1999 NCAA Division I-A football season

1999 NCAA Division I-A season
The Superdome was the site of the national championship
Number of teams	114
Preseason AP #1	Florida State Seminoles
Post-season
Duration	December 18, 1999 – January 4, 2000
Bowl games	23
Heisman Trophy	Ron Dayne, Wisconsin RB
Bowl Championship Series
2000 Sugar Bowl
Site	Louisiana Superdome, New Orleans, Louisiana
Winner	Florida State Seminoles
Division I-A football seasons
← 1998 2000 →

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. In addition, for a second straight season, an undefeated team from outside the BCS conferences (Marshall) went undefeated but did not receive a bid to a BCS bowl game, which illustrated the problem of non-BCS teams being shut out of the major BCS bowls.

Rule changes

The NCAA Rules Committee adopted the following changes for the 1999 season:^[1]

• Holding penalties committed behind the line of scrimmage will be enforced from the previous spot, modifying a 1991 rule that penalized holding (as well as illegal use of hands and clipping) committed behind the scrimmage line from the spot of the foul.
• The penalty for intentional grounding was changed from a five-yard penalty from the spot of the foul plus loss-of-down to simply a loss-of-down at the spot of the foul.
• Bandannas that are visible are considered illegal equipment.
• Offensive teams may not break a huddle with 12 or more players.
• Continuing action dead-ball fouls against both teams are disregarded, however any disqualified players must leave the game.

Conference and program changes

Two teams upgraded from Division I-AA, thus increasing the number of Division I-A schools from 112 to 114.

• The Mountain West Conference was formed prior to the season by eight former members of the Western Athletic Conference.
• Arkansas State joined the Big West Conference as its seventh member after three seasons as an independent.
• Two schools made the move up to Division I-A football this season: University at Buffalo and Middle Tennessee State University.

Conference changes

School	1998 Conference	1999 Conference
Air Force Falcons	WAC	Mountain West
Alabama–Birmingham Blazers	I-A Independent	Conference USA
Arkansas State Indians	I-A Independent	Big West
Buffalo Bulls	I-AA Independent	MAC (I-A)
BYU Cougars	WAC	Mountain West
Colorado State Rams	WAC	Mountain West
Middle Tennessee Blue Raiders	Ohio Valley (I-AA)	I-A Independent
New Mexico Lobos	WAC	Mountain West
San Diego State Aztecs	WAC	Mountain West
UNLV Rebels	WAC	Mountain West
Utah Utes	WAC	Mountain West
Wyoming Cowboys	WAC	Mountain West

Program changes

Two programs, each playing as independents, changed their names prior to the season:

• After Northeast Louisiana University changed its name to the University of Louisiana at Monroe, the Northeast Louisiana Warhawks became the Louisiana–Monroe Warhawks.
• Similarly, after the University of Southwestern Louisiana University changed its name to the University of Louisiana at Lafayette, the Southwestern Louisiana Ragin' Cajuns became the Louisiana–Lafayette Ragin' Cajuns.

