2003 NCAA Division I-A football season

2003 NCAA Division I-A season
Gameplay during the BCS National Championship Sugar Bowl for the 2003 season
Number of teams117
Preseason AP No. 1Oklahoma
Postseason
DurationDecember 16, 2003 –
January 4, 2004
Bowl games28
AP Poll No. 1USC
Heisman TrophyJason White (quarterback, Oklahoma)
Bowl Championship Series
2004 Sugar Bowl
SiteLouisiana Superdome,
New Orleans, Louisiana
Champion(s)LSU
Division I-A football seasons
← 2002
2004 →

The 2003 NCAA Division I-A football season ended with an abundance of controversy, resulting in the claim of a split national championship. This was the first claimed split title since the inception of the BCS, something the BCS intended to eliminate. Due to on-field circumstances, the BCS becoming a means of having a single champion going forward, and finally the four-team title playoff system's institution in 2014, as of 2025 this is the most recent Division 1-A season to end with split national champions between the AP Poll and Coaches Poll. Several teams have been selected National Champions by designated selectors such as 2017 UCF and 2024 Oregon.

At season's end, three BCS Automatic Qualifying (AQ) conference teams finished the regular season with one loss, with only two spots available in the BCS National Championship Game. Three BCS Non-Automatic Qualifying (Non-AQ) conference teams also finished with one loss, TCU, Boise State and Miami (OH), stirring the debate of the BCS being unfair to BCS Non-AQ conference teams.

LSU defeated Oklahoma in the 2004 Sugar Bowl, securing the BCS National Championship, as the ESPN/USA Today Coaches' Poll was contractually obligated to vote the winner of the BCS National Championship Game No. 1, although three coaches violated this agreement by keeping USC atop their ballots. Meanwhile, when AP No. 1 USC beat (number 4) Michigan in the 2004 Rose Bowl, the AP voters kept USC in the top spot.

Army became the first team in NCAA Division I-A football modern history to finish the season 0–13.

The Home Depot Coach of the Year Award sponsored by ESPN chose USC coach Pete Carroll as their award recipient, while the Paul "Bear" Bryant Award, voted on by an association of sportswriters, chose LSU coach Nick Saban.

The Orange Bowl game was noteworthy in that Miami and Florida State previously had scheduled to play each other on Labor Day in 2004 in Miami's first game as a member of the Atlantic Coast Conference. Playing in the Orange Bowl ensured that their next meeting would be each of their very next games and their first of the 2004 season.

BCS selection process controversy

USC had lost in triple overtime at California on September 27, LSU lost at home to Florida on October 11, and Oklahoma, which had been No. 1 in every BCS rating,[1] AP and Coaches' Poll[2] of the season, lost to Kansas State in the Big 12 Championship Game, 35–7 on December 6. Although USC, then 11–1, finished ranked No. 1 in both the AP and Coaches' Polls, with LSU (12–1) ranked No. 2 and Oklahoma (12–1) No. 3, Oklahoma surpassed both USC and LSU on several BCS computer factors. Oklahoma's schedule strength was ranked 11th to LSU's 29th and USC's 37th. Oklahoma's schedule rank was 0.44 to LSU's 1.16 and USC's 1.48. As such, although the timing of Oklahoma's loss affected the human voters, the computers kept Oklahoma at No. 1 in the BCS poll. LSU was ranked No. 2 by the BCS based on its No. 2 ranking in the AP Poll, Coaches' Poll, six of seven computer rankings (with the remaining one ranking them No. 1), and strength-of-schedule calculations. USC's No. 3 BCS ranking resulted from its No. 1 AP ranking, No. 1 Coaches' Poll ranking, and No. 3 ranking in five of seven computer rankings (with the two remaining computer rankings at No. 1 and No. 4), and schedule strength, though separated by only 0.16 points.

Ted Waitt, CEO of Gateway Computers, offered the NCAA $31 million for a national championship game between USC and Louisiana State.[3]

Rules changes

The NCAA Rules Committee adopted the following rules changes for the 2003 season:

  • The "Halo Rule" (two-yard restricted area around the kick/punt returner) is abolished. The penalty for kick-catch interference remains at 15 yards if the returner is contacted before he has a chance to catch the punt/kick.
  • Backs not positioned within the "tackle box" are prohibited from blocking below the waist anywhere behind the scrimmage line, and up to a point 10 yards downfield.
  • The game clock will start on all kickoffs once touched in the field of play, repealing a rule change adopted in the 1997 season where the clock started on the kick (except during the final 2:00 of each half).
  • Giving the offended team the option to enforce all personal fouls committed during and after a touchdown play either on the PAT or on the ensuing kickoff.

