2008 NCAA Division I FBS football season
The 2008 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.
The regular season began on August 28, 2008 and ended on December 6, 2008. The postseason concluded on January 8, 2009 with the BCS National Championship Game in Miami Gardens, Florida, which featured the top two teams ranked by the Bowl Championship Series : the #2 Florida Gators and #1 Oklahoma Sooners. Florida defeated Oklahoma by a score of 24–14 to win their second BCS title in three years and third overall national championship in school history. The Utah Utes were selected national champions by Anderson & Hester after beating the Alabama Crimson Tide in the 2009 Sugar Bowl, finishing the season as the nation's only undefeated team.
Rule changes
The NCAA football rules committee made rule changes for 2008, including the following:- Teams have 40 seconds from the time a ball is declared dead to snap the ball. The 25 second play clock will still be used for administrative stoppages and penalties.
- The 15 second play clock after a TV timeout is repealed and returned to 25 seconds.
- Outside of the final two minutes of each half, if a runner goes out of bounds, the game clock restarts after the ball is spotted.
- The penalty for kicking the ball out of bounds on the kickoff is increased, placing the ball at the 40-yard line, similar to the NFL.
- Reinforcing that contact that leads with the crown of the helmet to another player is a foul, penalized 15 yards.
- All face-mask penalties result in a 15-yard penalty. Incidental contact with the face mask is no longer penalized.
- Sideline warnings are now penalized five yards for the first two occurrences, and 15 yards for the third and subsequent violations. Previously the officials gave teams two warnings before a five-yard penalty was called.
- All horse-collar tackles are now subject to a 15-yard penalty.
- If a coach challenges a play, and he wins the challenge, then he is given a second challenge to use later in the game, but each coach has a maximum of two challenges per game even if both are decided in his favor.
Conference and program changes
| School | 2007 Conference | 2008 Conference |
| Western Kentucky Hilltoppers | FCS Independent | FBS Independent |
Most-watched regular season games
Conference standings
Conference champions
Conference championship games
Rankings reflect the Week 14 AP Poll before the games were played.| Date | Conference | Winner | Runner-Up | Score | Site | TV |
| December 6 | ACC | Virginia Tech | #18 Boston College | 30–12 | Raymond James Stadium Tampa, Florida | ABC |
| December 6 | Big 12 | #4 Oklahoma | #19 Missouri | 62–21 | Arrowhead Stadium Kansas City, Missouri | ABC |
| December 6 | Conference USA | East Carolina | Tulsa | 27–24 | Skelly Field at H. A. Chapman Stadium Tulsa, Oklahoma | ESPN2 |
| December 5 | MAC | Buffalo | #12 Ball State | 42–24 | Ford Field Detroit, Michigan | ESPN2 |
| December 6 | SEC | #2 Florida | #1 Alabama | 31–20 | Georgia Dome Atlanta, Georgia | CBS |
Other conference champions
Rankings are from the Week 15 AP Poll.| Conference | Champion |
| Big East | #12 Cincinnati |
| Big Ten | #6 Penn State |
| Mountain West | #7 Utah |
| Pac-10 | #5 USC |
| Sun Belt | Troy |
| WAC | #9 Boise State |
Bowl games
