The NCAA football rules committee made rule changes for 2008, including the following:[3][4]
- Teams have 40 seconds from the time a ball is declared dead to snap the ball. The 25 second play clock will still be used for administrative stoppages and penalties.
- The 15 second play clock after a TV timeout (adopted in the 2007 season) is repealed and returned to 25 seconds.
- Outside of the final two minutes of each half, if a runner goes out of bounds, the game clock restarts after the ball is spotted.
- The penalty for kicking the ball out of bounds on the kickoff is increased, placing the ball at the 40-yard line, similar to the NFL.
- Reinforcing that contact that leads with the crown of the helmet to another player (targeting) is a foul, penalized 15 yards.
- All face-mask penalties result in a 15-yard penalty. Incidental contact with the face mask is no longer penalized.
- Sideline warnings are now penalized five yards for the first two occurrences, and 15 yards (unsportsmanlike conduct) for the third and subsequent violations. Previously the officials gave teams two warnings before a five-yard penalty was called.
- All horse-collar tackles are now subject to a 15-yard penalty.
- If a coach challenges a play, and he wins the challenge, then he is given a second challenge to use later in the game, but each coach has a maximum of two challenges per game even if both are decided in his favor.
Conference and program changes
edit
Western Kentucky upgraded from Division I FCS and played the 2008 season as a transitional Division I FBS member.
Regular season top 10 matchups
edit
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.
- Week 3
- Week 4
- Week 5
- Week 7
- Week 9
- Week 10
- Week 11
- Week 13
- Week 15
Most-watched regular season games
edit
Rank |
Date |
Matchup |
Channel |
Viewers
|
1
|
December 6, 4:00 ET
|
No. 2 Florida vs. No. 1 Alabama
|
CBS, SEC Championship
|
15.061 Million
|
2
|
November 1, 8:00 ET
|
No. 1 Texas vs. No. 7 Texas Tech
|
ESPN on ABC
|
12.204 Million
|
3
|
September 13, 8:00 ET
|
No. 5 Ohio State vs. No. 1 USC
|
ESPN on ABC
|
11.800 Million
|
4
|
November 22, 8:00 ET
|
No. 2 Texas Tech vs. No. 5 Oklahoma
|
ESPN on ABC
|
10.742 Million
|
5
|
October 25, 8:00 ET
|
No. 3 Penn State vs. No. 9 Ohio State
|
ESPN on ABC
|
10.367 Million
|
6
|
November 29, 8:00 ET
|
No. 3 Oklahoma vs. No. 12 Oklahoma State
|
ESPN on ABC
|
9.525 Million
|
7
|
December 6, 8:00 ET
|
No. 20 Missouri vs. No. 2 Oklahoma
|
ESPN on ABC, Big 12 Championship
|
8.762 Million
|
8
|
November 8, 8:00 ET
|
No. 9 Oklahoma State vs. No. 2 Texas Tech, No. 21 California vs No. 7 USC
|
Regional ESPN on ABC
|
8.483 Million
|
9
|
November 8, 3:30 ET
|
No. 1 Alabama vs. No. 16 LSU
|
CBS
|
8.137 Million
|
10
|
October 11, 12:00 ET
|
No. 5 Texas vs. No. 1 Oklahoma
|
ESPN on ABC
|
7.726 Million
[5]
|
Conference standings
edit
Conference champions
edit
Conference championship games
edit
Rankings reflect the Week 14 AP Poll before the games were played.
Other conference champions
edit
Rankings are from the Week 15 AP Poll.
Winners are listed in boldface. Rankings are from the final pre-bowl AP Poll.
Bowl Championship Series
edit
After the completion of the regular season and conference championship games, seven teams had secured BCS berths: ACC champion Virginia Tech, Big East champion Cincinnati, Big Ten champion Penn State, Big 12 champion Oklahoma, Pac-10 champion USC, SEC champion Florida, and Mountain West champion Utah, who qualified as the highest-ranked BCS non-AQ conference champion. With Oklahoma and Florida being selected to play in the championship, Texas and Alabama assumed their conference's berths in the Fiesta and Sugar Bowls, respectively. The remaining at-large berth was awarded to Ohio State, who were selected despite being ranked No. 10 by the BCS, behind No. 9 Boise State. BCS No. 7 Texas Tech did not receive an at-large bid because the Big 12 had already been awarded the maximum of two BCS selections per conference.
