1999 NCAA Division I-A football season

The 1999 NCAA Division I-A football season saw Florida State named national champions, defeating Virginia Tech in the BCS Sugar Bowl.

Florida State became the first team in history to start out preseason #1 and remain there through the entire season. Their 12-0 season gave them 109 victories in the 90's, the most for any decade. Virginia Tech also had a remarkable season behind freshman quarterback Michael Vick, who was being touted as college football's best player.

Vick was outshined in the national championship game by Florida State Wide Receiver Peter Warrick. Warrick had early problems with the law, charged with a misdemeanor he sat out two games early in the season. But he scored three touchdowns in the title game, earning MVP honors.

The BCS adopted a new rule after the previous season, nicknamed the "Kansas State Rule," which stated that any team ranked in the top four in the final BCS poll is ensured of an invitation to a BCS bowl game.

A lot of teams faced debacles. East Carolina faced Hurricane Floyd, and in that same week, faced the #9 Miami Hurricanes. The Pirates were down 23-3, but scored 24 unanswered points to win the football game, 27-23.

Kansas State finished 6th in the BCS standings but again received no BCS bowl invitation, this time being passed over in favor of Michigan (ranked 8th). Kansas State's predicament demonstrated early on the problem of trying to balance historic bowl ties and creating a system which gives top bowl bids to the most deserving teams.

Four members from each of the WAC's two divisions, the Mountain and Pacific, broke off from the unstable 16-team conference to form the Mountain West Conference.

Arkansas State left the ranks of the Independents to join the Big West Conference, as its seventh member.

Two schools made the move up to Division I-A football this season: University at Buffalo and Middle Tennessee State University.

Also, two schools adopted new names this season. The two Division I-A schools in the University of Louisiana System, Northeast Louisiana and Southwestern Louisiana, respectively became Louisiana-Monroe and Louisiana-Lafayette.

Final Conference Standings

Progress of #1 and #2 (AP and BCS)

Florida State University was ranked #1 in 17 consecutive AP polls and all of the BCS rankings, which started on October 25. The #2 spot was held by several different opponents during the same time span:

Final BCS Rankings

1. Florida State
2. Virginia Tech
3. Nebraska
4. Alabama
5. Tennessee
6. Kansas State
7. Wisconsin
8. Michigan
9. Michigan State
10. Florida
11. Penn State
12. Marshall
13. Minnesota
14. Texas A&M
15. Texas

Bowl Games

BCS Bowls

• Sugar Bowl: Florida State (BCS #1) 46, Virginia Tech (BCS #2) 29
• Orange Bowl: Michigan (At Large) 35, Alabama (SEC Champ) 34 (OT)
• Rose Bowl: Wisconsin (Big 10 Champ) 17, Stanford (Pac 10 Champ) 9
• Fiesta Bowl: Nebraska (Big 12 Champ) 31, Tennessee (At Large) 21

Other New Years Day Bowls

• Cotton Bowl Classic: Arkansas 27, Texas (Big 12 Runner Up) 6
• Florida Citrus Bowl: Michigan State 37, Florida (SEC Runner Up) 34
• Outback Bowl: Georgia 28, Purdue 25 (OT)
• Gator Bowl: Miami 28, Georgia Tech 13

December Bowl Games

• Peach Bowl: Mississippi State 17, Clemson 7
• MicronPC Bowl: Illinois 63, Virginia 21
• Sun Bowl: Oregon 24, Minnesota 20
• Alamo Bowl: Penn State 24, Texas A&M 0
• Insight.com Bowl: Colorado 62, Boston College 28
• Holiday Bowl: Kansas State 24, Washington 20
• Liberty Bowl: Southern Mississippi (C-USA Champ) 23, Colorado State 17
• Aloha Bowl: Wake Forest 23, Arizona State 3
• Oahu Bowl: Hawaii-Manoa (WAC Champ) 23, Oregon State 17
• Independence Bowl: Mississippi 27, Oklahoma 25
• Music City Bowl: Syracuse 20, Kentucky 13
• Las Vegas Bowl: Utah 17, Fresno State 16
• Motor City Bowl: Marshall (MAC Champ) 21, BYU (MWC Champ) 3
• Humanitarian Bowl: Boise State (Big West Champ) 34, Louisville 31
• Mobile Alabama Bowl: TCU 28, East Carolina 14

Final AP Poll

Others receiving votes: 26. Stanford (8-4, 168 points); 27. East Carolina (9-3, 97 pts); 28. Colorado (7-5, 75 pts); 29. TCU (8-4, 45 pts); 30. Syracuse (7-5, 21 pts); 31. Utah (9-3, 20 pts); 32. Hawaii (9-4, 19 pts); 33. Washington (7-5, 7 pts); 34. Wake Forest (7-5, 5 pts); 35. Boise St. (10-3, 3 pts) and Oklahoma (7-5, 3 pts); 37. Colorado St. (8-4, 2 pts).

Final Coaches Poll

1. Florida St
2. Nebraska
3. Virginia Tech
4. Wisconsin
5. Michigan
6. Kansas St
7. Michigan St
8. Alabama
9. Tennessee
10. Marshall
11. Penn St
12. Mississippi St
13. Southern Miss
14. Florida
15. Miami (FL)
16. Georgia
17. Minnesota
18. Oregon
19. Arkansas
20. Texas A&M
21. Georgia Tech
22. Mississippi
23. Texas
24. Stanford
25. Illinois

Heisman Trophy Voting

The Heisman Memorial Trophy Award is given to the

Most Outstanding Player of the year
Winner: Ron Dayne, Wisconsin, Running Back (2042 points)

• 2. Joe Hamilton, Ga. Tech (994 points)
• 3. Michael Vick, Va. Tech (319 points)
• 4. Drew Brees, Purdue (308 points)
• 5. Chad Pennington, Marshall (247 points)

Other Major Awards

• Maxwell Award (College Player of the Year) - Ron Dayne, Wisconsin
• Walter Camp Award (Back) - Ron Dayne, Wisconsin
• Davey O'Brien Award (Quarterback) - Joe Hamilton, Georgia Tech
• Johnny Unitas Golden Arm Award (Senior Quarterback) - Chris Redman, Louisville
• Doak Walker Award (Running Back) - Ron Dayne, Wisconsin
• Fred Biletnikoff Award (Wide Receiver) - Troy Walters, Stanford
• Bronko Nagurski Trophy (Defensive Player) - Corey Moore, Virginia Tech, DE
• Chuck Bednarik Award - LaVar Arrington, Penn State
• Dick Butkus Award (Linebacker) - LaVar Arrington, Penn State
• Lombardi Award (Lineman or Linebacker) - Corey Moore, Virginia Tech, DE
• Outland Trophy (Interior Lineman) - Chris Samuels, Alabama, OT
• Jim Thorpe Award (Defensive Back) - Tyrone Carter, Minnesota
• Lou Groza Award (Placekicker) - Sebastian Janikowski, Florida St.
• Paul "Bear" Bryant Award - Frank Beamer, Virginia Tech
• Football Writers Association of America Coach of the Year Award - Frank Beamer, Virginia Tech

References