Conference and program changes

No teams upgraded from Division I-AA, leaving the number of Division I-A schools fixed at 117.

  • Two Independent schools joined conferences in 2003. South Florida joined Conference USA as its 11th member, while Utah State joined the Sun Belt Conference as its 8th member.
School 2002 Conference 2003 Conference
South Florida Bulls I-A Independent Conference USA
Utah State Aggies I-A Independent Sun Belt

Regular season top 10 matchups

Rankings reflect the AP Poll. Rankings for Week 8 and beyond will list BCS Rankings first and AP Poll second. Teams that failed to be a top 10 team for one poll or the other will be noted.

Conference standings

2003 Atlantic Coast Conference football standings
Conf. Overall
Team   W   L     W   L  
No. 11 Florida State $   7 – 1     10 – 3  
No. 17 Maryland   6 – 2     10 – 3  
No. 22 Clemson   5 – 3     9 – 4  
NC State   4 – 4     8 – 5  
Virginia   4 – 4     8 – 5  
Georgia Tech   4 – 4     7 – 6  
Wake Forest   3 – 5     5 – 7  
Duke   2 – 6     4 – 8  
North Carolina   1 – 7     2 – 10  
  • $ – BCS representative as conference champion
Rankings from AP Poll
2003 Big 12 Conference football standings
Conf. Overall
Team   W   L     W   L  
North Division
No. 14 Kansas State x$   6 – 2     11 – 4  
No. 19 Nebraska   5 – 3     10 – 3  
Missouri   4 – 4     8 – 5  
Kansas   3 – 5     6 – 7  
Colorado   3 – 5     5 – 7  
Iowa State   0 – 8     2 – 10  
South Division
No. 3 Oklahoma x%   8 – 0     12 – 2  
No. 12 Texas   7 – 1     10 – 3  
Oklahoma State   5 – 3     9 – 4  
Texas Tech   4 – 4     8 – 5  
Texas A&M   2 – 6     4 – 8  
Baylor   1 – 7     3 – 9  
Championship: Kansas State 35, Oklahoma 7
  • $ – BCS representative as conference champion
  • % – BCS at-large representative
  • x – Division champion/co-champions
Rankings from AP Poll
2003 Big East Conference football standings
Conf. Overall
Team   W   L     W   L  
No. 5 Miami (FL) $+   6 – 1     11 – 2  
West Virginia +   6 – 1     8 – 5  
Pittsburgh   5 – 2     8 – 5  
Virginia Tech   4 – 3     8 – 5  
Boston College   3 – 4     8 – 5  
Syracuse   2 – 5     6 – 6  
Rutgers   2 – 5     5 – 7  
Temple   0 – 7     1 – 11  
  • $ – BCS representative as conference champion
  • + – Conference co-champions
Rankings from AP Poll
2003 Big Ten Conference football standings
Conf. Overall
Team   W   L     W   L  
No. 6 Michigan $   7 – 1     10 – 3  
No. 4 Ohio State %   6 – 2     11 – 2  
No. 18 Purdue   6 – 2     9 – 4  
No. 8 Iowa   5 – 3     10 – 3  
No. 20 Minnesota   5 – 3     10 – 3  
Michigan State   5 – 3     8 – 5  
Wisconsin   4 – 4     7 – 6  
Northwestern   4 – 4     6 – 7  
Penn State   1 – 7     3 – 9  
Indiana   1 – 7     2 – 10  
Illinois   0 – 8     1 – 11  
  • % – BCS at-large representative
  • $ – Conference champion
Rankings from AP Poll
2003 Conference USA football standings
Conf. Overall
Team   W   L     W   L  
Southern Miss $   8 – 0     9 – 4  
No. 24 TCU   7 – 1     11 – 2  
Memphis   5 – 3     9 – 4  
Louisville   5 – 3     9 – 4  
South Florida   5 – 3     7 – 4  
Houston   4 – 4     7 – 6  
UAB   4 – 4     5 – 7  
Tulane   3 – 5     5 – 7  
Cincinnati   2 – 6     5 – 7  
East Carolina   1 – 7     1 – 11  
Army   0 – 8     0 – 13  
  • $ – Conference champion
Rankings from AP Poll
2003 Mid-American Conference football standings