Bowl Game |
Date |
Visitor |
Home |
Score |
TV
|
EagleBank Bowl (Washington, D.C.) |
December 20 |
Wake Forest |
Navy |
29–19 |
ESPN
|
New Mexico Bowl (Albuquerque, NM) |
December 20 |
Colorado State |
Fresno State |
40–35 |
ESPN
|
magicJack St. Petersburg Bowl (St. Petersburg, FL) |
December 20 |
Memphis |
South Florida |
14–41 |
ESPN2
|
Pioneer Las Vegas Bowl (Las Vegas, NV) |
December 20 |
No. 17 BYU |
Arizona |
21–31 |
ESPN
|
R+L Carriers New Orleans Bowl (New Orleans, LA) |
December 21 |
Southern Mississippi |
Troy |
30–27 |
ESPN
|
SDCCU Poinsettia Bowl (San Diego, CA) |
December 23 |
No. 9 Boise State |
No. 11 TCU |
16–17 |
ESPN
|
Sheraton Hawaiʻi Bowl (ʻAiea, HI) |
December 24 |
Hawaiʻi |
Notre Dame |
21–49 |
ESPN
|
Motor City Bowl (Detroit, MI) |
December 26 |
Florida Atlantic |
Central Michigan |
24–21 |
ESPN
|
Meineke Car Care Bowl (Charlotte, NC) |
December 27 |
West Virginia |
North Carolina |
31–30 |
ESPN
|
Champs Sports Bowl (Orlando, FL) |
December 27 |
Wisconsin[8] |
Florida State |
13–42 |
ESPN
|
Emerald Bowl (San Francisco, CA) |
December 27 |
Miami (FL) |
California |
17–24 |
ESPN
|
Independence Bowl (Shreveport, LA) |
December 28 |
Northern Illinois |
Louisiana Tech |
10–17 |
ESPN
|
Papajohns.com Bowl (Birmingham, AL) |
December 29 |
NC State |
Rutgers |
23–29 |
ESPN2
|
Valero Alamo Bowl (San Antonio, TX) |
December 29 |
No. 25 Missouri |
No. 22 Northwestern |
30–23 (OT) |
ESPN
|
Roady's Truck Stops Humanitarian Bowl (Boise, ID) |
December 30 |
Maryland |
Nevada |
42–35 |
ESPN2
|
Texas Bowl (Houston, TX) |
December 30 |
Rice |
Western Michigan |
38–14 |
NFL Network
|
Pacific Life Holiday Bowl (San Diego, CA) |
December 30 |
No. 13 Oklahoma State |
No. 15 Oregon |
31–42 |
ESPN
|
Bell Helicopters Armed Forces Bowl (Fort Worth, TX) |
December 31 |
Houston |
Air Force |
34–28 |
ESPN
|
Brut Sun Bowl (El Paso, TX) |
December 31 |
No. 24 Oregon State |
No. 18 Pittsburgh[9] |
3–0 |
CBS
|
Gaylord Hotels Music City Bowl (Nashville, TN) |
December 31 |
Boston College |
Vanderbilt |
14–16 |
ESPN
|
Insight Bowl (Tempe, AZ) |
December 31 |
Kansas[10] |
Minnesota[11] |
42–21 |
NFL
|
Chick-fil-A Bowl (Atlanta, GA) |
December 31 |
LSU |
No. 14 Georgia Tech |
38–3 |
ESPN
|
Outback Bowl (Tampa, FL) |
January 1 |
South Carolina |
Iowa |
10–31 |
ESPN
|
Konica Minolta Gator Bowl (Jacksonville, FL) |
January 1 |
Nebraska |
Clemson |
26–21 |
CBS
|
Capital One Bowl (Orlando, FL) |
January 1 |
No. 16 Georgia |
No. 19 Michigan State |
24–12 |
ABC
|
Cotton Bowl Classic (Dallas, TX) |
January 2 |
No. 20 Ole Miss |
No. 8 Texas Tech |
47–34 |
FOX
|
AutoZone Liberty Bowl (Memphis, TN) |
January 2 |
Kentucky |
East Carolina |
25–19 |
ESPN
|
International Bowl (Toronto, ON, Canada) |
January 3 |
Buffalo |
Connecticut |
20–38 |
ESPN2
|
GMAC Bowl (Mobile, AL) |
January 6 |
Tulsa |
No. 23 Ball State |
45–13 |
ESPN
|
Conference |
Wins |
Losses |
Pct.
|
Pac-10 |
5 |
0 |
1.000
|
SEC |
6 |
2 |
.750
|
Big East |
4 |
2 |
.667
|
C-USA |
4 |
2 |
.667
|
MWC |
3 |
2 |
.600
|
Big 12 |
4 |
3 |
.571
|
Sun Belt * |
1 |
1 |
.500
|
ACC |
4 |
6 |
.400
|
WAC |
1 |
4 |
.200
|
Big Ten |
1 |
6 |
.143
|
MAC |
0 |
5 |
.000
|
* Does not meet minimum game requirement of three teams needed for a conference to be eligible.
