2008 NCAA Division I FBS football season The 2008 NCAA Division I FBS football season , or the college football season , began on August 28 , 2008 , progressing through the regular season and bowl season , and ( aside from all - star exhibition games that followed ) concluded with the Bowl Championship Series ( BCS ) National Championship Game in Miami Gardens , Florida on January 8 , 2009 , where the # 2 Florida Gators , defeated the # 1 Oklahoma Sooners , 24 – 14 , of which the teams were determined by the BCS Ranking . The Gators were declared national champions by the BCS and most major polls . Western Kentucky University moves up from Division I - AA and becomes a I - A Independent . Rule changes for 2008 . The NCAA football rules committee made several rule changes for 2008 , and includes the following : Bowl games . If a conference does not have enough eligible teams to fill all of its contracted bowl slots , and an affected bowl does not have a contingency agreement with another conference ( e . g . , the Poinsettia Bowl , which has a contract with the WAC to take one of its teams if the Pac - 10 does not have enough eligible teams ) , the bowl " left out " can select an at - large team . By NCAA rule , an at - large bowl slot must be filled by a team with at least 7 wins , if available . Two new bowl games were added for the 2008 – 09 post - season : the EagleBank Bowl , which was played at RFK Stadium in Washington , D . C . , and the magicJack St . Petersburg Bowl in the titular Florida city at Tropicana Field . Bowl Championship Series . Ten teams played in the five BCS bowls . The top two teams in the final BCS ranking played in the BCS National Championship Game . The champions of the six BCS conferences who are not in the top two are given automatic berths into other BCS bowls . Unless playing in the championship game , the champions of the Big Ten and Pac - 10 play in the Rose Bowl , the ACC champion in the Orange Bowl , the SEC champion in the Sugar Bowl and the Big 12 champion in the Fiesta Bowl . The Big East champion can play in any open BCS bowl games . After the completion of the regular season and conference championship games , seven teams had secured BCS berths : Big Ten champion Penn State , Big East champion Cincinnati , ACC champion Virginia Tech , SEC champion Florida , Big 12 champion Oklahoma , Pac - 10 champion USC , and Mountain West champion Utah , as the highest - ranked non - BCS conference champion . With Oklahoma and Florida being selected to play in the championship , Texas and Alabama were selected to assume their conference ' s spots in the Fiesta and Sugar Bowls . Cincinnati was selected for the Orange Bowl and Utah for the Sugar Bowl , with the remaining at - large spot awarded to Ohio State for the Fiesta Bowl . Ohio State was selected despite being ranked behind # 9 Boise State at # 10 . # 7 Texas Tech did not receive an at - large selection , as they were ineligible with the Big 12 already being awarded two BCS slots . Other bowl games . Winners are bold Bowl Challenge Cup standings . < nowiki > * < / nowiki > Does not meet minimum game requirement of three teams needed for a conference to be eligible . Awards . Heisman Trophy voting . The Heisman Trophy is given to the year ' s most outstanding player . Other major award winners . Top Player Coaching Offense Defense Lineman Special Teams Other All - America selections . The Associated Press All - America team : Offense Defense Final rankings . < nowiki > * < / nowiki > - The AFCA requires that their voters make the winner of the BCS Championship at the number one position in the final poll .