Winners are listed in boldface.Bowl Championship Series
After the completion of the regular season and conference championship games, seven teams had secured BCS berths: ACC champion Virginia Tech, Big East champion Cincinnati, Big Ten champion Penn State, Big 12 champion Oklahoma, Pac-10 champion USC, SEC champion Florida, and Mountain West champion Utah, who qualified as the highest-ranked BCS non-AQ conference champion. With Oklahoma and Florida being selected to play in the championship, Texas and Alabama assumed their conference's berths in the Fiesta and Sugar Bowls, respectively. The remaining at-large berth was awarded to Ohio State, who were selected despite being ranked #10 by the BCS, behind #9 Boise State. #7 Texas Tech did not receive an at-large bid because the Big 12 had already been awarded the maximum of two BCS selections per conference.| Bowl Game | Date | Visitor | Home | Score | TV |
| Rose Bowl Game presented by citi | January 1 | #5 USC | #8 Penn State | 38–24 | ABC |
| FedEx Orange Bowl | January 1 | #12 Cincinnati | #19 Virginia Tech | 7–20 | FOX |
| Allstate Sugar Bowl | January 2 | #6 Utah | #4 Alabama | 31–17 | FOX |
| Tostitos Fiesta Bowl | January 5 | #10 Ohio State | #3 Texas | 21–24 | FOX |
| FedEx BCS National Championship Game | January 8 | #2 Florida | #1 Oklahoma | 24–14 | FOX |
Other bowl games
[Bowl Challenge Cup] standings
Awards and honors
Heisman Trophy voting
The Heisman Trophy is given to the year's most outstanding player.- Winner: Sam Bradford, So., Oklahoma QB
- 2. Colt McCoy, Jr., Texas QB
- 3. Tim Tebow, Jr., Florida QB
- 4. Graham Harrell Sr., Texas Tech QB
- 5. Michael Crabtree, So., Texas Tech WR
Other major award winners
| Award | Winner |
| Walter Camp Award | Colt McCoy, Texas |
| Griffin Award | Colt McCoy, Texas |
| Maxwell Award | Tim Tebow, Florida |
Coaching
| Award | Winner |
| The Home Depot Coach of the Year Award | Nick Saban, Alabama |
| Associated Press Coach of the Year | Nick Saban, Alabama |
| Paul "Bear" Bryant Award | Kyle Whittingham, Utah |
| Liberty Mutual Coach of the Year Award | Nick Saban, Alabama |
| Eddie Robinson Coach of the Year | Nick Saban, Alabama |
| Walter Camp Coach of the Year | Nick Saban, Alabama |
| Broyles Award | Kevin Wilson, Oklahoma |
Offense
| Award | Winner |
| Dave Rimington Trophy | A. Q. Shipley, Penn State |
| Davey O'Brien Award | Sam Bradford, Oklahoma |
| Doak Walker Award | Shonn Greene, Iowa |
| Fred Biletnikoff Award | Michael Crabtree, Texas Tech |
| John Mackey Award | Chase Coffman, Missouri |
| Johnny Unitas Award | Graham Harrell, Texas Tech |
| Manning Award | Tim Tebow, Florida |
Defense
| Award | Winner |
| Bronko Nagurski Trophy | Brian Orakpo, Texas |
| Chuck Bednarik Award | Rey Maualuga, USC |
| Dick Butkus Award | Aaron Curry, Wake Forest |
| Lott Trophy | James Laurinaitis, Ohio State |
| Jim Thorpe Award | Malcolm Jenkins, Ohio State |
| Ted Hendricks Award | Brian Orakpo, Texas |
Lineman
| Award | Winner |
| Outland Trophy | Andre Smith, Alabama |
| Lombardi Award | Brian Orakpo, Texas |
Special Teams
| Award | Winner |
| Ray Guy Award | Matt Fodge, Oklahoma State |
| Lou Groza Award | Graham Gano, Florida State |
Other
| Award | Winner |
| Draddy Trophy | Alex Mack, California |
| Wuerffel Trophy | Tim Tebow, Florida |
