2006 NCAA Division I FBS football season

The 2006 NCAA Division I FBS football season was the highest level of college football competition in the United States organized by the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA).

2006 NCAA Division I FBS season
Number of teams119
DurationAugust 31 – December 2
Preseason AP No. 1Ohio State
Post-season
DurationDecember 19, 2006 –
January 8, 2007
Bowl games32
Heisman TrophyTroy Smith (quarterback, Ohio State)
Bowl Championship Series
2007 BCS Championship Game
SiteUniversity of Phoenix Stadium,
Glendale, Arizona
Champion(s)Florida
NCAA Division I FBS football seasons
← 2005
2007 →

The regular season began on August 31, 2006 and ended on December 2, 2006. The postseason concluded on January 8, 2007 with the BCS National Championship Game in Glendale, Arizona, where the #2 Florida Gators defeated the #1 Ohio State Buckeyes by a score of 41–14 to win the national title.[1]

The Boise State Broncos were the year's only undefeated team in both levels of Division I football after defeating Oklahoma in the Fiesta Bowl.

Rules changes

The NCAA instituted the following rule changes for the 2006 season.[2]

  • The NCAA ruled that teams could schedule twelve regular-season games (up from eleven) beginning in the 2006 season.[3] (NCAA teams in Alaska and Hawaii, and their home opponents, are allowed to schedule an extra game over and above this limit.)
  • Instant replay is now officially sanctioned and standardized. All plays are reviewed by the replay officials as the play occurs. They may call down to the on-field officials to stop play if they need extra time to make a review. Each coach may also make one challenge per game. In the case of a coach's challenge, the coach must have at least one time-out remaining. If the challenge is upheld the coach gets the time-out back but the challenge is spent. If the challenge is rejected, both the challenge and the time-out are spent.
  • Players may only wear clear eyeshields. Previously, both tinted and orange were also allowed.
  • The kicking tee has been lowered from two inches tall to only one inch.
  • Halftime lasts twenty minutes. Previously, it was only fifteen minutes.
  • On a kickoff, the game clock starts when the ball is kicked rather than when the receiving team touches it.
    • This rule change has resulted in controversy, highlighted by the matchup between Wisconsin and Penn State on November 4, 2006, in which Wisconsin deliberately went off-sides on two consecutive kickoffs to run extra time off the clock at the close of the first half.[4]
  • On a change of possession, the clock starts when the referee marks the ball ready for play, instead of on the snap.
  • The referee may no longer stop the game due to excessive crowd noise.
  • When a live-ball penalty such as an illegal formation occurs on a kick, the receiving team may choose either to add the penalty yardage to the end of the return or require the kick to be attempted again with the spot moved back. Previously, only the latter option was available.
  • If a team scores at the end of the game, they will not kick the extra point unless it would affect the outcome of the game.

