orange Bowl † |
| 6 | 8 | Kansas State Wildcats | 10–2 | Holiday Bowl |
| 7 | 6 | Washington State Cougars | 10–2 | Rose Bowl † |
| 8 | 7 | Oklahoma Sooners | 11–2 | Rose Bowl † |
| 9 | 10 | Texas Longhorns | 10–2 | Cotton Bowl Classic |
| 10 | 12 | Penn State Nittany Lions | 9–3 | Capital One Bowl |
| 11 | 9 | Notre Dame Fighting Irish | 10–2 | Gator Bowl |
| 12 | 11 | Michigan Wolverines | 9–3 | Outback Bowl |
| 13 | — | Alabama Crimson Tide | 10–3 | none ‡ |
| 14 | 13 | Colorado Buffaloes | 9–4 | Alamo Bowl |
| 15 | 15 | West Virginia Mountaineers | 9–3 | Continental Tire Bowl |
| 16 | 14 | Florida State Seminoles | 9–4 | Sugar Bowl † |
| 17 | — | NC State Wolfpack | 10–3 | Gator Bowl |
| 18 | — | Boise State Broncos | 11–1 | Humanitarian Bowl |
| 19 | — | Auburn Tigers | 8–4 | Capital One Bowl |
| 20 | — | Maryland Terrapins | 10–3 | Peach Bowl |
| 21 | — | Virginia Tech Hokies | 9–4 | San Francisco Bowl |
| 22 | — | Florida Gators | 8–4 | Outback Bowl |
| 23 | — | Colorado State Rams | 10–3 | Liberty Bowl |
| 24 | — | Pittsburgh Panthers | 8–4 | Insight Bowl |
| 25 | — | Arkansas Razorbacks | 9–4 | Music City Bowl |
† denotes a BCS bowl game ‡ ineligible for bowl play due to NCAA sanctions