Conf. Overall
Team   W   L     W   L  
East Division
No. 10 Miami (OH) x$   8 – 0     13 – 1  
Marshall   6 – 2     8 – 4  
Akron   5 – 3     7 – 5  
Kent State   4 – 4     5 – 7  
UCF   2 – 6     3 – 9  
Ohio   1 – 7     2 – 10  
Buffalo   1 – 7     1 – 11  
West Division
No. 23 Bowling Green x   7 – 1     11 – 3  
Northern Illinois   6 – 2     10 – 2  
Toledo   6 – 2     8 – 4  
Western Michigan   4 – 4     5 – 7  
Ball State   3 – 5     4 – 8  
Eastern Michigan   2 – 6     3 – 9  
Central Michigan   1 – 7     3 – 9  
Championship: Miami 49, Bowling Green 27
  • $ – Conference champion
  • x – Division champion/co-champions
Rankings from AP Poll
2003 Mountain West Conference football standings
Conf. Overall
Team   W   L     W   L  
No. 21 Utah $   6 – 1     10 – 2  
New Mexico   5 – 2     8 – 5  
Colorado State   4 – 3     7 – 6  
Air Force   3 – 4     7 – 5  
San Diego State   3 – 4     6 – 6  
BYU   3 – 4     4 – 8  
UNLV   2 – 5     6 – 6  
Wyoming   2 – 5     4 – 8  
  • $ – Conference champion
Rankings from AP Poll
2003 Pacific-10 Conference football standings
Conf. Overall
Team   W   L     W   L  
No. 1 USC $   7 – 1     12 – 1  
No. 9 Washington State   6 – 2     10 – 3  
Oregon   5 – 3     8 – 5  
California   5 – 3     8 – 6  
Oregon State   4 – 4     8 – 5  
Washington   4 – 4     6 – 6  
UCLA   4 – 4     6 – 7  
Arizona State   2 – 6     5 – 7  
Stanford   2 – 6     4 – 7  
Arizona   1 – 7     2 – 10  
  • $ – Conference champion
Rankings from AP Poll
2003 Southeastern Conference football standings
Conf. Overall
Team   W   L     W   L  
Eastern Division
No. 7 Georgia xy   6 – 2     11 – 3  
No. 15 Tennessee x   6 – 2     10 – 3  
No. 24 Florida x   6 – 2     8 – 5  
South Carolina   2 – 6     5 – 7  
Vanderbilt   1 – 7     2 – 10  
Kentucky   1 – 7     4 – 8  
Western Division
No. 2 LSU xy$#   7 – 1     13 – 1  
No. 13 Ole Miss x   7 – 1     10 – 3  
Auburn   5 – 3     8 – 5  
Arkansas   4 – 4     9 – 4  
Alabama   2 – 6     4 – 9  
Mississippi State   1 – 7     2 – 10  
Championship: LSU 34, Georgia 13
  • # – BCS National Champion
  • $ – BCS representative as conference champion
  • x – Division champion/co-champions
  • y – Championship game participant
Rankings from AP Poll
2003 Sun Belt Conference football standings
Conf. Overall
Team   W   L     W   L  
North Texas $   7 – 0     9 – 4  
Louisiana–Lafayette   3 – 2     4 – 8  
Arkansas State   3 – 3     5 – 7  
Middle Tennessee   3 – 3     4 – 8  
Utah State   3 – 3     3 – 9  
Idaho   3 – 4     3 – 9  
New Mexico State   2 – 5     3 – 9  
Louisiana–Monroe   1 – 5     1 – 11  
  • $ – Conference champion
2003 Western Athletic Conference football standings
Conf. Overall
Team   W   L     W   L  
No. 16 Boise State $   8 – 0     13 – 1  
Fresno State   6 – 2     9 – 5  
Tulsa   6 – 2     8 – 5  
Hawaii   5 – 3     9 – 5  
Rice   5 – 3     5 – 7  
Nevada   4 – 4     6 – 6  
Louisiana Tech   3 – 5     5 – 7  
San Jose State   2 – 6     3 – 8  
UTEP   1 – 7     2 – 10  
SMU   0 – 8     0 – 12  
  • $ – Conference champion
Rankings from AP Poll
2003 NCAA Division I-A independents football records
Conf. Overall
Team   W   L     W   L  
Connecticut   –     9 – 3  
Navy   –     8 – 5  
Troy State   –     6 – 6  
Notre Dame   –     5 – 7  
Rankings from AP Poll

I-AA team wins over I-A teams

Italics denotes I-AA teams.

