2007 NCAA Division I FBS football season

The 2007 NCAA Division I FBS football season, or the college football season, began on August 30, 2007, progressed through the regular season and bowl season, and (aside from all-star exhibition games that followed) concluded with the Bowl Championship Series (BCS) National Championship Game in New Orleans, Louisiana on January 7, 2008, where the top ranked Ohio State Buckeyes were defeated by the second ranked Louisiana State University Tigers, who became the BCS National Champions and undisputed national champions (topping all the major year-end football polls). For the first time since 2003, and only the second time in BCS history, no teams finished the season undefeated.

Only one conference change in 2007, Temple left the Independent ranks to become the 13th member of the MAC.

Preseason rankings
Many publications release their predictions of the top teams prior to the beginning of the season. For 2007, numerous publications chose the University of Southern California as the top ranked team. These included; Real Football 365, ESPN,, Rivals.com College Football News. They were also ranked first in the Coaches Poll and AP Poll. The Coaches' Poll plays an important part in the season because the final ballot represents one-third of the ranking to determine which two teams play in the BCS National Championship Game. Rounding out the top five in the Coaches Poll were: LSU, defending BCS National Champion Florida, Texas, and Michigan.

Rules changes for 2007
The clock rules adopted in the 2006 season were reversed, after coaches in all divisions disapproved of them. The attempt to reduce the time of games sought by those rules were successful, reducing the average college football page from 3:21 hours in 2005 to 3:07 hours in 2006. However, the reduced game time also reduced the average number of plays in a game by 13, 66 fewer offensive yards per game and average points per game by 5. Rules changes for the 2007 season include:
 * Moving the kick-off yard-line from 35 to 30, which matches the yard-line used in the National Football League, to reduce the number of touchbacks.
 * Paring the 25-second play clock to 15 seconds after TV timeouts.
 * Shortening teams' three allotted timeouts per half by 30 seconds each, from 1:25 to 55 seconds.
 * Allowing penalties against the kicking team on kickoffs to be assessed at the end of the runback, avoiding a re-kick, also matching the NFL rule.

Year of the upset
The media has dubbed this season as the "Year of the Upset". An unranked or lower-ranked opponent defeated a higher-ranked team 59 times over the course of the season. This list does not include other upsets involving two unranked teams. A record-setting 13 unranked teams defeated top 5 teams during the regular season. The No. 2 ranked team lost 7 times throughout the year, as of December 1.

Games in which the lower-ranked or unranked team was the betting favorite are in italics.


 * Appalachian State 34, No. 5 Michigan 32 (September 1)
 * Washington 24, No. 22 Boise State 10 (September 8)
 * South Carolina 16, No. 12 Georgia 12 (September 8)
 * South Florida 26, No. 17 Auburn 23 (September 8)
 * Utah 44, No. 11 UCLA 6 (September 15)
 * Alabama 41, No. 16 Arkansas 38 (September 15)
 * Kentucky 40, No. 9 Louisville 34 (September 15)
 * No. 21 Boston College 24, No. 15 Georgia Tech 10 (September 15)
 * Miami 34, No. 20 Texas A&M 17 (September 22)
 * Syracuse 38, No. 18 Louisville 35 (September 22)
 * Michigan 14, No. 10 Penn State 9 (September 22)
 * No. 22 Georgia 26, No. 16 Alabama 23, OT (September 22)
 * No. 18 South Florida 21, No. 5 West Virginia 13 (September 28)
 * Illinois 27, No. 21 Penn State 20 (September 29)
 * Colorado 27, No. 3 Oklahoma 24 (September 29)
 * Georgia Tech 13, No. 13 Clemson 3 (September 29)
 * Kansas State 41, No. 7 Texas 21 (September 29)
 * Maryland 34, No. 10 Rutgers 24 (September 29)
 * Florida State 21, No. 22 Alabama 14 (September 29)
 * Auburn 20, No. 4 Florida 17 (September 29)
 * #11 South Carolina 38, No. 8 Kentucky 23 (October 4)
 * Kansas 30, No. 24 Kansas State 24 (October 6)
 * Illinois 31, No. 5 Wisconsin 26 (October 6)
 * Tennessee 35, No. 12 Georgia 14 (October 6)
 * Stanford 24, No. 2 USC 23 (October 6)
 * Wake Forest 24, No. 21 Florida State 21 (October 11)
 * Iowa 10, No. 18 Illinois 6 (October 13)
 * Penn State 38, No. 19 Wisconsin 7 (October 13)
 * Louisville 28, No. 18 Cincinnati 24 (October 13)
 * No. 17 Kentucky 43, No. 1 LSU 37, 3 OT (October 13)
 * Oregon State 31, No. 2 California 28 (October 13)
 * This was the first time that the No. 1 and No. 2 teams in the Associated Press poll were defeated on the same day since the 1996 season, when No. 1 Tennessee and No. 2 Nebraska were both defeated. It is only the sixth time it has happened since 1980.