## Schedule

Non BCS Contests :
| Date | Game | Site | Time (US EST) | TV | Matchup (pre-game record) | AP pre-game rank | USA Today pre-game rank |
| 12/17 | New Orleans Bowl | Louisiana Superdome New Orleans, Louisiana | 7:00 PM | ESPN2 | North Texas 24 (7–5), Cincinnati 19 (7–6) | NR NR | NR NR |
| 12/18 | GMAC Bowl | Ladd–Peebles Stadium Mobile, Alabama | 8:00 PM | ESPN | Marshall 38 (10–2), Louisville 15 (7–5) | NR NR | #24 NR |
| 12/23 | Tangerine Bowl | Citrus Bowl Orlando, Florida | 6:30 PM | ESPN | Texas Tech 55 (8–5), Clemson 15 (7–5) | NR NR | NR NR |
| 12/25 | Las Vegas Bowl | Sam Boyd Stadium Whitney, Nevada | 4:30 PM | ESPN | UCLA 27 (7–5), New Mexico 13 (7–6) | NR NR | NR NR |
| 12/25 | Hawai'i Bowl | Aloha Stadium Honolulu, Hawaii | 8:00 PM | ESPN | Tulane 36 (7–5), Hawaii 28 (10–3) | NR NR | NR NR |
| 12/26 | Motor City Bowl | Ford Field Detroit, Michigan | 5:00 PM | ESPN | Boston College 51 (8–4), Toledo 25 (9–4) | NR NR | NR NR |
| 12/26 | Insight Bowl | Bank One Ballpark Phoenix, Arizona | 8:30 PM | ESPN | Pittsburgh 38 (8–4), Oregon State 13 (8–4) | #24 NR | #23 NR |
| 12/27 | Houston Bowl | Reliant Stadium Houston, Texas | 2:30 PM | ESPN | Oklahoma State 33 (7–4), Southern Miss 23 (7–4) | NR NR | NR NR |
| 12/27 | Independence Bowl | Independence Stadium Shreveport, Louisiana | 5:30 PM | ESPN | Ole Miss 27 (6–6), Nebraska 23 (7–6) | NR NR | NR NR |
| 12/27 | Holiday Bowl | Qualcomm Stadium San Diego, California | 8:00 PM | ESPN | Kansas State 34 (10–2), Arizona State 27 (8–5) | #6 NR | #6 NR |
| 12/28 | Continental Tire Bowl | Ericsson Stadium Charlotte, North Carolina | 12:00 PM | ESPN | Virginia 48 (8–5), West Virginia 22 (9–3) | NR #15 | NR #13 |
| 12/28 | Alamo Bowl | Alamodome San Antonio, Texas | 8:00 PM | ESPN | Wisconsin 31 (7–6), Colorado 28 (9–4) (OT) | NR #14 | NR #14 |
| 12/30 | Music City Bowl | LP Field Nashville, Tennessee | 2:00 PM | ESPN | Minnesota 29 (7–5), Arkansas 14 (9–4) | NR #25 | NR NR |
| 12/30 | Seattle Bowl | Qwest Field Seattle, Washington | 5:00 PM | ESPN | Wake Forest 38 (6–6), Oregon 14 (7–5) | NR NR | NR NR |
| 12/31 | Humanitarian Bowl | Bronco Stadium Boise, Idaho | 12:00 PM | ESPN | Boise State 34 (11–1), Iowa State 16 (7–6) | #18 NR | #15 NR |
| 12/31 | Sun Bowl | Sun Bowl Stadium El Paso, Texas | 2:00 PM | CBS | Purdue 34 (6–6), Washington 24 (7–5) | NR NR | NR NR |
| 12/31 | Liberty Bowl | Liberty Bowl Memorial Stadium Memphis, Tennessee | 2:30 PM | ESPN | TCU 17 (9–2), Colorado State 3 (10–3) | NR #23 | NR #21 |
| 12/31 | Silicon Valley Classic | Spartan Stadium San Jose, California | 3:30 PM | ESPN2 | Fresno State 30 (8–5), Georgia Tech 21 (7–5) | NR NR | NR NR |
| 12/31 | Peach Bowl | Georgia Dome Atlanta, Georgia | 7:30 PM | ESPN | Maryland 30 (10–3), Tennessee 3 (8–4) | #20 NR | #18 NR |
| 12/31 | San Francisco Bowl | Pacific Bell Park San Francisco, California | 8:30 PM | ESPN2 | Virginia Tech 20 (9–4), Air Force 13 (8–4) | #21 NR | #19 NR |
| 1/1 | Outback Bowl | Raymond James Stadium Tampa, Florida | 11:00 AM | ESPN | Michigan 38 (9–3), Florida 30 (8–4) | #12 #22 | #11 #20 |
| 1/1 | Cotton Bowl Classic | Cotton Bowl Dallas, Texas | 11:00 AM | FOX | Texas 35 (10–2), LSU 20 (8–4) | #9 NR | #9 #25 |
| 1/1 | Gator Bowl | Alltel Stadium Jacksonville, Florida | 12:30 PM | NBC | NC State 28 (10–3), Notre Dame 6 (10–2) | #17 #11 | #17 #12 |
| 1/1 | Capital One Bowl | Citrus Bowl Orlando, Florida | 1:00 PM | ABC | Auburn 13 (8–4), Penn State 9 (9–3) | #19 #10 | #22 #10 |
| Bowl Championship Series |||||||||
| Date | Game | Site | Time (US EST) | TV | Matchup | AP rank | BCS rank |
| 1/1 | Rose Bowl | Rose Bowl Pasadena, California | 4:30 PM | ABC | Oklahoma 34 (11–2) (Big 12 Champion), Washington State 14 (10–2) (Pac-10 co-Champ) | #8 #7 | #7 #6 |
| 1/1 | Sugar Bowl | Louisiana Superdome New Orleans, Louisiana | 8:30 PM | ABC | Georgia 26 (12–1) (SEC Champion), Florida State 13 (9–4) (ACC Champion) | #4 #16 | #3 #14 |
| 1/2 | Orange Bowl | Pro Player Stadium Miami Gardens, Florida | 8 PM | ABC | USC 38 (10–2) (Pac-10 co-Champion), Iowa 17 (11–1) (Big Ten co-Champion) | #5 #3 | #4 #5 |
| 1/3 | Fiesta Bowl (BCS National Championship Game) | Sun Devil Stadium Tempe, Arizona | 8 PM | ABC | Ohio State 31 (13–0) (Big Ten co-Champion), Miami 24 (12–0) (Big East Champion) | #2 #1 | #2 #1 |

## All-star games

| Date | Game | Winning Team | Winning Team | Losing Team | Losing Team | Venue | City |
| January 11, 2003 | East–West Shrine Game | East Team | 20 | West Team | 17 | SBC Park | San Francisco, California |
| January 18, 2003 | Senior Bowl | North Team | 17 | South Team | 0 | Ladd–Peebles Stadium | Mobile, Alabama |
| January 25, 2003 | Gridiron Classic | Team USA | 20 | Team Florida | 17 | Citrus Bowl | Orlando, Florida |
| January 25, 2003 | Paradise Bowl | Midwest All-Stars | 36 | West All-Stars | 31 | Hansen Stadium | St. George, Utah |
| February 1, 2003 | Hula Bowl | South (Aina) | 27 | North (Kai) | 24 | War Memorial Stadium | Wailuku, Hawaii |