Date Visiting team Home team Site Result Attendance Ref.
August 28 Florida Atlantic Middle Tennessee Johnny "Red" Floyd Stadium • Murfreesboro, Tennessee  20–19   23,261 [4]
September 4 No. 4 (I-AA) Western Illinois Eastern Michigan Rynearson Stadium • Ypsilanti, Michigan  34–12   11,123 [4]
September 6 Cal Poly UTEP Sun Bowl • El Paso, Texas  34–13   26,224 [4]
September 6 Eastern Washington Idaho Kibbie Dome • Moscow, Idaho  8–5   13,556 [4]
September 6 Stephen F. Austin UL Monroe Malone Stadium • Monroe, Louisiana  23–21   15,056 [4]
September 6 No. 9 (I-AA) Villanova Temple Lincoln Financial Field • Philadelphia, Pennsylvania (Mayor's Cup)  23–20 2OT  30,090 [4]
September 13 Colgate Buffalo University at Buffalo Stadium • Amherst, New York  38–15   20,324 [4]
September 20 No. 15 (I-AA) Northwestern State UL Monroe Malone Stadium • Monroe, Louisiana  14–10   16,035 [4]
September 27 Idaho No. 9 (I-AA) Montana Washington–Grizzly Stadium • Missoula, Montana (Little Brown Stein)  41–28   23,679 [4]
October 25 No. 3 (I-AA) Delaware Navy Navy–Marine Corps Memorial Stadium • Annapolis, Maryland  21–17   34,982 [4]
#Rankings from AP Poll released prior to game.

Bowl Championship Series rankings

Main article: 2003 NCAA Division I-A football rankings
WEEK No. 1 No. 2 EVENT
OCT 20 Oklahoma Miami
OCT 27 Oklahoma Miami Virginia Tech 31, Miami 7
NOV 3 Oklahoma USC
NOV 10 Oklahoma USC
NOV 17 Oklahoma Ohio State Michigan 35, Ohio State 21
NOV 24 Oklahoma USC
DEC 1 Oklahoma USC LSU 34, Georgia 13
FINAL Oklahoma LSU

Bowl games

Main article: 2003–04 NCAA football bowl games

Rankings given are AP poll positions at time of game

BCS bowls

Other January bowls

December Bowl games

Final AP Poll

Team Final Record Points
1. USC (48) 12–1 1,608
2. LSU (17) 13–1 1,576
3. Oklahoma 12–2 1,476
4. Ohio State 11–2 1,411
5. Miami (FL) 11–2 1,329
6. Michigan 10–3 1,281
7. Georgia 11–3 1,255
8. Iowa 10–3 1,107
9. Washington State 10–3 1,060
10. Miami (OH) 13–1 932
11. Florida State 10–3 905
12. Texas 10–3 887
13. Mississippi 10–3 845
14. Kansas State 11–4 833
15. Tennessee 10–3 695
16. Boise State 13–1 645
17. Maryland 10–3 564
18. Purdue 9–4 526
19. Nebraska 10–3 520
20. Minnesota 10–3 368
21. Utah 10–2 308
22. Clemson 9–4 230
23. Bowling Green 11–3 189
24. Florida 8–5 165
25. Texas Christian 11–2 126

Others receiving votes: 26. Oklahoma State 109, 27. Arkansas 73, 28. Virginia 36, 29. Northern Illinois 30, 30. Auburn 8, 30. Oregon State 8, 32. Pittsburgh 7, 32. N.C. State 7, 34. West Virginia 4, 35. Connecticut 2.

Final Coaches Poll

Three coaches voted for USC as the No. 1 team, even though the polled coaches are required to vote the BCS champion as No. 1. Because the votes were not public, it is not known which three coaches placed those votes. However, it is known that USC coach Pete Carroll could not have voted for his own team since he was not a voting coach that season.

