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The 1982 NCAA Division I-A football season saw Paul "Bear" Bryant retire as head coach at Alabama with 323 career victories in 38 seasons.

The Penn State Nittany Lions won their first consensus national championship, closing out an 11-1 season by defeating Georgia and Heisman Trophy winner Herschel Walker in the Sugar Bowl 27-23, and edging out undefeated SMU for the National Championship. It was Joe Paterno's first national championship, after three undefeated non-championship seasons.

UCLA moved from the LA Coliseum to the Rose Bowl and fulfilled a promise made by coach Terry Donahue by closing out their season there as well, beating Michigan in the post-season Rose Bowl game, 24-14.

It is also the year of “The Play”, a near impossible finish to the annual rivalry game between Cal and Stanford.

The Aloha Bowl premiered in Honolulu, Hawaii.

This was the first season the Ivy League competed at the I-AA (FCS) level.[3] Through the 2009 season, the Ivy League has yet to participate in the post-season tournament, despite an automatic bid, citing academic concerns.

Conference standings[]

1982 ACC football standings
v · d · e Conf     Overall
Team W   L   T     W   L   T
#8 Clemson 6 0 0     9 1 1
#20 Maryland 5 1 0     8 4 0
#18 North Carolina 3 3 0     8 4 0
Duke 3 3 0     6 5 0
NC State 3 3 0     6 5 0
Virginia 1 5 0     2 9 0
Wake Forest 0 6 0     3 8 0
† – Conference champion
Rankings from AP Poll
1982 Big 8 football standings
v · d · e Conf     Overall
Team W   L   T     W   L   T
#3 Nebraska 7 0 0     12 1 0
#16 Oklahoma 6 1 0     8 4 0
Oklahoma State 3 2 2     4 5 2
Kansas State 3 3 1     6 5 1
Missouri 2 3 2     5 4 2
Iowa State 1 5 1     4 6 1
Kansas 1 5 1     2 7 2
Colorado 1 5 1     2 8 1
† – Conference champion
Rankings from AP Poll
1982 Big Ten football standings
v · d · e Conf     Overall
Team W   L   T     W   L   T
#NR/15 Michigan 8 1 0     8 4 0
#12/12 Ohio State 7 1 0     9 3 0
Iowa 6 2 0     8 4 0
Illinois 6 3 0     7 5 0
Wisconsin 5 4 0     7 5 0
Indiana 4 5 0     5 6 0
Purdue 3 6 0     3 8 0
Northwestern 2 7 0     3 8 0
Michigan State 2 7 0     2 9 0
Minnesota 1 8 0     3 8 0
† – Conference champion
Rankings from AP Poll / Coaches' Poll
1982 Mid-American Conference football standings
v · d · e Conf     Overall
Team W   L   T     W   L   T
Bowling Green 7 2 0     7 5 0
Western Michigan 5 2 2     7 2 2
Miami 5 3 0     7 4 0
Central Michigan 5 3 1     6 4 1
Ohio 5 4 0     6 5 0
Toledo 5 4 0     6 5 0
Northern Illinois 5 4 0     5 5 0
Ball State 4 4 0     5 6 0
[[{{{school}}}|Eastern Michigan]] 1 7 1     1 9 1
Kent State 0 9 0     0 11 0
† – Conference champion
Rankings from AP Poll
1982 Missouri Valley Conference football standings
v · d · e Conf     Overall
Team W   L   T     W   L   T
Tulsa 6 0 0     10 1 0
Wichita State 4 1 0     8 3 0
Southern Illinois 4 1 0     6 5 0
Indiana State 3 2 0     5 6 0
Drake 2 4 0     4 7 0
New Mexico State 1 4 0     3 8 0
West Texas State 1 4 0     3 8 0
Illinois State 0 5 0     2 9 0
† – Conference champion
Rankings from AP Poll
1982 Pacific-10 football standings
v · d · e Conf     Overall
Team W   L   T     W   L   T
#5 UCLA 5 1 1     10 1 1
#7 Washington 6 2 0     10 2 0
#6 Arizona State 5 2 0     10 2 0
#15 USC 5 2 0     8 3 0
Arizona 4 3 1     6 4 1
California 4 4 0     7 4 0
Stanford 3 5 0     5 6 0
Washington State 2 4 1     3 7 1
Oregon 2 6 0     2 8 1
Oregon State 0 7 1     1 9 1
† – Conference champion
Rankings from AP Poll
1982 Pacific Coast Athletic Association football standings
v · d · e Conf     Overall
Team W   L   T     W   L   T
Fresno State 6 0 0     11 1 0
Long Beach State 5 1 0     6 5 0
San Jose State 4 2 0     8 3 0
Utah State 2 3 0     5 6 0
Pacific 2 4 0     2 9 0
UNLV 1 4 0     3 8 0
Cal State Fullerton 0 6 0     3 9 0
† – Conference champion
Rankings from AP Poll
1982 SEC football standings
v · d · e Conf     Overall
Team W   L   T     W   L   T
#4/4 Georgia 6 0 0     11 1 0
#11/11 LSU 4 1 1     8 3 1
#14/14 Auburn 4 2 0     9 3 0
Vanderbilt 4 2 0     8 4 0
Tennessee 3 2 1     6 5 1
Alabama 3 3 0     8 4 0
Florida 3 3 0     8 4 0
Mississippi State 2 4 0     5 6 0
Ole Miss 0 6 0     4 7 0
Kentucky 0 6 0     0 10 1
† – Conference champion
Rankings from AP Poll / Coaches Poll
1982 Division I-A independents football records
v · d · e Conf     Overall
Team W   L   T     W   L   T
No. 1 Penn State           11 1 0
No. 13 Florida State           9 3 0
No. 10 Pittsburgh           9 3 0
No. 19 West Virginia           9 3 0
Boston College           8 3 1
Southwestern Louisiana           7 3 1
East Carolina           7 4 0
Miami           7 4 0
Southern Miss           7 4 0
Virginia Tech           7 4 0
Notre Dame           6 4 1
Cincinnati           6 5 0
Georgia Tech           6 5 0
Navy           6 5 0
Louisville           5 6 0
Rutgers           5 6 0
Army           4 7 0
South Carolina           4 7 0
Temple           4 7 0
Tulane           4 7 0
William & Mary           3 8 0
North Texas State           2 9 0
Syracuse           2 9 0
Memphis           1 10 0
Richmond           0 10 0
Rankings from AP Poll
1982 Southwest Conference football standings
v · d · e Conf     Overall
Team W   L   T     W   L   T
#2 SMU 7 0 1     11 0 1
#17 Texas 7 1 0     9 3 0
#9 Arkansas 5 2 1     9 2 1
Houston 4 3 1     5 5 1
Baylor 3 4 1     4 6 1
Texas A&M 3 5 0     5 6 0
Texas Tech 3 5 0     4 7 0
TCU 2 6 0     3 8 0
Rice 0 8 0     0 11 0
† – Conference champion
Rankings from AP Poll
1982 WAC football standings
v · d · e Conf     Overall
Team W   L   T     W   L   T
BYU 7 1 0     8 4 0
New Mexico 6 1 0     10 1 0
Air Force 4 3 0     8 5 0
San Diego State 4 3 0     7 5 0
Hawaii 4 4 0     6 5 0
Colorado State 3 5 0     4 7 0
Utah 2 4 0     5 6 0
Wyoming 2 6 0     5 7 0
UTEP 1 6 0     2 10 0
† – Conference champion
Rankings from AP Poll

