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.

1997 NCAA Division I-A season
Number of teams	112
Preseason AP No. 1	Penn State
Post-season
Duration	December 20, 1997 – January 2, 1998
Bowl games	20
AP Poll No. 1	Michigan
Coaches Poll No. 1	Nebraska
Heisman Trophy	Charles Woodson (cornerback, Michigan)
Bowl Alliance Championship
1998 Orange Bowl
Site	Pro Player Stadium Miami Gardens, Florida
Champion(s)	Nebraska, Michigan
Division I-A football seasons
← 1996 1998 →

Conference standings

1997 Atlantic Coast Conference football standings Conf Overall Team   W   L     W   L   No. 3 Florida State $   8 – 0     11 – 1   No. 6 North Carolina   7 – 1     11 – 1   Virginia   5 – 3     7 – 4   No. 25 Georgia Tech   5 – 3     7 – 5   Clemson   4 – 4     7 – 5   NC State   3 – 5     6 – 5   Wake Forest   3 – 5     5 – 6   Maryland   1 – 7     2 – 9   Duke   0 – 8     2 – 9   $ – Conference champion Rankings from AP Poll	1997 Big 12 Conference football standings Conf Overall Team   W   L     W   L   Northern Division No. 2 Nebraska † xy$   8 – 0     13 – 0   No. 8 Kansas State %   7 – 1     11 – 1   No. 23 Missouri   5 – 3     7 – 5   Colorado   3 – 5     5 – 6   Kansas   3 – 5     5 – 6   Iowa State   1 – 7     1 – 10   Southern Division No. 20 Texas A&M xy   6 – 2     9 – 4   No. 24 Oklahoma State   5 – 3     8 – 4   Texas Tech   5 – 3     6 – 5   Texas   2 – 6     4 – 7   Oklahoma   2 – 6     4 – 8   Baylor   1 – 7     2 – 9   Championship: Nebraska 54, Texas A&M 15 x – Division champion/co-champions y – Championship game participant † – Coaches Poll National Champion $ – Bowl Alliance representative as champion % – Bowl Alliance at-large representative Rankings from AP Poll	1997 Big East Conference football standings Conf Overall Team   W   L     W   L   No. 21 Syracuse $   6 – 1     9 – 4   No. 23 Virginia Tech   5 – 2     7 – 5   Pittsburgh   4 – 3     6 – 6   West Virginia   4 – 3     7 – 5   Miami (FL)   3 – 4     5 – 6   Temple   3 – 4     3 – 8   Boston College   3 – 4     4 – 7   Rutgers   0 – 7     0 – 11   $ – Conference champion Rankings from AP Poll
1997 Big Ten Conference football standings Conf Overall Team   W   L     W   L   No. 1 Michigan $   8 – 0     12 – 0   No. 12 Ohio State   6 – 2     10 – 3   No. 16 Penn State   6 – 2     9 – 3   No. 15 Purdue   6 – 2     9 – 3   Wisconsin   5 – 3     8 – 5   Iowa   4 – 4     7 – 5   Michigan State   4 – 4     7 – 5   Northwestern   3 – 5     5 – 7   Minnesota   1 – 7     3 – 9   Indiana   1 – 7     2 – 9   Illinois   0 – 8     0 – 11   $ – Conference champion Rankings from AP Poll	1997 Big West Conference football standings Conf Overall Team   W   L     W   L   Utah State +   4 – 1     6 – 6   Nevada +   4 – 1     5 – 6   Boise State   3 – 2     5 – 6   Idaho   2 – 3     5 – 6   North Texas   2 – 3     4 – 7   New Mexico State   0 – 5     2 – 9   + – Conference co-champions	1997 Conference USA football standings Conf Overall Team   W   L     W   L   No. 19 Southern Miss $   6 – 0     9 – 3   Tulane   5 – 1     7 – 4   East Carolina   4 – 2     5 – 6   Cincinnati   2 – 4     8 – 4   Memphis   2 – 4     4 – 7   Houston   2 – 4     3 – 8   Louisville   0 – 6     1 – 10   $ – Conference champion Rankings from AP Poll
