1997 NCAA Division I-A football season

The **1997 NCAA Division I-A football season** was play of college football by the National Collegiate Athletic Association teams at the Division I-A level. It began in the summer of 1997 and culminated with the bowl games in early January 1998.

## Conference standings

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## AP Poll progress

|WEEK|No. 1|No. 2|No. 3|Event|
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
|PRE-1|Penn State+|Florida|Florida State||
|2|Penn State+|Florida|Tennessee||
|3|Penn State+|Florida|Washington+||
|4|Penn State+|Washington+|Florida||
|5-7|Florida|Penn State+|Nebraska||
|8|Penn State+|Nebraska|Florida State||
|9-11|Nebraska|Penn State+|Florida State||
|12-13|Michigan+|Florida State|Nebraska||
|14-16|Michigan+|Nebraska|Tennessee||
+Penn State and Michigan were Big Ten teams, and Washington was a Pac-10 team.  The Big Ten and Pac-10 conferences played in the Rose Bowl rather than the Bowl Alliance championship game.

## Bowl games

|BOWL|||||Location|
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
|Rose Bowl|No. 1 Michigan|21|No. 8 Washington State|16|Pasadena|
|Orange Bowl|No. 2 Nebraska|42|No. 3 Tennessee|17|Miami|
|Sugar Bowl|No. 4 Florida State|31|No. 9 Ohio State|14|New Orleans|
||No. 5 UCLA|29|No. 20 Texas A&M|23|Dallas|
||No. 6 Florida|21|No. 11 Penn State|6|Orlando|
|Gator Bowl|No. 7 North Carolina|42|Virginia Tech|3|Jacksonville|
|Fiesta Bowl|No. 10 Kansas State|35|No. 14 Syracuse|18|Tempe, Arizona|
|Outback Bowl|No. 12 Georgia|33|Wisconsin|6|Tampa|
||No. 13 Auburn|21|Clemson|17|Atlanta|
||No. 15 LSU|27|Notre Dame|9|Shreveport|
|Sun Bowl|No. 16 Arizona State|17|Iowa|7|El Paso|
|Alamo Bowl|No. 17 Purdue|33|No. 24 Oklahoma State|20|San Antonio|
|Holiday Bowl|No. 18 Colorado State|35|No. 20 Missouri|24|San Diego|
|Aloha Bowl|No. 21 Washington|51|Michigan St|23|Honolulu|
||No. 22 Southern Mississippi|41|Pittsburgh|7|Memphis|
||No. 25 Georgia Tech|35|West Virginia|30|Miami|
|Insight.com Bowl|Arizona|20|New Mexico|14|Tucson, Arizona|
|Las Vegas Bowl|Oregon|41|Air Force|13|Las Vegas|
||Mississippi|34|Marshall|31|Detroit|
|Humanitarian Bowl|Cincinnati|35|Utah State|19|Boise|

## Final AP Poll

1. Michigan
1. Nebraska
1. Florida State
1. Florida
1. UCLA
1. North Carolina
1. Tennessee
1. Kansas St.
1. Washington St.
1. Georgia
1. Auburn
1. Ohio St.
1. LSU
1. Arizona St.
1. Purdue
1. Penn St.
1. Colorado St.
1. Washington
1. So. Mississippi
1. Texas A&M
1. Syracuse
1. Mississippi
1. Missouri
1. Oklahoma St.
1. Georgia Tech

## Infobox (ncaa division i-a season)

- **year**: 1997
- **number of teams**: 112
- **preseason ap**: 1997 Penn State Nittany Lions football team, Penn State
- **number of bowls**: 20
- **bowl start**: December 20, 1997
- **bowl end**:
January 2, 1998
- **ap poll**: 1997 Michigan Wolverines football team, Michigan
- **coaches poll**: 1997 Nebraska Cornhuskers football team, Nebraska
- **heisman**: Charles Woodson (cornerback, 1997 Michigan Wolverines football team, Michigan)
- **championship system**: Bowl Alliance Championship
- **championship bowl**: 1998 Orange Bowl
- **championship location**: Pro Player Stadium
Miami Gardens, Florida
- **champions**: 1997 Nebraska Cornhuskers football team, Nebraska, 1997 Michigan Wolverines football team, Michigan