Conference standings

1999 ACC football standings Conf     Overall Team   W   L         W   L   #1 Florida State $#   8 – 0         12 – 0   #17 Georgia Tech   5 – 3         8 – 4   Virginia   5 – 3         7 – 5   Clemson   5 – 3         6 – 6   Wake Forest   3 – 5         7 – 5   NC State   3 – 5         6 – 6   Duke   3 – 5         3 – 8   Maryland   2 – 6         5 – 6   North Carolina   2 – 6         3 – 8   # – BCS National Champion $ – BCS representative as conference champion Rankings from AP Poll	1999 Big East football standings Conf     Overall Team   W   L         W   L   #2 Virginia Tech $   7 – 0         11 – 1   #15 Miami (FL)   6 – 1         9 – 4   Boston College   4 – 3         8 – 4   Syracuse   3 – 4         7 – 5   West Virginia   3 – 4         4 – 7   Pittsburgh   2 – 5         5 – 6   Temple   2 – 5         2 – 9   Rutgers   1 – 6         1 – 10   $ – BCS representative as conference champion Rankings from AP Poll	1999 Big Ten football standings Conf     Overall Team   W   L         W   L   #4 Wisconsin $   7 – 1         10 – 2   #5 Michigan %   6 – 2         10 – 2   #7 Michigan State   6 – 2         10 – 2   #11 Penn State   5 – 3         10 – 3   #18 Minnesota   5 – 3         8 – 4   #24 Illinois   4 – 4         8 – 4   #25 Purdue   4 – 4         7 – 5   Ohio State   3 – 5         6 – 6   Indiana   3 – 5         4 – 7   Northwestern   1 – 7         3 – 8   Iowa   0 – 8         1 – 10   $ – BCS representative as conference champion % – BCS at-large representative Rankings from AP Poll
1999 Big 12 football standings Conf     Overall Team   W   L         W   L   Northern Division #3 Nebraska xy$   7 – 1         12 – 1   #6 Kansas State x   7 – 1         11 – 1   Colorado   5 – 3         7 – 5   Kansas   3 – 5         5 – 7   Iowa State   1 – 7         4 – 7   Missouri   1 – 7         4 – 7   Southern Division #21 Texas xy   6 – 2         9 – 5   #23 Texas A&M   5 – 3         8 – 4   Oklahoma   5 – 3         7 – 5   Texas Tech   5 – 3         6 – 5   Oklahoma State   3 – 5         5 – 6   Baylor   0 – 8         1 – 10   Championship: Nebraska 22, Texas 6 $ – BCS representative as conference champion x – Division champion/co-champions y – Championship game participant Rankings from AP Poll	1999 Big West Conference football standings Conf     Overall Team   W   L         W   L   Boise State $   5 – 1         10 – 3   Idaho   4 – 2         7 – 4   New Mexico State   3 – 2         6 – 5   Utah State   3 – 3         4 – 7   Arkansas State   2 – 3         4 – 7   Nevada   2 – 4         3 – 8   North Texas   1 – 5         2 – 9   $ – Conference champion $ – Conference champion Rankings from AP Poll	1999 Conference USA football standings Conf     Overall Team   W   L         W   L   #14 Southern Miss $   6 – 0         9 – 3   East Carolina   4 – 2         9 – 3   Louisville   4 – 2         7 – 5   UAB   4 – 2         5 – 6   Memphis   4 – 2         5 – 6   Houston   3 – 3         7 – 4   Army   1 – 5         3 – 8   Tulane   1 – 5         3 – 8   Cincinnati   0 – 6         3 – 8   $ – Conference champion Rankings from AP Poll
1999 Mid-American Conference football standings Conf     Overall Team   W   L         W   L   East Division #10 Marshall x$   8 – 0         13 – 0   Miami   6 – 2         7 – 4   Akron   5 – 3         7 – 4   Ohio   5 – 3         5 – 6   Bowling Green   3 – 5         5 – 6   Kent State   2 – 6         2 – 9   Buffalo   0 – 8         0 – 11   West Division Western Michigan x   6 – 2         7 – 5   Toledo   5 – 3         6 – 5   Northern Illinois   5 – 3         5 – 6   Eastern Michigan   4 – 4         4 – 7   Central Michigan   3 – 5         4 – 7   Ball State   0 – 8         0 – 11   Championship: Marshall 34, Western Michigan 30 $ – Conference champion x – Division champion/co-champions Rankings from AP Poll	1999 Mountain West football standings Conf     Overall Team   W   L         W   L   Utah +   5 – 2         9 – 3   BYU +   5 – 2         8 – 4   Colorado State +   5 – 2         8 – 4   Wyoming   4 – 3         7 – 4   San Diego State   3 – 4         5 – 6   New Mexico   3 – 4         4 – 7   Air Force   2 – 5         6 – 5   UNLV   1 – 6         3 – 8   + – Conference co-champions Rankings from AP Poll	1999 Pacific-10 football standings Conf     Overall Team   W   L         W   L   Stanford $   7 – 1         8 – 4   #19 Oregon   6 – 2         9 – 3   Washington   6 – 2         7 – 5   Arizona State   5 – 3         6 – 6   Oregon State   4 – 4         7 – 5   Arizona   3 – 5         6 – 6   USC   3 – 5         6 – 6   California   3 – 5         4 – 7   UCLA   2 – 6         4 – 7   Washington State   1 – 7         3 – 9   $ – BCS representative as conference champion Cal later vacated 4 wins (3 in conference) due to NCAA sanctions. Rankings from AP Poll
1999 SEC football standings Conf     Overall Team   W   L         W   L   Eastern Division #12 Florida x   7 – 1         9 – 4   #9 Tennessee   6 – 2         9 – 3   #16 Georgia   5 – 3         8 – 4   Kentucky   4 – 4         6 – 6   Vanderbilt   2 – 6         5 – 6   South Carolina   0 – 8         0 – 11   Western Division #8 Alabama x$   7 – 1         10 – 3   #13 Mississippi State   6 – 2         10 – 2   #22 Ole Miss   4 – 4         8 – 4   #17 Arkansas   4 – 4         8 – 4   Auburn   2 – 6         5 – 6   LSU   1 – 7         3 – 8   Championship: Alabama 34, Florida 7 $ – BCS representative as conference champion x – Division champion/co-champions Rankings from AP Poll	1999 WAC football standings Conf     Overall Team   W   L         W   L   Hawaii +   5 – 2         9 – 4   TCU +   5 – 2         8 – 4   Fresno State +   5 – 2         8 – 5   Rice   4 – 3         5 – 6   SMU   3 – 3         4 – 6   UTEP   3 – 4         5 – 7   San Jose State   1 – 5         3 – 7   Tulsa   1 – 6         2 – 9   + – Conference co-champions Rankings from AP Poll	1999 Division I-A independents football records Conf     Overall Team   W   L         W   L   Louisiana Tech   –         8 – 3   Louisiana–Monroe   –         5 – 6   Navy   –         5 – 7   Notre Dame   –         5 – 7   UCF   –         4 – 7   Middle Tennessee   –         3 – 8   Louisiana–Lafayette   –         2 – 9   Rankings from AP Poll

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 polls

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

1. "NCAA Rules Changes 1999".