All-Americans
;2008 Consensus All-America Team| Position | Name | Height | Weight | Class | Hometown | Team |
| QB | Sam Bradford | 6'4" | 223 | So. | Oklahoma City, Oklahoma | Oklahoma |
| RB | Shonn Greene | 5'11" | 235 | Sr. | Atco, New Jersey | Iowa |
| RB | Javon Ringer | 5'9" | 202 | Sr. | Dayton, Ohio | Michigan State |
| WR | Michael Crabtree | 6'3" | 214 | So. | Dallas, Texas | Texas Tech |
| WR | Dez Bryant | 6'2" | 225 | So. | Lufkin, Texas | Oklahoma State |
| TE | Chase Coffman | 6'6" | 244 | Sr. | Peculiar, Missouri | Missouri |
| T | Andre Smith | 6'4" | 330 | Jr. | Birmingham, Alabama | Alabama |
| T | Michael Oher | 6'5" | 322 | Sr. | Memphis, Tennessee | Mississippi |
| G | Duke Robinson | 6'5" | 329 | Sr. | Atlanta, Georgia | Oklahoma |
| G | Brandon Carter | 6'7" | 334 | Jr. | Longview, Texas | Texas Tech |
| C | Antoine Caldwell | 6'3" | 305 | Sr. | Montgomery, Alabama | Alabama |
| Position | Name | Height | Weight | Class | Hometown | Team |
| DE | Brian Orakpo | 6'3" | 263 | Sr. | Greenwood, Mississippi | Texas |
| DE | Aaron Maybin | 6'4" | 249 | Jr. | Baltimore, Maryland | Penn State |
| DT | Terrence Cody | 6'5" | 365 | Jr. | Fort Myers, Florida | Alabama |
| DE | Jerry Hughes | 6'3" | 257 | Jr. | Sugar Land, Texas | TCU |
| LB | Rey Maualuga | 6'2" | 260 | Sr. | Eureka, California | USC |
| LB | James Laurinaitis | 6'4" | 244 | Sr. | Wayzata, Minnesota | Ohio State |
| LB | Brandon Spikes | 6'3" | 249 | Jr. | Shelby, North Carolina | Florida |
| CB | Malcolm Jenkins | 6'0" | 204 | Sr. | Piscataway, New Jersey | Ohio State |
| CB | Alphonso Smith | 5'9" | 190 | Sr. | Pahokee, Florida | Wake Forest |
| Safety | Eric Berry | 6'0" | 211 | So. | Fairburn, Georgia | Tennessee |
| Safety | Taylor Mays | 6'3" | 230 | Jr. | Irving, Texas | USC |
| Position | Name | Height | Weight | Class | Hometown | Team |
| Kicker | Louie Sakoda | 5'9" | 175 | Sr. | San Jose, California | Utah |
| Punter | Kevin Huber | 6'1" | 214 | Sr. | Cincinnati, Ohio | Cincinnati |
| RS | Brandon James | 5'7" | 186 | Jr. | St. Augustine, Florida | Florida |
| RS | Jeremy Maclin | 6'0" | 198 | Jr. | Kirkwood, Missouri | Missouri |
Statistical leaders
- Team scoring most points: Oklahoma, 716
Coaching changes
Pre-season
In-season
End of season
Final rankings
| Rank | Associated Press | USA TODAY/AFCA* |
| 1 | Florida | Florida |
| 2 | Utah | Southern California |
| 3 | Southern California | Texas |
| 4 | Texas | Utah≠ |
| 5 | Oklahoma | Oklahoma |
| 6 | Alabama | Alabama |
| 7 | Texas Christian | Texas Christian |
| 8 | Penn State | Penn State |
| 9 | Ohio State | Oregon |
| 10 | Oregon | Georgia |
| 11 | Boise State | Ohio State |
| 12 | Texas Tech | Texas Tech |
| 13 | Georgia | Boise State |
| 14 | Mississippi | Virginia Tech |
| 15 | Virginia Tech | Mississippi |
| 16 | Oklahoma State | Missouri |
| 17 | Cincinnati | Cincinnati |
| 18 | Oregon State | Oklahoma State |
| 19 | Missouri | Oregon State |
| 20 | Iowa | Iowa |
| 21 | Florida State | Brigham Young |
| 22 | Georgia Tech | Georgia Tech |
| 23 | West Virginia | Florida State |
| 24 | Michigan State | Michigan State |
| 25 | Brigham Young | California |
≠ - Kyle Whittingham, head coach of Utah, broke the AFCA requirement and voted his team number one on his ballot.