 * Rutgers 30, No. 2 South Florida 27 (October 18)
 * Vanderbilt 17, No. 6 South Carolina 6 (October 20)
 * Pitt 24, No. 23 Cincinnati 17 (October 20)
 * Alabama 41, No. 20 Tennessee 17 (October 20)
 * UCLA 30, No. 10 California 21 (October 20)
 * #14 Florida 45, No. 8 Kentucky 37 (October 20)
 * Oklahoma State 41, No. 25 Kansas State 39 (October 20)
 * Mississippi State 31, No. 14 Kentucky 14 (October 27)
 * Connecticut 22, No. 11 South Florida 15 (October 27)
 * No. 20 Georgia 42, No. 9 Florida 30 (October 27)
 * NC State 29, No. 21 Virginia 24 (October 27)
 * Tennessee 27, No. 15 South Carolina 24, OT (October 27)
 * Virginia 17, No. 21 Wake Forest 16 (November 3)
 * Cincinnati 38, No. 20 South Florida 33 (November 3)
 * Arkansas 48, No. 23 South Carolina 36 (November 3)
 * Florida State 27, No. 2 Boston College 17 (November 3)
 * Wisconsin 37, No. 13 Michigan 21 (November 10)
 * Mississippi State 17, No. 21 Alabama 12 (November 10)
 * Illinois 28, No. 1 Ohio State 21 (November 10)
 * Cincinnati 27, No. 16 Connecticut 3 (November 10)
 * Maryland 42, No. 8 Boston College 35 (November 10)
 * Arizona 34, No. 2 Oregon 24 (November 15)
 * No. 17 Boston College 20, No. 15 Clemson 17 (November 17)
 * Texas Tech 34, No. 4 Oklahoma 27 (November 17)
 * #11 USC 44, No. 7 Arizona State 24 (November 22)
 * Arkansas 50, No. 1 LSU 48, 3 OT (November 23)
 * Texas A&M 38, No. 13 Texas 30 (November 23)
 * UCLA 16, No. 9 Oregon 0 (November 24)
 * #3 Missouri 36, No. 2 Kansas 28 (November 24)
 * This was the second time this year that the No. 1 and No. 2 teams in the Associated Press poll were defeated on the same weekend.
 * Oregon State 38, No. 18 Oregon 31 (December 1)
 * Pittsburgh 13, No. 2 West Virginia 9 (December 1)
 * #9 Oklahoma 38, No. 1 Missouri 17 (December 1)
 * This was the third time this year that the No. 1 and No. 2 teams in the Associated Press poll were defeated on the same weekend.

A particularly telling statistic was pointed out by ESPN on November 10. At that point of the season, nine teams ranked in the top five of the AP Poll had lost to unranked teams (or in the case of Michigan, an FCS team). This had never happened in the history of the AP Poll, which was first conducted in 1936, in a season when at least 20 teams were ranked. The only other season to see more such upsets was 1967, which was one of seven seasons when the AP Poll ranked only 10 teams. Arizona added to the total November 15 against Oregon, and Texas Tech made it 11 against Oklahoma two days later. The day after Thanksgiving saw unranked Arkansas beat LSU, bringing the total to 12. On December 1, Pitt defeated WVU 13–9, making the total 13.

