Bowl Games

Date	Winners		Runners-Up
	Sugar Bowl		New Orleans
1996	Florida Gators	52	Florida State Seminoles	20
	Rose Bowl		Pasadena
1996	Ohio State Buckeyes	20	Arizona State Sun Devils	17
	Orange Bowl		Miami
1996	Nebraska Cornhuskers	31	Virginia Tech Hokies	21
	Fiesta Bowl		Tempe, AZ
1996	Penn State Nittany Lions	38	Texas Longhorns	15
	Holiday Bowl		San Diego
1996	Colorado Buffaloes	33	Washington Huskies	21
	Gator Bowl		Jacksonville
1996	North Carolina Tar Heels	20	West Virginia Mountaineers	13
	Citrus Bowl		Orlando
1996	Tennessee Volunteers	48	Northwestern Wildcats	28
	Cotton Bowl		Dallas
1996	Brigham Young Cougars	19	Kansas State Cowboys	15
	Liberty Bowl		Memphis
1996	Syracuse Orangemen	30	Houston Cougars	17
	Outback Bowl		Tampa
1996	Alabama Crimson Tide	17	Michigan Wolverines	14
	Alamo Bowl		San Antonio
1996	Iowa Hawkeyes	27	Texas Tech Red Raiders	0
	Carquest Bowl		Miami
1996	Miami Hurricanes	31	Virginia Cavaliers	21
	Peach Bowl		Atlanta
1996	Louisiana State Tigers	10	Clemson Tigers	7
	Independence Bowl		Shreveport, La
1996	Auburn Tigers	32	Army Black Knights	29
	Copper Bowl		Tucson, AZ
1996	Wisconsin Badgers	38	Utah Utes	10
	Aloha Bowl		Honolulu
1996	Navy Midshipmen	42	California Golden Bears	38
	Sun Bowl		El Paso
1996	Stanford Cardinal	38	Michigan State Spartans	0
	Las Vegas Bowl		Las Vegas
1996	Nevada Wolfpack	18	Ball State Cardinals	15

Final Rankings

Rank	School
1	Florida Gators
2	Ohio State Buckeyes
3	Nebraska Cornhuskers
4	Florida State Seminoles
5	Arizona State Sun Devils
6	Colorado Buffaloes
7	North Carolina Tar Heels
8	Tennessee Volunteers
9	Penn State Nittany Lions
10	Brigham Young Cougars
11	Washington Huskies
12	Notre Dame Fighting Irish
13	Syracuse Orangemen
14	Kansas State Cowboys
15	Virginia Tech Hokies
16	Alabama Crimson Tide
17	Michigan Wolverines
18	Iowa Hawkeyes
19	Miami Hurricanes
20	Louisiana State Tigers
21	Wyoming Cowboys
22	Southern Mississippi
23	Texas Longhorns
24	Auburn Tigers
25	Army Black Knights
26	East Carolina Gamecocks
27	Texas Tech Red Raiders
28	West Virginia Mountaineers
29	Northwestern Wildcats
30	Utah Utes

Report

Florida Gators won the 1996 Division 1A NCAA Football title with a defeat of rivals Florida State Seminoles in the Sugar Bowl in New Orleans. Ohio State Buckeyes won the Rose Bowl in Pasadena, defeating Arizona State Sun Devils to take second place in the end-of-season polls.

Unlike most other College Sports in the National Collegiate Athletic Association there was no National Bowl Game at the end of season, but a series of four Big Bowl Games in each quarter of the country for the Champions of the Top Conferences, with an end-of-season poll by the Nations Top Sport Journalists determining who wins the National Championship.

Notre Dame Fighting Irish, the Irish Roman Catholic College in South Bend, Indiana, near Chicago, finished in 12th place in legendary College Football Coach, Lou Holtz’s last season in charge. The Fighting Irish were not satisfied with the cost/payout relationship in the lesser bowls at the end of the season, and despite numerous invites to Bowl Games, did not take part in any, casting a lull over Holtz’s last year in charge.

References

Magazines

[1] Anon. (1997) College Countdown: Bowl Results / Touchdown’s End of season Power Ranknigs Touchdown. February 1997. No. 22. pg. 37

Acknowledgements

Thanks to Todd Zboyan, Bart Barden, Rick Kelley and Tim Leadingham

About this document

Researched, compiled and written by Enda Mulcahy for the

Eirball | Irish North American and World Sports Archive

Last Updated: 27 October 2020

(c) Copyright Enda Mulcahy and Eirball 2020

You may quote this document in whole or part provided that proper acknowledgement is given to the authors. All Rights Reserved.