Heisman Trophy voting
edit
The Heisman Trophy is given to the year's most outstanding player
Other major award winners
edit
Top Player
Coaching
Offense
Defense
Lineman
Special teams
Other
- 2008 Consensus All-America Team
Offense
Position
|
Name
|
Height
|
Weight (lbs.)
|
Class
|
Hometown
|
Team
|
QB
|
Sam Bradford
|
6'4"
|
223
|
So.
|
Oklahoma City, Oklahoma
|
Oklahoma
|
RB
|
Shonn Greene
|
5'11"
|
235
|
Sr.
|
Atco, New Jersey
|
Iowa
|
RB
|
Javon Ringer
|
5'9"
|
202
|
Sr.
|
Dayton, Ohio
|
Michigan State
|
WR
|
Michael Crabtree
|
6'3"
|
214
|
So.
|
Dallas, Texas
|
Texas Tech
|
WR
|
Dez Bryant
|
6'2"
|
225
|
So.
|
Lufkin, Texas
|
Oklahoma State
|
TE
|
Chase Coffman
|
6'6"
|
244
|
Sr.
|
Peculiar, Missouri
|
Missouri
|
T
|
Andre Smith
|
6'4"
|
330
|
Jr.
|
Birmingham, Alabama
|
Alabama
|
T
|
Michael Oher
|
6'5"
|
322
|
Sr.
|
Memphis, Tennessee
|
Mississippi
|
G
|
Duke Robinson
|
6'5"
|
329
|
Sr.
|
Atlanta, Georgia
|
Oklahoma
|
G
|
Brandon Carter
|
6'7"
|
334
|
Jr.
|
Longview, Texas
|
Texas Tech
|
C
|
Antoine Caldwell
|
6'3"
|
305
|
Sr.
|
Montgomery, Alabama
|
Alabama
|
|
Defense
Position
|
Name
|
Height
|
Weight (lbs.)
|
Class
|
Hometown
|
Team
|
DE
|
Brian Orakpo
|
6'3"
|
263
|
Sr.
|
Greenwood, Mississippi
|
Texas
|
DE
|
Aaron Maybin
|
6'4"
|
249
|
Jr.
|
Baltimore, Maryland
|
Penn State
|
DT
|
Terrence Cody
|
6'5"
|
365
|
Jr.
|
Fort Myers, Florida
|
Alabama
|
DE
|
Jerry Hughes
|
6'3"
|
257
|
Jr.
|
Sugar Land, Texas
|
TCU
|
LB
|
Rey Maualuga
|
6'2"
|
260
|
Sr.
|
Eureka, California
|
USC
|
LB
|
James Laurinaitis
|
6'4"
|
244
|
Sr.
|
Wayzata, Minnesota
|
Ohio State
|
LB
|
Brandon Spikes
|
6'3"
|
249
|
Jr.
|
Shelby, North Carolina
|
Florida
|
CB
|
Malcolm Jenkins
|
6'0"
|
204
|
Sr.
|
Piscataway, New Jersey
|
Ohio State
|
CB
|
Alphonso Smith
|
5'9"
|
190
|
Sr.
|
Pahokee, Florida
|
Wake Forest
|
Safety
|
Eric Berry
|
6'0"
|
211
|
So.
|
Fairburn, Georgia
|
Tennessee
|
Safety
|
Taylor Mays
|
6'3"
|
230
|
Jr.
|
Irving, Texas
|
USC
|
|
- Team scoring most points: Oklahoma, 716
Rank
|
Associated Press
|
USA TODAY/AFCA*
|
1
|
Florida
|
Florida
|
2
|
Utah
|
Southern California
|
3
|
Southern California
|
Texas
|
4
|
Texas
|
Utah≠
|
5
|
Oklahoma
|
Oklahoma
|
6
|
Alabama
|
Alabama
|
7
|
Texas Christian
|
Texas Christian
|
8
|
Penn State
|
Penn State
|
9
|
Ohio State
|
Oregon
|
10
|
Oregon
|
Georgia
|
11
|
Boise State
|
Ohio State
|
12
|
Texas Tech
|
Texas Tech
|
13
|
Georgia
|
Boise State
|
14
|
Mississippi
|
Virginia Tech
|
15
|
Virginia Tech
|
Mississippi
|
16
|
Oklahoma State
|
Missouri
|
17
|
Cincinnati
|
Cincinnati
|
18
|
Oregon State
|
Oklahoma State
|
19
|
Missouri
|
Oregon State
|
20
|
Iowa
|
Iowa
|
21
|
Florida State
|
Brigham Young
|
22
|
Georgia Tech
|
Georgia Tech
|
23
|
West Virginia
|
Florida State
|
24
|
Michigan State
|
Michigan State
|
25
|
Brigham Young
|
California
|
* - The AFCA requires that their voters make the winner of the BCS Championship at the number one position in the final poll.
