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. 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.

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

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)
 * 28, 13

December Bowl Games

 * Peach Bowl: 17, Clemson 7
 * 63, 21
 * Sun Bowl: 24, Minnesota 20
 * Alamo Bowl: Penn State 24, Texas A&M 0
 * Insight.com Bowl: 62,  28
 * Holiday Bowl: Kansas State 24, Washington 20
 * (C-USA Champ) 23, 17
 * Aloha Bowl: Wake Forest 23, 3
 * Oahu Bowl: Hawaii-Manoa (WAC Champ) 23, 17
 * Independence Bowl: 27, Oklahoma 25
 * Music City Bowl: 20,  13
 * Las Vegas Bowl: Utah 17, 16
 * Marshall (MAC Champ) 21, (MWC Champ) 3
 * Humanitarian Bowl: Boise State (Big West Champ) 34, 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.

13.

14. Florida

15.

16. Georgia

17. Minnesota

18.

19. Arkansas

20. Texas A&M

21.

22.

23. Texas

24. Stanford

25.

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