Conference standings
2006 Atlantic Coast Conference football standings
Conf  Overall
Team W L    W L 
Atlantic Division
No. 18 Wake Forest x$  6 –2     11 –3  
No. 20 Boston College  5 –3     10 –3  
Maryland  5 –3     9 –4  
Clemson  5 –3     8 –5  
Florida State  3 –5     7 –6  
NC State  2 –6     3 –9  
Coastal Division
Georgia Tech x  7 –1     9 –5  
No. 19 Virginia Tech  6 –2     10 –3  
Virginia  4 –4     5 –7  
Miami  3 –5     7 –6  
North Carolina  2 –6     3 –9  
Duke  0 –8     0 –12  
Championship: Wake Forest 9, Georgia Tech 6
  • $ – BCS representative as conference champion
  • x – Division champion/co-champions
Rankings from AP Poll
2006 Big 12 Conference football standings
Conf  Overall
Team W L    W L 
Northern Division
Nebraska x  6 –2     9 –5  
Missouri  4 –4     8 –5  
Kansas State  4 –4     7 –6  
Kansas  3 –5     6 –6  
Colorado  2 –6     2 –10  
Iowa State  1 –7     4 –8  
Southern Division
No. 11 Oklahoma x$  7 –1     11 –3  
No. 13 Texas  6 –2     10 –3  
Texas A&M  5 –3     9 –4  
Texas Tech  4 –4     8 –5  
Oklahoma State  3 –5     7 –6  
Baylor  3 –5     4 –8  
Championship: Oklahoma 21, Nebraska 7
  • $ – BCS representative as conference champion
  • x – Division champion/co-champions
Rankings from AP Poll
2006 Big East Conference football standings
Conf  Overall
Team W L    W L 
No. 6 Louisville $  6 –1     12 –1  
No. 10 West Virginia  5 –2     11 –2  
No. 12 Rutgers  5 –2     11 –2  
South Florida  4 –3     9 –4  
Cincinnati  4 –3     8 –5  
Pittsburgh  2 –5     6 –6  
Connecticut  1 –6     4 –8  
Syracuse  0 –6     0 –8  
  • $ – BCS representative as conference champion
Rankings from AP Poll
2006 Big Ten Conference football standings
Conf  Overall
Team W L    W L 
No. 2 Ohio State $  8 –0     12 –1  
No. 7 Wisconsin  7 –1     12 –1  
No. 8 Michigan %  7 –1     11 –2  
No. 24 Penn State  5 –3     9 –4  
Purdue  5 –3     8 –6  
Minnesota  3 –5     6 –7  
Indiana  3 –5     5 –7  
Iowa  2 –6     6 –7  
Northwestern  2 –6     4 –8  
Michigan State  1 –7     4 –8  
Illinois  1 –7     2 –10  
  • $ – BCS representative as conference champion
  • % – BCS at-large representative
Rankings from AP Poll
2006 Conference USA football standings
Conf  Overall
Team W L    W L 
East Division
Southern Miss x  6 –2     9 –5  
East Carolina  5 –3     7 –6  
Marshall  4 –4     5 –7  
UCF  3 –5     4 –8  
UAB  2 –6     3 –9  
Memphis  1 –7     2 –10  
West Division
Houston x$  7 –1     10 –4  
Rice  6 –2     7 –6  
Tulsa  5 –3     8 –5  
SMU  4 –4     6 –6  
UTEP  3 –5     5 –7  
Tulane  2 –6     4 –8  
Championship: Houston 34, Southern Miss 20
  • $ – Conference champion
  • x – Division champion/co-champions
Rankings from AP Poll
2006 Mid-American Conference football standings
Conf  Overall
Team W L    W L 
East Division
Ohio x  7 –1     9 –5  
Kent State  5 –3     6 –6  
Akron  3 –5     5 –7  
Bowling Green  3 –5     4 –8  
Miami  2 –6     2 –10  
Buffalo  1 –7     2 –10  
West Division
Central Michigan x$  7 –1     10 –4  
Western Michigan  6 –2     8 –5  
Northern Illinois  5 –3     7 –6  
Ball State  5 –3     5 –7  
Toledo  3 –5     5 –7  
Eastern Michigan  1 –7     1 –11  
Championship: Central Michigan 31, Ohio 10
  • $ – Conference champion
  • x – Division champion/co-champions
2006 Mountain West Conference football standings
Conf  Overall
Team W L    W L 
No. 16 BYU $  8 –0     11 –2  
No. 22 TCU  6 –2     11 –2  
Utah  5 –3     8 –5  
Wyoming  5 –3     6 –6  
New Mexico  4 –4     6 –7  
Air Force  3 –5     4 –8  
San Diego State  3 –5     3 –9  
Colorado State  1 –7     4 –8  
UNLV  1 –7     2 –10  
  • $ – Conference champion
Rankings from AP Poll
2006 Pacific-10 Conference football standings
Conf  Overall
Team W L    W L 
No. 4 USC +  7 –2     11 –2  
No. 14 California +  7 –2     10 –3  
No. 21 Oregon State  6 –3     10 –4  
UCLA  5 –4     7 –6  
Oregon  4 –5     7 –6  
Arizona State  4 –5     7 –6  
Arizona  4 –5     6 –6  
Washington State  4 –5     6 –6  
Washington  3 –6     5 –7  
Stanford  1 –8     1 –11  
  • + – Conference co-champions
Rankings from AP Poll
2006 Southeastern Conference football standings
Conf  Overall
Team W L    W L 
Eastern Division
No. 1 Florida x$#  7 –1     13 –1  
No. 25 Tennessee  5 –3     9 –4  
Kentucky  4 –4     8 –5  
No. 23 Georgia  4 –4     9 –4  
South Carolina  3 –5     8 –5  
Vanderbilt  1 –7     4 –8  
Western Division
No. 15 Arkansas x  7 –1     10 –4  
No. 9 Auburn  6 –2     11 –2  
No. 3 LSU %  6 –2     11 –2  
Alabama  2 –6     6 –7  
Ole Miss  2 –6     4 –8  
Mississippi State  1 –7     3 –9  
Championship: Florida 38, Arkansas 28
    1. – BCS National Champion
  • $ – BCS representative as conference champion
  • % – BCS at-large representative
  • x – Division champion/co-champions
  • Alabama had all victories vacated by the NCAA in 2010. As such, the official record for Alabama is 0–7 (0–6).
Rankings from AP Poll
2006 Sun Belt Conference football standings
Conf  Overall
Team W L    W L 
Troy +  6 –1     8 –5  
Middle Tennessee +  6 –1     7 –6  
Arkansas State  4 –3     6 –6  
Florida Atlantic  4 –3     5 –7  
Louisiana–Lafayette  3 –4     6 –6  
Louisiana–Monroe  3 –4     4 –8  
North Texas  2 –5     3 –9  
FIU  0 –7     0 –12  
  • + – Conference co-champions
Rankings from AP Poll
2006 Western Athletic Conference football standings
Conf  Overall
Team W L    W L 
No. 5 Boise State $  8 –0     13 –0  
Hawaii  7 –1     11 –3  
San Jose State  5 –3     9 –4  
Nevada  5 –3     8 –5  
Fresno State  4 –4     4 –8  
Idaho  3 –5     4 –8  
New Mexico State  2 –6     4 –8  
Louisiana Tech  1 –7     3 –10  
Utah State  1 –7     1 –11  
  • $ – Conference champion and BCS representative as top non-AQ school to meet automatic qualification criteria
Rankings from AP Poll
2006 NCAA Division I FBS independents football records
Conf  Overall
Team W L    W L 
No. 17 Notre Dame %   –     10 –3  
Navy   –     9 –4  
Army   –     3 –9  
Temple   –     1 –11  
  • % – BCS at-large representative
Rankings from AP Poll