Team Final Record Points
1. LSU (60) 13–1 1,572
2. USC (3) 12–1 1,514
3. Oklahoma 12–2 1,429
4. Ohio State 11–2 1,370
5. Miami (FL) 11–2 1,306
6. Georgia 11–3 1,183
7. Michigan 10–3 1,140
8. Iowa 10–3 1,119
9. Washington State 10–3 983
10. Florida State 10–3 929
11. Texas 10–3 894
12. Miami (OH) 13–1 800
13. Kansas State 11–4 746
14. Mississippi 10–3 730
15. Boise State 13–1 704
16. Tennessee 10–3 684
17. Minnesota 10–3 553
18. Nebraska 10–3 532
19. Purdue 9–4 510
20. Maryland 10–3 462
21. Utah 10–2 327
22. Clemson 9–4 219
23. Bowling Green 11–3 170
24. TCU 11–2 145
25. Florida 8–5 124

Also receiving votes

Northern Illinois (10–2) 80; Arkansas (9–4) 74; Oklahoma State (9–4) 63; Auburn (8–5) 20; North Carolina State (8–5) 17; Oregon State (8–5) 15; West Virginia (8–5) 14; Southern Mississippi (9–4) 12; Fresno State (9–5) 6; Hawaii (9–5) 6; Pittsburgh (8–5) 5; Texas Tech (8–5) 4; Marshall (8–4) 3; Virginia (8–5) 3; Boston College (8–5) 2; California (8–6) 1; Connecticut (9–3) 1; Memphis (9–4) 1; Michigan State Spartans (8–5) 1; Missouri (8–5) 1; North Texas (9–4) 1.

Heisman Trophy voting

The Heisman Trophy is given to the year's most outstanding player

Player School Position 1st 2nd 3rd Total
Jason White Oklahoma QB 319 204 116 1,481
Larry Fitzgerald Pittsburgh WR 253 233 128 1,353
Eli Manning Ole Miss QB 95 132 161 710
Chris Perry Michigan RB 27 66 128 341
Darren Sproles Kansas State RB 15 30 29 134
Matt Leinart USC QB 5 27 58 127
Philip Rivers NC State QB 18 20 24 118
Mike Williams USC WR 12 12 18 78
Ben Roethlisberger Miami (OH) QB 5 9 14 47
B. J. Symons Texas Tech QB 1 7 21 38