Classic Games[]

  • #8 Penn St 27, #2 Nebraska 24
  • Cal 25, Stanford 20 (The Play)
  • UCLA 20, USC 19 - USC trailed 20-13 and had 4th & Goal from the one-yard line with 0:01 left in the game. USC scored a touchdown and decided to go for the two-point conversion. USC announcer Tom Kelly remarked, "Typical of this great rivalry--even when it's over, it isn't over!" On the ensuing try for two by USC, UCLA's Karl Morgan sacked USC QB Scott Tinsley. This occurred within minutes of The Play, which was happening 400 miles to the north in Berkeley.
  • Auburn 23, Alabama 22
  • Tulane 31, #7 LSU 28 (Tulane's first win at Tiger Stadium since 1948)

#1 and #2 Progress[]

WEEKS #1 #2 Event
PRE-1 Pittsburgh Washington Washington 55, UTEP 0 Sep 11
2 Washington Pittsburgh Nebraska 68, New Mexico St. 0 Sep 18
3 Washington Nebraska Penn State 27, Nebraska 24 Sep 25
4-5 Washington Pittsburgh Alabama 34, Arkansas St 7 Oct 2
6 Washington Alabama Tennessee 35, Alabama 28 Oct 16
7 Washington Pittsburgh Pittsburgh 14, Syracuse 0 Oct 23
8 Pittsburgh Washington Stanford 43, Washington 31 Oct 30
9 Pittsburgh SMU Notre Dame 31, Pitt 16 Nov 6
10-11 Georgia SMU Arkansas 17, SMU 17 Nov 20
12-14 Georgia Penn State Penn State 27, Georgia 23 Jan 1

Bowl Games[]

Final AP Poll[]

  1. Penn St.
  2. Southern Methodist
  3. Nebraska
  4. Georgia
  5. UCLA
  6. Arizona St.
  7. Washington
  8. Clemson
  9. Arkansas
  10. Pittsburgh
  11. Louisiana St.
  12. Ohio St.
  13. Florida St.
  14. Auburn
  15. Southern California
  16. Oklahoma
  17. Texas
  18. North Carolina
  19. West Virginia
  20. Maryland

Final Coaches Poll[]

  1. Penn St.
  2. Southern Methodist
  3. Nebraska
  4. Georgia
  5. UCLA
  6. Arizona St.
  7. Washington
  8. Arkansas
  9. Pittsburgh
  10. Florida St.
  11. Louisiana St.
  12. Ohio St.
  13. North Carolina
  14. Auburn
  15. Michigan
  16. Oklahoma
  17. Alabama
  18. Texas
  19. West Virginia
  20. Maryland

Other Major Awards[]

Heisman Memorial Trophy: Herschel Walker, Georgia

Outland Trophy(Interior Lineman): David Rimington, Nebraska

Vince Lombardi/Rotary Award(Lineman or Linebacker): Dave Rimington, Nebraska

Walter Camp Award(back): Herschel Walker, Georgia

Davey O'Brien Award(Quarterback): Todd Blackledge, Penn State

Maxwell Award(college player of the year): Herschel Walker, Georgia

References[]


This page uses content from Wikipedia. The original article was at 1982 NCAA Division I-A football season.
The list of authors can be seen in the page history. As with American Football Database, the text of Wikipedia is available under the GNU Free Documentation License.

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