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The 1995 NCAA Division I-A football season was the first year of the Bowl Alliance and was a relatively calm year compared to the early 1990s.

Tom Osborne led Nebraska to its second straight national title with a victory over Florida in the Fiesta Bowl.

This match up was only possible because of the new Bowl Alliance. Under the old system, Nebraska would have been tied to the Orange Bowl and Florida to the Sugar Bowl. The Bowl Alliance created a national championship game which would rotate between the Orange, Sugar, and Fiesta Bowls free of conference tie-ins and featuring the #1 and #2 teams as chosen by the Bowl Alliance Poll. The Pac 10 and Big Ten chose not to participate, keeping their tie-ins with the Rose Bowl.

Nebraska was showing signs of dynasty, playing in its third consecutive national title game, and became the first school to claim back to back titles since the 1970s. This was an amazingly dominant Nebraska team, averaging 52 points per game and a 39 point average margin of victory, including a 62-24 victory over Florida. Interestingly, this lopsided victory came after Florida was picked by many sportswriters to win the game.

Ohio State almost managed to create a national title controversy, going into its final regular season game against Michigan undefeated and ranked #2. Had they finished the season #2 the Bowl Alliance would have been unable to pit #1 vs. #2 as the Big Ten champ was tied to the Rose Bowl. Fortunately for the Bowl Alliance, Michigan upset Ohio State, but Buckeye running back Eddie George still managed to win the Heisman Trophy.

Things were lively in the state of Florida, where the Florida Gators won their third straight SEC championship. Florida State started the season #1, but lost an ACC game for the first time ever when Virginia stopped a last minute drive a few inches from the end zone, knocking them out of the national title race.

However, Northwestern was able to steal the show as the year's Cinderella story. Its only regular season loss came against Miami-OH. Northwestern began the season with an upset of Notre Dame and went on to defeat Michigan and Penn State later in the season. Undefeated in the Big Ten after decades as a doormat, the Wildcats went on to face USC in the Rose Bowl. However, the Wildcats lost to the Trojans in what was a see-saw game until USC pulled away in the fourth quarter.

Miami and Alabama had to sit the post season out, as they were on NCAA probation.

The Southwest Conference played its final game ever, an 18–17 Houston win over Rice. Four of its members would join the Big 8 to form the Big 12; the other four were split between the WAC and the newly formed Conference USA.

The Hall of Fame Bowl, originally played in Birmingham, then moved to Tampa, Florida gained corporate sponsorship, and was now known as the Outback Bowl. The Freedom Bowl was discontinued and the Holiday Bowl absorbed its WAC tie-in.

The Las Vegas Bowl game between Toledo and Nevada was the first ever to use the college overtime system, which was adopted nationwide the following year.

University of North Texas upgraded to Division 1-A football this season bringing the total number of teams to 108.

Conference standings[]