The "Curse of the #2" has been apparent this season. The first No. 2 team to lose was USC, 24–23 to Stanford. The next weekend, California lost to Oregon State, followed the next week by South Florida's loss to Rutgers. Boston College fell to Florida State, making the total four. Oregon then lost to Arizona, and Kansas lost to No. 4 Missouri. Maybe the most shocking loss of all was in the final week of the season, when West Virginia's loss to Pitt kicked them out of the national championship, bringing the total of victims to the curse to seven.

Note: Since 1996, there had not been a weekend when No. 1 and No. 2 lost on the same day. In 2007 alone, No. 1 and No. 2 fell three times during the season. The first time was when LSU fell to Kentucky in three overtimes, and Cal lost to Oregon State. Then, LSU stumbled again against Arkansas in three OTs, and Kansas followed with a loss to Missouri. In the final weekend of the season, not only did No. 2 West Virginia lose to Pitt, but, in the Big 12 Championship, Missouri fell to No. 9 Oklahoma, opening up the BCS Championship.

Note: While not ranked at the time, Alabama lost to Louisiana-Monroe. Had this been almost any other unranked team, this would have been forgotten, but because it was a program with a proud tradition, like the Crimson Tide, this was the season's upset that was most closely compared to Michigan's home opener loss to Appalachian State. While Louisiana-Monroe is an FBS team, most experts felt that Appalachian State would have had little trouble defeating Louisiana-Monroe. This loss by Alabama, while between unranked teams, was often listed in the top three most surprising upsets of the year along with the Michigan loss to Appalachian State, and USC's loss to Stanford.

Conference standings
Note: In the Mid-American Conference, only division games count toward the divisional championship.


 * Rankings indicate position in final 2007 AP Poll.

Conference championship games
All games played on December 1, 2007.
 * Big 12 Conference (Big 12) – Oklahoma 38, Missouri 17, at the Alamodome in San Antonio, Texas
 * Conference USA (CUSA) – UCF 44, 25 at Bright House Networks Stadium, Orlando, Florida
 * Mid-American Conference (MAC) – 38, Miami (Ohio) 10 at Ford Field, Detroit, Michigan
 * Southeastern Conference (SEC) – LSU 21, Tennessee 14 at the Georgia Dome, Atlanta, Georgia
 * Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) – Virginia Tech 30, Boston College 16, at Jacksonville Municipal Stadium, Jacksonville, Florida.

Other conference champions

 * Big East: Connecticut, West Virginia – West Virginia received the BCS bid
 * Big Ten: Ohio State
 * Mountain West: BYU
 * Pacific-10: Arizona State, Southern California – Southern California received the BCS bid
 * Sun Belt: Florida Atlantic, Troy – Florida Atlantic won the New Orleans Bowl bid.
 * Western Athletic Conference (WAC): Hawaii

Bowl Championship Series
(winner listed in boldface)

Post-BCS All-Star Games

 * Cornerstone Bancard Hula Bowl – January 12, Aloha Stadium, Aiea, Hawaii – Aina (East) 38, Kai (West) 7.
 * East-West Shrine Game – January 19, Robertson Stadium, Houston, Texas – West 31, East 17.
 * Under Armour Senior Bowl – January 26, Ladd-Peebles Stadium, Mobile, Alabama – South 17, North 16.
 * Western Refining Texas vs. The Nation Game – February 2, UTEP Sun Bowl Stadium, El Paso, Texas – Texas (players who went to high school or college in that state) 41, The Nation 14

Bowl Challenge Cup standings
† Winner of the Bowl Challenge Cup – § NCAA record for bowl victories in a conference in one bowl season.
 * Notes:
 * The Sun Belt Conference (represented by Florida Atlantic University) is not eligible for the Bowl Challenge Cup as they only have one bowl berth. Conferences must have a minimum of three bids to be a part of the challenge. FAU defeated Memphis in the New Orleans Bowl.''

