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.

1999 NCAA Division I-A season
The Superdome was the site of the national championship
Number of teams114
Preseason AP No. 1Florida State
Post-season
DurationDecember 18, 1999 –
January 4, 2000
Bowl games23
Heisman TrophyRon Dayne (running back, Wisconsin)
Bowl Championship Series
2000 Sugar Bowl
SiteLouisiana Superdome,
New Orleans, Louisiana
Champion(s)Florida State
Division I-A football seasons
← 1998
2000 →

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 '90s, 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 outshone 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 assured of an invitation to a BCS bowl game.

Many teams faced debacles. East Carolina faced Hurricane Floyd, and in that same week, faced the #9 Miami Hurricanes. 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 eighth). 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. In addition, for a second straight season, an undefeated team from outside the BCS Automatic Qualifying conferences (Marshall) went undefeated but did not receive a bid to a BCS bowl game, which illustrated the problem of BCS Non-Automatic Qualifying conference teams being shut out of the BCS bowls.

Rule changes

The NCAA Rules Committee adopted the following changes for the 1999 season:[1]

  • Holding penalties committed behind the line of scrimmage will be enforced from the previous spot, modifying a 1991 rule that penalized holding (as well as illegal use of hands and clipping) committed behind the scrimmage line from the spot of the foul.
  • The penalty for intentional grounding was changed from a five-yard penalty from the spot of the foul plus loss-of-down to simply a loss-of-down at the spot of the foul.
  • Bandannas that are visible are considered illegal equipment.
  • Offensive teams may not break a huddle with 12 or more players.
  • Continuing action dead-ball fouls against both teams are disregarded, however any disqualified players must leave the game.

Conference and program changes

Two teams upgraded from Division I-AA, thus increasing the number of Division I-A schools from 112 to 114.

Conference changes
School1998 Conference1999 Conference
Air Force FalconsWACMountain West
Alabama–Birmingham BlazersI-A IndependentConference USA
Arkansas State IndiansI-A IndependentBig West
Buffalo BullsI-AA IndependentMAC (I-A)
BYU CougarsWACMountain West
Colorado State RamsWACMountain West
Middle Tennessee Blue RaidersOhio Valley (I-AA)I-A Independent
New Mexico LobosWACMountain West
San Diego State AztecsWACMountain West
UNLV RebelsWACMountain West
Utah UtesWACMountain West
Wyoming CowboysWACMountain West

Program changes

Two programs, each playing as independents, changed their names prior to the season:

Conference standings
1999 Atlantic Coast Conference football standings
Conf  Overall
Team W L    W L 
No. 1 Florida State $#  8 –0     12 –0  
No. 17 Georgia Tech  5 –3     8 –4  
Virginia  5 –3     7 –5  
Clemson  5 –3     6 –6  
Wake Forest  3 –5     7 –5  
NC State  3 –5     6 –6  
Duke  3 –5     3 –8  
Maryland  2 –6     5 –6  
North Carolina  2 –6     3 –8  
    1. – BCS National Champion
  • $ – BCS representative as conference champion
Rankings from AP Poll
1999 Big 12 Conference football standings
Conf  Overall
Team W L    W L 
Northern Division
No. 3 Nebraska xy$  7 –1     12 –1  
No. 6 Kansas State x  7 –1     11 –1  
Colorado  5 –3     7 –5  
Kansas  3 –5     5 –7  
Iowa State  1 –7     4 –7  
Missouri  1 –7     4 –7  
Southern Division
No. 21 Texas xy  6 –2     9 –5  
Oklahoma  5 –3     7 –5  
Texas Tech  5 –3     6 –5  
No. 23 Texas A&M  5 –3     8 –4  
Oklahoma State  3 –5     5 –6  
Baylor  0 –8     1 –10  
Championship: Nebraska 22, Texas 6
  • $ – BCS representative as conference champion
  • x – Division champion/co-champions
  • y – Championship game participant
Rankings from AP Poll
1999 Big East Conference football standings
Conf  Overall
Team W L    W L 
No. 2 Virginia Tech $  7 –0     11 –1  
No. 15 Miami (FL)  6 –1     9 –4  
Boston College  4 –3     8 –4  
Syracuse  3 –4     7 –5  
West Virginia  3 –4     4 –7  
Pittsburgh  2 –5     5 –6  
Temple  2 –5     2 –9  
Rutgers  1 –6     1 –10  
  • $ – BCS representative as conference champion
Rankings from AP Poll
1999 Big Ten Conference football standings
Conf  Overall
Team W L    W L 
No. 4 Wisconsin $  7 –1     10 –2  
No. 5 Michigan %  6 –2     10 –2  
No. 7 Michigan State  6 –2     10 –2  
No. 11 Penn State  5 –3     10 –3  
No. 18 Minnesota  5 –3     8 –4  
No. 24 Illinois  4 –4     8 –4  
No. 25 Purdue  4 –4     7 –5  
Ohio State  3 –5     6 –6  
Indiana  3 –5     4 –7  
Northwestern  1 –7     3 –8  
Iowa  0 –8     1 –10  
  • $ – BCS representative as conference champion
  • % – BCS at-large representative
Rankings from AP Poll
1999 Big West Conference football standings
Conf  Overall
Team W L    W L 
Boise State $  5 –1     10 –3  
Idaho  4 –2     7 –4  
New Mexico State  3 –2     6 –5  
Utah State  3 –3     4 –7  
Arkansas State  2 –3     4 –7  
Nevada  2 –4     3 –8  
North Texas  1 –5     2 –9  
  • $ – Conference champion
1999 Conference USA football standings
Conf  Overall
Team W L    W L 
No. 14 Southern Miss $  6 –0     9 –3  
East Carolina  4 –2     9 –3  
Louisville  4 –2     7 –5  
UAB  4 –2     5 –6  
Memphis  4 –2     5 –6  
Houston  3 –3     7 –4  
Army  1 –5     3 –8  
Tulane  1 –5     3 –8  
Cincinnati  0 –6     3 –8  
  • $ – Conference champion
Rankings from AP Poll
1999 Mid-American Conference football standings
Conf  Overall
Team W L    W L 
East Division
No. 10 Marshall x$  8 –0     13 –0  
Miami  6 –2     7 –4  
Akron  5 –3     7 –4  
Ohio  5 –3     5 –6  
Bowling Green  3 –5     5 –6  
Kent State  2 –6     2 –9  
Buffalo  0 –8     0 –11  
West Division
Western Michigan x  6 –2     7 –5  
Toledo  5 –3     6 –5  
Northern Illinois  5 –3     5 –6  
Eastern Michigan  4 –4     4 –7  
Central Michigan  3 –5     4 –7  
Ball State  0 –8     0 –11  
Championship: Marshall 34, Western Michigan 30
  • $ – Conference champion
  • x – Division champion/co-champions
Rankings from AP Poll
1999 Mountain West Conference football standings
Conf  Overall
Team W L    W L 
Utah +  5 –2     9 –3  
BYU +  5 –2     8 –4  
Colorado State +  5 –2     8 –4  
Wyoming  4 –3     7 –4  
San Diego State  3 –4     5 –6  
New Mexico  3 –4     4 –7  
Air Force  2 –5     6 –5  
UNLV  1 –6     3 –8  
  • + – Conference co-champions
Rankings from AP Poll
1999 Pacific-10 Conference football standings
Conf  Overall
Team W L    W L 
Stanford $  7 –1     8 –4  
No. 19 Oregon  6 –2     9 –3  
Washington  6 –2     7 –5  
Arizona State  5 –3     6 –6  
Oregon State  4 –4     7 –5  
Arizona  3 –5     6 –6  
USC  3 –5     6 –6  
California  3 –5     4 –7  
UCLA  2 –6     4 –7  
Washington State  1 –7     3 –9  
  • $ – BCS representative as conference champion
  • Cal later vacated 4 wins (3 in conference) due to NCAA sanctions.
Rankings from AP Poll
1999 Southeastern Conference football standings
Conf  Overall
Team W L    W L 
Eastern Division
No. 12 Florida x  7 –1     9 –4  
No. 9 Tennessee  6 –2     9 –3  
No. 16 Georgia  5 –3     8 –4  
Kentucky  4 –4     6 –6  
Vanderbilt  2 –6     5 –6  
South Carolina  0 –8     0 –11  
Western Division
No. 8 Alabama x$  7 –1     10 –3  
No. 13 Mississippi State  6 –2     10 –2  
No. 22 Ole Miss  4 –4     8 –4  
No. 17 Arkansas  4 –4     8 –4  
Auburn  2 –6     5 –6  
LSU  1 –7     3 –8  
Championship: Alabama 34, Florida 7
  • $ – BCS representative as conference champion
  • x – Division champion/co-champions
Rankings from AP Poll
1999 Western Athletic Conference football standings
Conf  Overall
Team W L    W L 
Hawaii +  5 –2     9 –4  
TCU +  5 –2     8 –4  
Fresno State +  5 –2     8 –5  
Rice  4 –3     5 –6  
SMU  3 –3     4 –6  
UTEP  3 –4     5 –7  
San Jose State  1 –5     3 –7  
Tulsa  1 –6     2 –9  
  • + – Conference co-champions
1999 NCAA Division I-A independents football records
Conf  Overall
Team W L    W L 
Louisiana Tech   –     8 –3  
Louisiana–Monroe   –     5 –6  
Notre Dame   –     5 –7  
Navy   –     5 –7  
UCF   –     4 –7  
Middle Tennessee   –     3 –8  
Louisiana–Lafayette   –     2 –9  
Rankings from AP Poll

Bowl games
Main article: 1999–2000 NCAA football bowl games
Rankings from final regular season AP poll

BCS bowls

Other New Years Day bowls

December bowl games

Final polls
Main article: 1999 NCAA Division I-A football rankings

Heisman Trophy voting

The Heisman Memorial Trophy Award is given to the Most Outstanding Player of the year
Winner: Ron Dayne, Wisconsin, Running Back (2,042 points)

Other major awards

References
  1. "NCAA Rules Changes 1999".
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