1995 ACC football standings
v · d · e Conf     Overall
Team   W   L         W   L  
#4 Florida State §   7 1         10 2  
#16 Virginia §   7 1         9 4  
Clemson   6 2         8 4  
Georgia Tech   5 3         6 5  
North Carolina   4 4         7 5  
Maryland   4 4         6 5  
NC State   2 6         3 8  
Duke   1 7         3 8  
Wake Forest   0 8         1 10  
§ – Conference co-champions
Rankings from AP Poll
1995 Big 8 football standings
v · d · e Conf     Overall
Team W   L   T     W   L   T
#1 Nebraska 7 0 0     12 0 0
#5 Colorado 5 2 0     10 2 0
#9 Kansas 5 2 0     10 2 0
#7 Kansas State 5 2 0     10 2 0
Oklahoma 2 5 0     5 5 1
Oklahoma State 2 5 0     4 8 0
Iowa State 1 6 0     3 8 0
Missouri 1 6 0     3 8 0
*† – Bowl Alliance representative as champion
Rankings from AP Poll
1995 Big East football standings
v · d · e Conf     Overall
Team   W   L         W   L  
#10 Virginia Tech §   6 1         10 2  
#20 Miami §   6 1         8 3  
#19 Syracuse   5 2         9 3  
West Virginia   4 3         5 6  
Boston College   4 3         4 8  
Rutgers   2 5         4 7  
Temple   1 6         1 10  
Pittsburgh   0 7         2 9  
§ – Conference co-champions
Rankings from AP Poll
1995 Big Ten football standings
v · d · e Conf     Overall
Team W   L   T     W   L   T
#8/7 Northwestern 8 0 0     10 2 0
#6/8 Ohio State 7 1 0     11 2 0
#13/12 Penn State 5 3 0     9 3 0
#17/19 Michigan 5 3 0     9 4 0
Michigan State 4 3 1     6 5 1
#25/22 Iowa 4 4 0     8 4 0
Illinois 3 4 1     5 5 1
Wisconsin 3 4 1     4 5 2
Purdue 2 5 1     4 6 1
Minnesota 1 7 0     3 8 0
Indiana 0 8 0     2 9 0
† – Conference champion
Rankings from AP Poll / Coaches' Poll
1995 Big West Conference football standings
v · d · e Conf     Overall
Team   W   L         W   L  
Nevada   7 0         9 3  
Southwestern Louisiana   4 2         6 5  
Utah State   4 3         4 7  
Arkansas State   3 3         6 5  
Northern Illinois   3 3         3 8  
New Mexico State   3 4         4 7  
San Jose State   3 4         3 8  
Louisiana Tech   2 4         5 6  
Pacific   2 4         3 8  
UNLV   1 5         2 9  
† – Conference champion
Rankings from AP Poll
1995 Mid-American Conference football standings
v · d · e Conf     Overall
Team W   L   T     W   L   T
#24 Toledo 7 0 1     11 0 1
Miami 6 1 1     8 2 1
Ball State 6 2 0     7 4 0
Western Michigan 6 2 0     7 4 0
Eastern Michigan 5 3 0     6 5 0
Bowling Green 3 5 0     5 6 0
Central Michigan 2 6 0     4 7 0
Akron 2 6 0     2 9 0
Ohio 1 6 1     2 8 1
Kent State 0 7 1     1 9 1
† – Conference champion
Rankings from AP Poll
1995 Pacific-10 football standings
v · d · e Conf     Overall
Team W   L   T     W   L   T
#12 USC § 6 1 1     9 2 1
Washington § 6 1 1     7 4 1
#18 Oregon 6 2 0     9 3 0
Stanford 5 3 0     7 4 1
UCLA 4 4 0     7 5 0
Arizona 4 4 0     6 5 0
Arizona State 4 4 0     6 5 0
California 2 6 0     3 8 0
Washington State 2 6 0     3 8 0
Oregon State 0 8 0     1 10 0
§ – Conference co-champions
  • As Washington and USC tied, Non-Conference record was the tie-breaking rule used to select USC for the Rose Bowl
    Rankings from AP Poll
1995 SEC football standings
v · d · e Conf     Overall
Team W   L   T     W   L   T
Eastern Division
#2/3 Florida x 8 0 0     12 1 0
#3/2 Tennessee 7 1 0     11 1 0
Georgia 3 5 0     6 6 0
South Carolina 2 5 1     4 6 1
Kentucky 2 6 0     4 7 0
Vanderbilt 1 7 0     2 9 0
Western Division
Arkansas x 6 2 0     8 5 0
#21 Alabama 5 3 0     8 3 0
#22/21 Auburn 5 3 0     8 4 0
LSU 4 3 1     7 4 1
Ole Miss 3 5 0     6 5 0
Mississippi State 1 7 0     3 8 0
Championship: Florida 34, Arkansas 3
† – Conference champion
x – Division champion/co-champions
Rankings from AP Poll
1995 Southwest Conference football standings
v · d · e Conf     Overall
Team W   L   T     W   L   T
#14 Texas 7 0 0     10 2 1
#15 Texas A&M 5 2 0     9 3 0
#23 Texas Tech 5 2 0     9 3 0
Baylor 5 2 0     7 4 0
TCU 3 4 0     6 5 0
Houston 2 5 0     2 9 0
Rice 1 6 0     2 8 1
SMU 0 7 0     1 10 0
† – Conference champion
Rankings from AP Poll
1995 WAC football standings
v · d · e Conf     Overall
Team   W   L         W   L  
Colorado State §   6 2         8 4  
BYU §   6 2         7 4  
Utah §   6 2         7 4  
Air Force §   6 2         8 5  
San Diego State   5 3         8 4  
Wyoming   4 4         6 5  
Fresno State   2 6         5 7  
New Mexico   2 6         4 7  
Hawaii   2 6         4 8  
UTEP   1 7         2 10  
§ – Conference co-champions
Rankings from AP Poll
1995 Division I-A independents football records
v · d · e Conf     Overall
Team W   L   T     W   L   T
East Carolina         9 3 0
No. 11 Notre Dame         9 3 0
Louisville         7 4 0
Cincinnati         6 5 0
Southern Miss         6 5 0
Army         5 5 1
Navy         5 6 0
Tulsa         4 7 0
Memphis         3 8 0
Northeast Louisiana         2 9 0
North Texas         2 9 0
Tulane         2 9 0
Rankings from AP Poll

#1 and #2 Progress[]

WEEKS #1 #2 Event Date
PRE-9 Florida State Nebraska Nebraska 44, Colorado 21 Oct 28
10 Nebraska Florida State Virginia 33, Florida St. 28 Nov 2
11-13 Nebraska Ohio State+ Michigan 31, Ohio State 23 Nov 25
14-15 Nebraska Florida Nebraska 62, Florida 24 Jan 1

+Ohio State, a Big Ten school, was not part of the Bowl Alliance. Florida was #3 during weeks 11 through 13.

Bowl Games[]

Final AP Poll[]

  1. Nebraska
  2. Florida
  3. Tennessee
  4. Florida State
  5. Colorado
  6. Ohio State
  7. Kansas State
  8. Northwestern
  9. Kansas
  10. Virginia Tech
  11. Notre Dame
  12. USC
  13. Penn State
  14. Texas
  15. Texas A&M
  16. Virginia
  17. Michigan
  18. Oregon
  19. Syracuse
  20. Miami-FL
  21. Alabama
  22. Auburn
  23. Texas Tech
  24. Toledo
  25. Iowa

Final Coaches Poll[]

  1. Nebraska
  2. Tennessee
  3. Florida
  4. Colorado
  5. Florida St.
  6. Kansas St.
  7. Northwestern
  8. Ohio St.
  9. Virginia Tech
  10. Kansas
  11. Southern California
  12. Penn St.
  13. Notre Dame
  14. Texas
  15. Texas A&M
  16. Syracuse
  17. Virginia
  18. Oregon
  19. Michigan
  20. Texas Tech
  21. Auburn
  22. Iowa
  23. East Carolina
  24. Toledo
  25. [[{{{school}}}|LSU]]

Heisman Trophy Voting[]

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

Winner: Eddie George, Ohio State, Running Back (1460 votes)

Other Major Awards[]

References[]


This page uses content from Wikipedia. The original article was at 1995 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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