Conference champions

Conference championship games

Rankings reflect the Week 14 AP Poll before the games were played.

Conference Champion Runner-Up Score Site
ACC #16 Wake Forest #23 Georgia Tech 9–6 Alltel Stadium

Jacksonville, Florida

Big 12 #8 Oklahoma #19 Nebraska 21–7 Arrowhead Stadium

Kansas City, Missouri

Conference USA Houston Southern Miss 34–20 Robertson Stadium

Houston

MAC Central Michigan Ohio 31–10 Ford Field

Detroit

SEC #4 Florida #8 Arkansas 38–28 Georgia Dome

Atlanta

Other conference champions

Rankings are from the Week 15 AP Poll.

Conference Winner(s)
Big East #6 Louisville
Big Ten #1 Ohio State
Mountain West #19 BYU
Pac-10 #20 California, #8 USC*
Sun Belt Middle Tennessee, Troy
WAC #9 Boise State

* Received conference's automatic BCS bowl bid.

BCS rankings progress
Main article: 2006 NCAA Division I FBS football rankings

Ohio State was ranked No. 1 in all of the BCS-component polls (AP, Coaches', USA Today) in the preseason and the 14 polls taken in the regular season. When the BCS rankings began on October 15, Ohio State was No. 1 on all 8 rankings released during the season.