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


 * Winner: Tim Tebow, So. Florida QB (1,957 pts)
 * 2. Darren McFadden, Jr. Arkansas RB (1,703 pts)
 * 3. Colt Brennan, Sr. Hawaii QB (632 pts)
 * 4. Chase Daniel Jr. Missouri QB (425 pts)
 * 5. Dennis Dixon, Sr. Oregon QB (178 pts)

Other major award winners

 * Walter Camp Award (top player): Darren McFadden, Arkansas
 * Maxwell Award (top player): Tim Tebow, Florida
 * Bronko Nagurski Trophy (defensive player): Glenn Dorsey, LSU
 * Chuck Bednarik Award (defensive player): Dan Connor, Penn St
 * Dave Rimington Trophy (center): Jonathan Luigs, Arkansas
 * Davey O'Brien Award (quarterback): Tim Tebow, Florida
 * Dick Butkus Award (linebacker): James Laurinaitis, Ohio State
 * Doak Walker Award (running back): Darren McFadden, Arkansas
 * Draddy Trophy ("academic Heisman"): Dallas Griffin, Texas
 * Fred Biletnikoff Award (wide receiver): Michael Crabtree, Texas Tech
 * Jim Thorpe Award (defensive back): Antoine Cason, Arizona
 * John Mackey Award (tight end): Fred Davis, USC
 * Johnny Unitas Award (Sr. quarterback): Matt Ryan, Boston College
 * Lombardi Award (top lineman): Glenn Dorsey, LSU


 * Lott Trophy (defensive impact): Glenn Dorsey, LSU
 * Lou Groza Award (placekicker): Thomas Weber, Arizona St
 * Manning Award (quarterback): Matt Ryan, Boston College
 * Outland Trophy (interior lineman): Glenn Dorsey, LSU
 * Ray Guy Award (punter): Durant Brooks, Georgia Tech
 * Ted Hendricks Award (defensive end): Chris Long, Virginia
 * Wuerffel Trophy (humanitarian-athlete): Paul Smith, Tulsa
 * The Home Depot Coach of the Year Award: Mark Mangino, Kansas
 * Associated Press Coach of the Year: Mark Mangino, Kansas
 * Paul "Bear" Bryant Award (head coach): Mark Mangino, Kansas
 * Walter Camp Coach of the Year (head coach): Mark Mangino, Kansas
 * Broyles Award (assistant coach): Jim Heacock, Ohio State

All-America selections
The Associated Press All-America team:

Offense
 * QB: Tim Tebow, sophomore, Florida.
 * RB: Darren McFadden, junior, Arkansas; Kevin Smith, junior, Central Florida.
 * WR: Michael Crabtree, freshman, Texas Tech; Jordy Nelson, senior, Kansas State.
 * OT: Jake Long, senior, Michigan; Anthony Collins, junior, Kansas.
 * G: Duke Robinson, junior, Oklahoma; Martin O'Donnell, senior, Illinois.
 * C: Steve Justice, senior, Wake Forest.
 * TE: Martin Rucker, senior, Missouri.
 * All-purpose: Jeremy Maclin, freshman, Missouri.
 * K: Thomas Weber, freshman, Arizona State.

Defense
 * DE: Chris Long, senior, Virginia; George Selvie, sophomore, South Florida.
 * DT: Glenn Dorsey, senior, LSU; Sedrick Ellis, senior, USC.
 * LB: Dan Connor, senior, Penn State; James Laurinaitis, junior, Ohio State; Jordon Dizon, senior, Colorado.
 * CB: Aqib Talib, junior, Kansas; Antoine Cason, senior, Arizona.
 * S: Craig Steltz, senior, LSU; Jamie Silva, senior, Boston College.
 * P: Kevin Huber, junior, Cincinnati.

Milestones
The following teams and players set all-time NCAA Division I FBS (formerly Division I-A) records during the season: