The 1989 NCAA Division I-A football season ended with Miami winning its third National Championship during the 1980s, cementing its claim as the decade's top team, winning more titles than any other program.
Notre Dame signed a six-year, $30 million deal with NBC, granting the network the exclusive rights to broadcast Notre Dame football. However, the deal would not start until 1991.
Florida State began 0âÂÂ2 but finished the season 10âÂÂ2, having beaten the National Champions Miami earlier in the season and beating Nebraska in the Fiesta Bowl.
Oklahoma coach Barry Switzer resigned June 19 after 16 seasons, during which he led the Sooners to three national championships (1974, 1975, 1985).
Michigan coach Bo Schembechler retired following the season. Steve Spurrier was hired by Florida away from Duke in an effort to clean up after a decade of NCAA sanctions.
Houston quarterback Andre Ware ran the run and shoot offense all the way to the Heisman Trophy and numerous records.
One team upgraded from Division I-AA and one resumed play after being suspended for two seasons, thus increasing the number of Division I-A teams from 104 to 106.
For the first time, the AP Poll ranked 25 teams rather than the previous 20. The first poll of the year featured Michigan at No. 1 and defending champion Notre Dame at No. 2, followed by No. 3 Nebraska, No. 4 Miami, and No. 5 USC.
August 31-September 4: No. 1 Michigan, No. 3 Nebraska, and No. 4 Miami were idle. No. 2 Notre Dame defeated Virginia 36âÂÂ13 in the Kickoff Classic, but No. 5 USC blew a late 13âÂÂ0 lead and lost 14âÂÂ13 to No. 22 Illinois. No. 8 Auburn, who was also idle this week, moved up in the next poll: No. 1 Notre Dame, No. 2 Michigan, No. 3 Miami, No. 4 Nebraska, and No. 5 Auburn.
September 9: No. 1 Notre Dame was idle, and No. 2 Michigan still had not begun their season. No. 3 Miami opened with a 51-3 domination of Wisconsin, No. 4 Nebraska beat Northern Illinois 48âÂÂ17, and No. 5 Auburn shut out Pacific 55âÂÂ0. The top five remained the same in the next poll.
September 16: For the fifth consecutive year, there was a regular-season game between the AP's top two teams. And for the second year in a row Notre Dame was the winner of that matchup, as the No. 1-ranked Fighting Irish defeated No. 2 Michigan 24-19 thanks to Rocket Ismail's two kickoff returns for touchdowns. Meanwhile, No. 3 Miami beat California 31âÂÂ3, No. 4 Nebraska won 42âÂÂ30 over Utah, and No. 5 Auburn defeated Southern Mississippi 24âÂÂ3. The top five in the next poll were No. 1 Notre Dame, No. 2 Miami, No. 3 Nebraska, No. 4 Auburn, and No. 5 Michigan.
September 23: No. 1 Notre Dame defeated Michigan State 21âÂÂ13, No. 2 Miami won 38âÂÂ7 at Missouri, and No. 3 Nebraska shut out Minnesota 48âÂÂ0. No. 4 Auburn was idle. No. 5 Michigan needed a late touchdown and a buzzer-beating field goal to beat No. 24 UCLA 24âÂÂ23, and the Wolverines fell out of the top five in the next poll. No. 6 Colorado did not play this weekend, but they met with a tragedy as quarterback Sal Aunese (who was the father of coach Bill McCartney's grandson, T.C.) died of stomach cancer. The Buffaloes moved up in the next poll: No. 1 Notre Dame, No. 2 Miami, No. 3 Nebraska, No. 4 Auburn, and No. 5 Colorado.
September 30: No. 1 Notre Dame beat their third straight Big Ten opponent, winning 40âÂÂ7 at Purdue. Michigan State had to play a top-two team for the second week in a row, and the Spartans fell 26âÂÂ20 to No. 2 Miami. No. 3 Nebraska defeated Oregon State 35âÂÂ7, but No. 4 Auburn lost 21âÂÂ14 at No. 12 Tennessee. Just days after Aunese's funeral, No. 5 Colorado traveled to Seattle and won 45âÂÂ28 over No. 21 Washington. No. 6 Michigan beat Maryland 41âÂÂ21 to move back into the top five: No. 1 Notre Dame, No. 2 Miami, No. 3 Colorado, No. 4 Nebraska, and No. 5 Michigan.
October 7: No. 1 Notre Dame won 27âÂÂ17 at Stanford, No. 2 Miami overwhelmed Cincinnati 56âÂÂ0, No. 3 Colorado crushed Missouri 49âÂÂ3, No. 4 Nebraska dominated Kansas State 58âÂÂ7, and No. 5 Michigan blanked Wisconsin 24âÂÂ0. The top five remained the same in the next poll.
October 14: No. 1 Notre Dame visited No. 17 Air Force and won 41âÂÂ27. Gino Torretta, subbing for the injured Craig Erickson, set a school record with 468 passing yards in No. 2 Miami's 48âÂÂ16 win over San Jose State. No. 3 Colorado won 52âÂÂ17 at Iowa State, No. 4 Nebraska beat Missouri 50âÂÂ7, and No. 5 Michigan squeaked past No. 21 Michigan State 10âÂÂ7. The top five again remained the same in the next poll.
October 21: No. 1 Notre Dame came back from a 10-point halftime deficit to pull out a 28âÂÂ24 victory over No. 9 USC. No. 2 Miami was idle. No. 3 Colorado beat Kansas 49âÂÂ17, No. 4 Nebraska won 48âÂÂ23 at Oklahoma State, and No. 5 Michigan defeated Iowa 26âÂÂ12. The top five once again remained the same.
October 28: No. 1 Notre Dame defeated No. 7 Pittsburgh 45âÂÂ7. No. 2 Miami visited No. 9 Florida State, whom they had defeated 31âÂÂ0 in 1988, and FSU took revenge with a 24âÂÂ10 victory. No. 3 Colorado won 20âÂÂ3 over Oklahoma; the Sooners were entering a down period after a series of off-field scandals and the forced resignation of longtime coach Barry Switzer. No. 4 Nebraska beat Iowa State 49âÂÂ17, and No. 5 Michigan defeated Indiana 38âÂÂ10. In a matchup between No. 6 Alabama and No. 14 Penn State, the Nittany Lions had the ball inside the one-yard line with 13 seconds left. Penn State coach Joe Paterno elected to go for a field goal rather than a touchdown, but the kick was blocked and Alabama won the game 17âÂÂ16. The next poll featured No. 1 Notre Dame, No. 2 Colorado, No. 3 Nebraska, No. 4 Michigan, and No. 5 Alabama.
November 4: No. 1 Notre Dame shut out Navy 41âÂÂ0. No. 2 Colorado made it two wins in two weeks against Big 8 powerhouses, preserving a 27âÂÂ21 victory over No. 3 Nebraska with a last-second deflection in the end zone. No. 4 Michigan defeated Purdue 42âÂÂ27, No. 5 Alabama beat Mississippi State 23âÂÂ10, and No. 6 Florida State won 35âÂÂ10 over South Carolina. The next poll featured No. 1 Notre Dame, No. 2 Colorado, No. 3 Michigan, No. 4 Alabama, and No. 5 Florida State.
November 11: No. 1 Notre Dame overwhelmed SMU 59âÂÂ6, one of many blowout losses for the Mustangs in their first year back from an NCAA-imposed "death penalty" (they had allowed a record-setting 1,021 yards of offense in a 95âÂÂ21 loss to Houston three weeks earlier). No. 2 Colorado won 41âÂÂ17 at Oklahoma State to clinch the Big 8 title and a spot in the Orange Bowl; this was the first time since 1961 that a team other than Oklahoma or Nebraska had won an outright Big 8 championship. No. 3 Michigan visited No. 8 Illinois for a 24âÂÂ10 victory, No. 4 Alabama defeated LSU 32âÂÂ16, and No. 5 Florida State was idle. The top five remained the same in the next poll.
November 18: No. 1 Notre Dame won 34âÂÂ23 at No. 17 Penn State. No. 2 Colorado finished an undefeated regular season with a 59âÂÂ11 victory at Kansas State, which finished 1-10 under first-year coach Bill Snyder. No. 3 Michigan beat Minnesota 49âÂÂ15, No. 4 Alabama defeated Southern Mississippi 37âÂÂ14, and No. 5 Florida State won 57âÂÂ20 over Memphis. The Pac-10 race was decided this weekend, as No. 9 USC topped No. 25 Arizona 24âÂÂ3 to clinch a Rose Bowl berth. The top five again remained the same in the next poll.
November 25: Notre Dame's most famous victory in their 1988 championship season was their upset of then-No. 1 Miami in the âÂÂCatholics vs. Convictsâ game. This year's rematch had the opposite result, as the No. 7-ranked Hurricanes upset the top-rated Fighting Irish 27âÂÂ10. No. 2 Colorado had finished their schedule. No. 3 Michigan wrapped up the Big Ten championship and earned a Rose Bowl bid with a 28âÂÂ18 defeat of No. 20 Ohio State, while No. 4 Alabama and No. 5 Florida State were idle. No. 9 Arkansas held off No. 14 Texas A&M 23âÂÂ22 to win the SWC title and a spot in the Cotton Bowl. The next poll featured No. 1 Colorado, No. 2 Alabama, No. 3 Michigan, No. 4 Miami, and No. 5 Notre Dame.
December 2: No. 2 Alabama was undefeated going into the last game of the season, but a 30âÂÂ20 loss to No. 11 Auburn in the Iron Bowl spoiled their perfect record and caused the two rivals to finish in a three-way tie for the SEC title with No. 8 Tennessee. Despite their loss, Alabama was picked to represent the conference in the Sugar Bowl. No. 6 Florida State finished their season with a ninth consecutive win after an 0âÂÂ2 start, defeating Florida 24âÂÂ17. The other major teams had already completed their schedules, and the final poll of the regular season featured No. 1 Colorado, No. 2 Miami, No. 3 Michigan, No. 4 Notre Dame, and No. 5 Florida State.
As sometimes happened in the days before the NCAA had a formal process to pick the national champion, the title was affected by an early bowl game selection. Assuming that Notre Dame would defeat Miami and finish the season at the top of the poll, the Orange Bowl organizers set up what they hoped would be a No. 1 vs. No. 2 game between the Fighting Irish and Colorado. When Notre Dame dropped in the polls after their loss, the Orange Bowl ended up being No. 1 vs. No. 4 with other teams still in contention for the championship. Miami, the actual No. 2 team at the end of the season, ended up playing No. 7 Alabama in the Sugar Bowl. The other major matchups were No. 3 Michigan against No. 12 USC in the Rose Bowl, No. 5 Florida State against No. 6 Nebraska in the Fiesta, and No. 8 Tennessee against No. 10 Arkansas in the Cotton.
Italics denotes I-AA teams.
New Year's Day Bowls:
Other Bowls:
The Heisman Trophy is given to the year's most outstanding player
Average home attendance top 3:
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