WEEK #1 #2 EVENT
OCT 15 Ohio State USC Oregon State 33, USC 31
OCT 22 Ohio State Michigan Ohio St 44, Minnesota 0
OCT 29 Ohio State Michigan Ohio St 17, Illinois 10
NOV 5 Ohio State Michigan Ohio St 54, Northwestern 10
NOV 12 Ohio State Michigan Ohio St 42, Michigan 39
NOV 19 Ohio State Michigan Ohio St 42, Michigan 39
NOV 26 Ohio State USC UCLA 13, USC 9
DEC 3 Ohio State Florida Florida 38, Arkansas 28

Bowl games
Main article: 2006–07 NCAA football bowl games

Winners are listed in boldface.

Bowl Championship Series

The Bowl Championship Series selected the #1 and #2 ranked teams to play for the national championship on January 8. The 2006 season marked a change for the BCS system, as the BCS National Championship Game became a standalone bowl game for the first time, to be played at the site of one of the four BCS bowls (the Fiesta, Orange, Sugar, and Rose Bowls) on a rotating basis. Under the previous format used from 1998 to 2006, the BCS National Championship coincided with one of the BCS bowls. The 2007 BCS Championship Game was played in Glendale, Arizona, the week after the Fiesta Bowl had been played there.

Rankings are from the Week 15 AP Poll.

Bowl gameDatePlaying as visitorPlaying as homeScore
BCS National Championship GameJanuary 8#2 Florida#1 Ohio State41 – 14
Sugar BowlJanuary 3#11 Notre Dame#4 LSU14 – 41
Orange BowlJanuary 2#5 Louisville#15 Wake Forest24 – 13
Fiesta BowlJanuary 1#9 Boise State#7 Oklahoma43 – 42 (OT)
Rose BowlJanuary 1#8 Southern California#3 Michigan32 – 18

January bowl games
Bowl gameDayPlaying as visitorPlaying as homeScore
GMAC Bowl7thOhioSouthern Mississippi7 – 28
International Bowl6thWestern MichiganCincinnati24 – 27
Cotton Bowl1st#10 Auburn#22 Nebraska17 – 14
Capital One Bowl1st#12 Arkansas#6 Wisconsin14 – 17
Gator Bowl1stGeorgia Tech#13 West Virginia35 – 38
Outback Bowl1st#17 TennesseePenn State10 – 20

December bowl games
Bowl gameDayPlaying as visitorPlaying as homeScore
MPC Computers Bowl31stMiamiNevada21 – 20
Chick-fil-A Bowl30thGeorgia#14 Virginia Tech31 – 24
Alamo Bowl30th#18 TexasIowa26 – 24
Meineke Car Care Bowl30thNavy#23 Boston College24 – 25
Champs Sports Bowl29thPurdueMaryland7 – 24
Insight Bowl29thTexas TechMinnesota44 – 41
Liberty Bowl29thHoustonSouth Carolina36 – 44
Sun Bowl29th#24 Oregon StateMissouri39 – 38
Music City Bowl29thClemsonKentucky20 – 28
Holiday Bowl28th#21 Texas A&M#20 California10 – 45
Texas Bowl28th#16 RutgersKansas State37 – 10
Independence Bowl28thOklahoma StateAlabama34 – 31
Emerald Bowl27thFlorida StateUCLA44 – 27
Motor City Bowl26thMiddle TennesseeCentral Michigan14 – 31
Hawaii Bowl24thArizona StateHawaii24 – 41
Armed Forces Bowl23rdTulsaUtah13 – 25
New Mexico Bowl23rdNew MexicoSan José State12 – 20
PapaJohns.com Bowl23rdSouth FloridaEast Carolina24 – 7
New Orleans Bowl22ndRiceTroy17 – 41
Las Vegas Bowl21st#19 BYUOregon38 – 8
Poinsettia Bowl19thNorthern Illinois#25 TCU7 – 37

Bowl Challenge Cup standings
ConferenceWinsLossesPct.
Big East Conference501.000
Mountain West Conference31.750
Western Athletic Conference31.750
Southeastern Conference63.667
Atlantic Coast Conference44.500
Pacific-10 Conference33.500
Sun Belt Conference11.500
Big 12 Conference35.375
Big Ten Conference25.286
Mid-American Conference13.250
Conference USA14.200
Independents02.000

