1994 NCAA Division I-A football season

The 1994 NCAA Division I-A football season saw yet another controversial finish as both Nebraska and Penn State finished undefeated, and yet Penn State finished a distant second in the final AP and UPI polls. The controversial finish, however, could have been an even worse morass if not for some end of season results. Late in the season, there were two other undefeated teams: Alabama and Auburn. The Auburn Tigers, who had gone undefeated the year before but was barred from post-season play, were 9-0 before tying Georgia and losing to Alabama in the Iron Bowl. The Alabama Crimson Tide finished the regular season undefeated at 11-0, but lost a heartbreaker 24-23 on a fourth quarter touchdown pass against Florida in the 1994 SEC Championship Game.

The Bowl Coalition championship game featured Big Eight Conference champion Nebraska hosting Big East Conference champion Miami in the Orange Bowl, a game which Nebraska won in a come from behind victory. However, over at the Rose Bowl, undefeated Penn State defeated Oregon. After failing to provide a clear national champion for three years in a row, the Coalition would be dismantled in favor of a Bowl Alliance.

The National Championship was Tom Osborne's first at Nebraska.

Ten years after Doug Flutie's Hail Mary pass against Miami, history would repeat itself as Kordell Stewart of Colorado threw a last second, 64-yard Hail Mary to defeat #4 Michigan in the Big House and is called The Miracle at Michigan. A moral defeat was also handed to Penn State as the already defeated, who had been drubbed 35-14 until Joe Paterno took mercy on them and removed his starters from the game, scored 15 meaningless points--including a Hail Mary TD pass on the final play--to finish with a misleading 35-29 score. Voters promptly demoted Penn State from #1 in a poll and elevated Nebraska to that spot, a result that the Nittany Lions were never able to overcome (not least because, under the Rose Bowl/Orange Bowl selection rules of the time, Penn State could only play in the former contest and Nebraska only in the latter one).

Another notable game was Florida vs. Florida State. Florida led 31-3 at the start of the fourth quarter, but scored 28 points and held Florida scoreless in the fourth quarter to tie the game 31-31.

Rashaan Salaam of Colorado would win the Heisman Trophy, but in a very uncommon turn of events, Division I-AA quarterback Steve McNair of finished third in the final Heisman voting.

Feb 25th, months before the season began, would be an infamous day in the history of the Southwest Conference. An all-Texas conference could only capture a small portion of the national TV market, and with Arkansas's flight to the SEC, other schools began to make plans for associating themselves with other conferences. Texas and Colorado were rumored to be joining the Pac-10, Texas A&M were thought to be joining the SEC. Ultimately, on February 25, Texas, Texas Tech, Texas A&M, and Baylor announced they were going to leave the Southwest Conference for the newly formed Big 12 Conference. The Southwest Conference would still continue to play for two more years, as the remaining members looked for new homes.

The SEC Championship Game moved from Birmingham, Alabama to the Georgia Dome.

The John Hancock Bowl went back to its original name, the Sun Bowl. The Gator Bowl was played in Gainesville, Florida during construction of ALLTEL Stadium, which was to be the home of the Jacksonville Jaguars and future home of the Gator Bowl game.

Although Nebraska, Penn State and Alabama were still ranked in the Top 10, many of college football's legendary teams finished the regular season with their lowest rankings in years. The Ohio State Buckeyes were ranked 13th, Michigan was 20th and the USC Trojans 21st, and Notre Dame, and  were unranked.

Northeast Louisiana University, now University of Louisiana Monroe joined Division 1-A this year bringing the total number of schools to 107.

Bowl Coalition #1 and #2
The Bowl Coalition did not include the Big 10 and Pacific 10 conferences, whose champions played in the Rose Bowl. Penn State, which was ranked #1 in the Oct 18 and Oct 25 polls, and #2 for the remainder of the season, finished the regular season 11-0-0 and played in the Rose Bowl as the champion of the Big Ten.

Bowl games

 * Orange Bowl: #1 Nebraska 24, #3 Miami 17
 * Rose Bowl: #2 Penn State 38, #12 Oregon 20
 * #7 23, #5 Florida 17
 * #21 USC 55, Texas Tech 14
 * Fiesta Bowl: #4 Colorado 41, Notre Dame 24
 * #23 28, #16  24
 * #6 Alabama 24, #13 Ohio State 17
 * Hall of Fame Bowl: Wisconsin 34, #25 20
 * South Carolina 24, 21
 * Sun Bowl: 35, #18 North Carolina 31
 * Gator Bowl: Tennessee 45, #17 23
 * Copper Bowl: #22 31,  6
 * Alamo Bowl: #24 10,  3
 * Holiday Bowl: #20 Michigan 24, 14
 * #14 Utah 16, #15 13
 * 30, East Carolina 0
 * Aloha Bowl: 12, #11 Kansas State 7
 * #18 20,  10
 * 52, 24

Final AP Poll

 * 1) Nebraska
 * 2) Penn St.
 * 3) Colorado
 * 4) Alabama
 * 5) Miami (FL)
 * 6) Florida
 * 7) Texas A&M
 * 8) Auburn
 * 9) Utah
 * 10) Oregon
 * 11) Michigan
 * 12) USC
 * 13) Ohio St.
 * 14) Kansas St.
 * 15) Tennessee
 * 1) Kansas St.
 * 2) Tennessee
 * 1) Kansas St.
 * 2) Tennessee
 * 1) Tennessee
 * 1) Tennessee
 * 1) Tennessee

Final Coaches Poll

 * 1) Nebraska
 * 2) Penn St.
 * 3) Colorado
 * 4) Alabama
 * 5) Miami (FL)
 * 6) Florida
 * 7) Utah
 * 8) Ohio St.
 * 9) Oregon
 * 10) Michigan
 * 11) Southern California
 * 12) Kansas St.
 * 13) Tennessee
 * 14) North Carolina
 * 1) Southern California
 * 2) Kansas St.
 * 3) Tennessee
 * 4) North Carolina
 * 1) North Carolina
 * 1) North Carolina
 * 1) North Carolina

Heisman Trophy voting
The Heisman Memorial Trophy Award is given to the Most Outstanding Player of the year

Winner:

Rashaan Salaam, Colorado, JR. RB (1400 votes)
 * 2. Ki-Jana Carter, Penn St., Jr. RB (1080 votes)
 * 3. Steve McNair, Alcorn St., Sr. QB (982 votes)
 * 4. Kerry Collins, Penn St., Sr. QB (392 votes)
 * 5. Jay Barker, Alabama, Sr. QB (294 votes)

Other major awards

 * Maxwell Award (College Player of the Year) - Kerry Collins, Penn State
 * Walter Camp Award (Back) - Rashaan Salaam, Colorado
 * Davey O'Brien Award (Quarterback) - Kerry Collins, Penn State
 * Doak Walker Award (Running Back) - Rashaan Salaam, Colorado
 * Dick Butkus Award (Linebacker) - Dana Howard, Illinois
 * Lombardi Award (Lineman or Linebacker) - Warren Sapp, Miami
 * Outland Trophy (Interior Lineman) - Zach Wiegert, OT, Nebraska
 * Jim Thorpe Award (Defensive Back) - Chris Hudson, Colorado
 * AFCA Coach of the Year - Tom Osborne, Nebraska
 * FWAA Coach of the Year - Joe Paterno, Penn State
 * Paul "Bear" Bryant Award - Rich Brooks, Oregon