Other major awards

Attendances

# Team G Total Average
1 Michigan 7 776,429 110,918
2 Penn State 7 739,403 105,629
3 Tennessee 7 735,269 105,038
4 Ohio State 8 838,963 104,870
5 Georgia 6 552,348 92,058
6 LSU 7 636,817 90,974
7 Florida 6 541,060 90,177
8 Auburn 7 596,422 85,203
9 Texas 6 500,034 83,339
10 Oklahoma 7 582,413 83,202
11 Florida State 6 498,895 83,149
12 Alabama 8 659,106 82,388
13 South Carolina 8 646,754 80,844
14 Notre Dame 6 484,770 80,795
15 Wisconsin 7 549,404 78,486
16 Southern California 6 466,824 77,804
17 Nebraska 7 544,276 77,754
18 Texas A&M 7 533,703 76,243
19 Clemson 7 532,551 76,079
20 Michigan State 7 509,811 72,830
21 Washington 7 503,341 71,906
22 Iowa 7 460,584 65,798
23 Kentucky 7 454,457 64,922
24 Arkansas 7 445,119 63,588
25 Virginia Tech 7 434,214 62,031
26 Brigham Young 6 369,003 61,501
27 Virginia 6 362,545 60,424
28 Pittsburgh 6 355,183 59,197
29 Purdue 7 410,176 58,597
30 Miami Hurricanes 7 406,946 58,135
31 Oregon 6 346,207 57,701
32 UCLA 6 339,813 56,636
33 Mississippi 7 395,561 56,509
34 Arizona State 6 325,488 54,248
35 Missouri 6 319,721 53,287
36 North Carolina State 7 372,919 53,274
37 Georgia Tech 6 317,172 52,862
38 West Virginia 7 365,436 52,205
39 Maryland 6 307,418 51,236
40 Colorado 6 302,538 50,423
41 Texas Tech 6 297,650 49,608
42 Illinois 6 288,581 48,097
43 Mississippi State 6 286,000 47,667
44 North Carolina 6 282,800 47,133
45 Kansas State 8 376,878 47,110
46 Oklahoma State 7 314,107 44,872
47 Stanford 6 269,221 44,870
48 Iowa State 7 313,757 44,822
49 Minnesota 7 309,038 44,148
50 Arizona 7 299,352 42,765
51 Boston College 6 255,622 42,604
52 Syracuse 7 288,238 41,177
53 Hawaii 7 285,540 40,791
54 Louisville 6 240,279 40,047
55 Air Force 6 235,259 39,210
56 Kansas 7 271,251 38,750
57 Memphis 7 270,673 38,668
58 Fresno State 6 231,618 38,603
59 California 6 229,831 38,305
60 Connecticut 6 222,356 37,059
61 Army 7 255,605 36,515
62 TCU 6 216,931 36,155
63 Oregon State 7 252,993 36,142
64 Utah 6 210,801 35,134
65 Indiana 6 209,900 34,983
66 Washington State 5 166,653 33,331
67 New Mexico 7 232,737 33,248
68 East Carolina 6 198,073 33,012
69 Colorado State 6 183,786 30,631
70 South Florida 6 183,069 30,512
71 Navy 5 149,682 29,936
72 Baylor 7 208,960 29,851
73 Northwestern 6 172,578 28,763
74 Southern Miss 6 171,870 28,645
75 Vanderbilt 7 197,977 28,282
76 Wake Forest 7 197,911 28,273
77 Boise State 6 168,590 28,098
78 Marshall 5 139,186 27,837
79 Rutgers 6 164,032 27,339
80 Tulane 6 153,808 25,635
81 Miami RedHawks 5 125,661 25,132
82 Toledo 6 147,820 24,637
83 UNLV 6 146,191 24,365
84 UCF 5 121,574 24,315
85 Temple 5 120,687 24,137
86 Northern Illinois 7 165,026 23,575
87 UAB 5 116,190 23,238
88 San Diego State 6 135,669 22,612
89 Nevada 6 133,546 22,258
90 Tulsa 6 132,789 22,132
91 Cincinnati 6 131,766 21,961
92 Houston 6 130,844 21,807
93 Bowling Green 7 147,013 21,002
94 Troy State 4 83,596 20,899
95 Louisiana Tech 5 103,890 20,778
96 Rice 6 123,071 20,512
97 Duke 7 140,181 20,026
98 UTEP 7 140,065 20,009
99 North Texas 5 93,469 18,694
100 Western Michigan 6 110,872 18,479
101 Arkansas State 5 87,439 17,488
102 Southern Methodist 6 104,609 17,435
103 New Mexico State 5 80,343 16,069
104 Ohio 6 94,944 15,824
105 Wyoming 6 94,214 15,702
106 San Jose State 5 75,398 15,080
107 Utah State 5 74,604 14,921
108 Louisiana-Lafayette 6 83,970 13,995
109 Central Michigan 6 83,442 13,907
110 Akron 6 82,869 13,812
111 Buffalo 6 74,513 12,419
112 Ball State 6 74,034 12,339
113 Idaho 5 60,319 12,064
114 Louisiana-Monroe 5 56,492 11,298
115 Eastern Michigan 7 78,808 11,258
116 Middle Tennessee 6 66,127 11,021
117 Kent State 6 51,144 8,524

Source:[5]

References

  1. ^ "2003 Bowl Championship Series Standings" (PDF). Fox Sports. Archived from the original (PDF) on May 28, 2008. Retrieved September 28, 2007.
  2. ^ "2003 NCAA Football Rankings". ESPN. Retrieved September 28, 2007.
  3. ^ "Ted Waitt's $31 million football offer kicks off controversy". Sioux City Journal. January 16, 2004. Retrieved January 2, 2017.
  4. ^ a b c d e f g h i j "FCS wins vs. FBS teams: All-time victories, upsets, wins vs. ranked teams". NCAA.com. September 7, 2025. Retrieved October 2, 2025.
  5. ^ "2003 NCAA COLLEGE FOOTBALL ATTENDANCE" (PDF).
allikas: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2003_NCAA_Division_I_FBS_football_season