Awards and honors

Heisman Trophy voting

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

Other major award winners

Postseason coaching changes
SchoolFormer CoachInterimNew Coach
Air Force Fisher DeBerry[11] Troy Calhoun[12]
Alabama Mike Shula[13] Joe Kines[13] Nick Saban[14]
Army Bobby Ross[15] Stan Brock[15]
Arizona State Dirk Koetter[16] Dennis Erickson[17]
Boston College Tom O'Brien[18] Frank Spaziani Jeff Jagodzinski[19]
Central Michigan Brian Kelly[20] Jeff Quinn[21] Butch Jones[22]
Cincinnati Mark Dantonio[23] Brian Kelly[20]
Florida International Don Strock[24] Mario Cristobal[25]
Idaho Dennis Erickson[26] Robb Akey[27]
Iowa State Dan McCarney[28] Gene Chizik[29]
Louisiana Tech Jack Bicknell III[30] Derek Dooley[31]
Louisville Bobby Petrino[32] Steve Kragthorpe[33]
Miami (FL) Larry Coker[34] Randy Shannon[35]
Michigan State John L. Smith[36] Mark Dantonio[23]
Minnesota Glen Mason[37] Tim Brewster[38]
North Carolina John Bunting[39] Butch Davis[40]
NC State Chuck Amato[41] Tom O'Brien[18]
North Texas Darrell Dickey[42] Todd Dodge[43]
Rice Todd Graham[44] David Bailiff[45]
Stanford Walt Harris[46] Jim Harbaugh[47]
Tulane Chris Scelfo[48] Bob Toledo[49]
Tulsa Steve Kragthorpe[33] Todd Graham[44]
UAB Watson Brown[50] Neil Callaway[51]

See also

References
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  2. "2006 Rules Changes" (PDF). NCAA. Archived from the original (PDF) on September 1, 2006. Retrieved September 25, 2006.
  3. Joyner, James (April 12, 2005). "College football season expands to 12 games". Outside The Beltway. Retrieved December 11, 2016.
  4. Carey, Jack (November 7, 2006). "Wisconsin finds loophole in speed-up rule". USA Today. Retrieved November 10, 2006.
  5. "College Football Awards". ESPN. Retrieved December 31, 2006.
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  30. "Bicknell fired after eight seasons at Louisiana Tech". ESPN. December 5, 2006. Archived from the original on December 15, 2006. Retrieved December 14, 2006.
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  33. Forde, Pat (January 9, 2007). "Louisville, Tulsa's Kragthorpe have agreement". ESPN. Archived from the original on January 16, 2007. Retrieved January 9, 2007.
  34. "Coker fired by Miami after .500 season". ESPN. November 25, 2006. Archived from the original on November 28, 2006. Retrieved December 8, 2006.
  35. "Defensive coordinator Shannon new Miami coach". ESPN. December 8, 2006. Archived from the original on December 12, 2006. Retrieved December 8, 2006.
  36. "Michigan State coach John L. Smith out after season". ESPN. November 2, 2006. Archived from the original on November 8, 2006. Retrieved December 8, 2006.
  37. "Minnesota fires coach Mason after bowl debacle". ESPN. December 31, 2006. Archived from the original on January 2, 2007. Retrieved December 31, 2006.
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  40. "Davis, eager to get to work, introduced in Chapel Hill". ESPN. November 27, 2006. Retrieved December 8, 2006.
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  42. "Dickey fired with 3 years remaining on contract". ESPN. November 8, 2006. Retrieved December 8, 2006.
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  45. "Rice hires Texas State's Bailiff as head coach". ESPN. January 18, 2007. Archived from the original on January 22, 2007. Retrieved January 19, 2007.
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  49. "Toledo replaces Scelfo at Tulane". ESPN. December 12, 2006. Retrieved December 14, 2006.
  50. Mark Schlabach (December 9, 2006). "UAB's Brown accepts job at Tennessee Tech (DI-AA)". ESPN. Archived from the original on January 25, 2007. Retrieved December 14, 2006.
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