≠ - Kyle Whittingham, head coach of Utah, broke the AFCA requirement and voted his team number one on his ballot.
- ^ Western Kentucky University was in a two-year process of transition to FBS status in 2008 (completed in 2009), and, therefore, some sources list the total for 2008 as 119.
- ^ a b c d e f "Future BCS Schedules". BCSFootball.org. Fox Sports. Archived from the original on October 24, 2007. Retrieved October 29, 2007.
- ^ "Football Bowl Subdivision Records" (PDF). ncaa.org. Retrieved August 28, 2018.
- ^ "NCAA Football Rules Committee Proposes Rules to Enhance Student-Athlete Safety and Encourage Consistent Pace of Play" (Press release). Archived from the original on December 23, 2008. Retrieved December 23, 2008.
- ^ "More new timing rules among NCAA proposal". Retrieved December 23, 2008.
- ^ "NCAA Football Season Review". Retrieved October 12, 2011.
- ^ "Penn State Rose Bowl Bound". Yahoo!. Retrieved November 23, 2008. [dead link]
- ^ "Virginia Tech takes down BC,headed down to Orange Bowl again". Associated Press. Archived from the original on December 8, 2008. Retrieved December 5, 2008.
- ^ http://www.uwbadgers.com/sport_news/fb/headlines/story.html?sportid=111&storyid=16009 [dead link]
- ^ "PittsburghPanthers.com - University of Pittsburgh Official Athletic Site - Football". cstv.com. Archived from the original on March 9, 2009. Retrieved March 22, 2018.
- ^ "KU headed to Insight Bowl". KUsports.com. December 4, 2008. Retrieved March 22, 2018.
- ^ Gophers, Jayhawks to meet in Insight Bowl Archived December 25, 2008, at the Wayback Machine
- ^ UA's Saban Named Home Depot Coach of the Year Archived 2009-02-13 at the Wayback Machine
- ^ "Liberty Mutual Coach of the Year". Archived from the original on July 8, 2011. Retrieved December 30, 2008.
- ^ "ALABAMA'S SABAN WINS 2008 EDDIE ROBINSON AWARD". Retrieved January 7, 2009.
- ^ UF's Tim Tebow is 2008 Wuerffel Trophy Winner Archived December 14, 2008, at the Wayback Machine
- ^ Iowa State's Chizik to Take Over at Auburn Archived December 14, 2008, at the Wayback Machine
- ^ a b "San Diego State to hire Ball State's Hoke, source says". ESPN.com. December 15, 2008. Archived from the original on December 17, 2008. Retrieved December 15, 2008.
- ^ "English to be announced as EMU coach". ESPN.com. December 15, 2008. Archived from the original on January 8, 2009. Retrieved December 20, 2008.
- ^ Source: Rhoads to be named new ISU football coach [dead link]
- ^ "Ron Prince Will Not Return for 2009" (Press release). Kansas State University Athletic Department. November 5, 2008. Archived from the original on December 11, 2008. Retrieved November 27, 2008.
- ^ "Bill Snyder Named Head Football Coach" (Press release). Kansas State University Athletic Department. November 24, 2008. Archived from the original on December 3, 2008. Retrieved November 27, 2008.
- ^ "Mike Locksley - New Mexico's 29th Head Football Coach" Archived January 4, 2009, at the Wayback Machine. - Lobos Football. - (c/o CBS Interactive). - December 9, 2008.
- ^ a b "Kelly succeeds Bellotti as Ducks coach". ESPN.com. Associated Press. March 13, 2009. Archived from the original on March 17, 2009. Retrieved March 15, 2009.
- ^ a b "Plenty Of Reasons For Hope" (Press release). Purdue University Athletics Department. January 11, 2008. Archived from the original on December 8, 2008. Retrieved November 27, 2008.
- ^ "Doug Marrone in Syracuse Friday; will be named head coach". 9wsyr.com. Archived from the original on December 24, 2008. Retrieved March 22, 2018.
- ^ Kiffin introduced as Vol's 21st coach » Abilene Reporter-News Archived December 8, 2008, at the Wayback Machine
- ^ "Sources: USC coordinator gets Washington job". ESPN.com. December 5, 2008. Retrieved March 22, 2018.
- ^ MU's Christensen accepts Wyoming job Archived December 2, 2008, at the Wayback Machine