1997 Mid-American Conference football standings Conf Overall Team   W   L     W   L   East Division Marshall x$   7 – 1     10 – 3   Miami (OH)   6 – 2     8 – 3   Ohio   6 – 2     8 – 3   Bowling Green   3 – 5     3 – 8   Kent State   3 – 5     3 – 8   Akron   2 – 7     2 – 9   West Division Toledo x   7 – 1     9 – 3   Western Michigan   6 – 2     8 – 3   Ball State   4 – 4     5 – 6   Eastern Michigan   4 – 5     4 – 7   Central Michigan   1 – 7     2 – 9   Northern Illinois   0 – 8     0 – 11   Championship: Marshall 34, Toledo 14 $ – Conference champion x – Division champion/co-champions	1997 Pacific-10 Conference football standings Conf Overall Team   W   L     W   L   No. 9 Washington State +   7 – 1     10 – 2   No. 5 UCLA +   7 – 1     10 – 2   No. 14 Arizona State   6 – 2     9 – 3   No. 18 Washington   5 – 3     8 – 4   Arizona   4 – 4     7 – 5   USC   4 – 4     6 – 5   Oregon   3 – 5     7 – 5   Stanford   3 – 5     5 – 6   California   1 – 7     3 – 8   Oregon State   0 – 8     3 – 8   + – Conference co-champions Rankings from AP Poll	1997 Southeastern Conference football standings Conf Overall Team   W   L     W   L   Eastern Division No. 7 Tennessee x$   7 – 1     11 – 2   No. 10 Georgia   6 – 2     10 – 2   No. 4 Florida   6 – 2     10 – 2   South Carolina   3 – 5     5 – 6   Kentucky   2 – 6     5 – 6   Vanderbilt   0 – 8     3 – 8   Western Division No. 11 Auburn xy   6 – 2     10 – 3   No. 13 LSU x   6 – 2     9 – 3   No. 22 Ole Miss   4 – 4     8 – 4   Mississippi State   4 – 4     7 – 4   Arkansas   2 – 6     4 – 7   Alabama   2 – 6     4 – 7   Championship: Tennessee 30, Auburn 29 $ – Conference champion x – Division champion/co-champions Rankings from AP Poll
1997 Western Athletic Conference football standings Conf Overall Team   W   L     W   L   Mountain Division New Mexico x   6 – 2     9 – 4   Rice   5 – 3     7 – 4   SMU   5 – 3     6 – 5   Utah   5 – 3     6 – 5   BYU   4 – 4     6 – 5   UTEP   3 – 5     4 – 7   Tulsa   2 – 6     2 – 9   TCU   1 – 7     1 – 10   Pacific Division No. 17 Colorado State x$   7 – 1     11 – 2   Air Force   6 – 2     10 – 3   Fresno State   5 – 3     6 – 6   Wyoming   4 – 4     7 – 6   San Diego State   4 – 4     5 – 7   San Jose State   4 – 4     4 – 7   UNLV   2 – 6     3 – 8   Hawaii   1 – 7     3 – 9   Championship: Colorado State 41, New Mexico 13 $ – Conference champion x – Division champion/co-champions Rankings from AP Poll	1997 NCAA Division I-A independents football records Conf Overall Team   W   L     W   L   Louisiana Tech   –     9 – 2   Navy   –     7 – 4   Notre Dame   –     7 – 6   UAB   –     5 – 6   UCF   –     5 – 6   Northeast Louisiana   –     5 – 7   Army   –     4 – 7   Arkansas State   –     2 – 9   Southwestern Louisiana   –     1 – 10   Rankings from AP Poll

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
Template:Alternate links	No. 5 UCLA	29	No. 20 Texas A&M	23	Dallas
Template:Alternate links	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
Template:Alternate links	No. 13 Auburn	21	Clemson	17	Atlanta
Template:Alternate links	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
Template:Alternate links	No. 22 Southern Mississippi	41	Pittsburgh	7	Memphis
Template:Alternate links	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
Template:Alternate links	Mississippi	34	Marshall	31	Detroit
Humanitarian Bowl	Cincinnati	35	Utah State	19	Boise

Final AP Poll

1. Michigan
2. Nebraska
3. Florida State
4. Florida
5. UCLA
6. North Carolina
7. Tennessee
8. Kansas St.
9. Washington St.
10. Georgia
11. Auburn
12. Ohio St.
13. LSU
14. Arizona St.
15. Purdue
16. Penn St.
17. Colorado St.
18. Washington
19. So. Mississippi
20. Texas A&M
21. Syracuse
22. Mississippi
23. Missouri
24. Oklahoma St.
25. Georgia Tech