The 1993 NCAA Division I-A football season began in August 1993 and concluded in January 1994, which saw Florida State crowned national champions, even though Notre Dame was ranked next to them and had a head to head win against them.
Under the Bowl Coalition, undefeated Big 8 champ and No. 2 ranked Nebraska hosted ACC champ and No. 1 ranked Florida State in the Orange Bowl. This produced a clear champion in the Coaches Poll and the AP poll, despite Florida State's loss to Notre Dame 31âÂÂ24 during the regular season, in a game known by many as the "Game of the Century". This much hyped clash between No. 1 and No. 2 was the site of the first ever "live" broadcast of the ESPN College GameDay show and did not fail to live up to expectations as Irish defensive back Shawn Wooden batted down a Charlie Ward pass in the end zone with three seconds left to play. Despite the win over Florida State, Notre Dame's title chances ended the very next week when the Fighting Irish lost to No. 17 Boston College. Further controversy surrounded the inclusion of one-loss Florida State in the national title game over undefeated West Virginia, who was ranked No. 2 (ahead of Florida State) by the final regular season coaches' poll but not the AP (Nebraska was No. 2 in the AP).
Despite beating Florida State in the regular season, Notre Dame finished No. 2 in the two major polls. Florida State, during the 1993 regular season played No. 2 Notre Dame, No. 3 Nebraska, No. 15 Miami, No. 5 Florida, No. 19 North Carolina, and No. 23 Clemson. FSU went 3âÂÂ1 vs top 7 teams while playing only 1 home game in the 4 contests. The Auburn Tigers had an 11âÂÂ0 record but due to previous NCAA violations, they were not allowed to play in the SEC title contest or a bowl game, and were not included in the Coaches' poll (Auburn was part of the AP poll, and finished the year as the 4th ranked team in the country).
Florida State's Charlie Ward threw for 3,032 yards, completed 70 percent of his passes and became the first player to win the Heisman Trophy and the national championship in the same season since Pittsburgh's Tony Dorsett in 1976.
Five teams changed conferences and one team dropped its football team prior to the season. As such, the total number of Division I-A schools decreased to 106.
The preseason AP Poll featured Florida State at No. 1 and defending champion Alabama at No. 2, followed by No. 3 Michigan, No. 4 Texas A&M, and No. 5 Miami.
August 28: No. 1 Florida State shut out Kansas 42âÂÂ0 in the Kickoff Classic. None of the other top teams had started their schedules, but Miami moved up to tie Michigan at No. 3 in the next poll, with Texas A&M falling to No. 5.
September 4: No. 1 Florida State won 45âÂÂ7 at Duke, No. 2 Alabama defeated Tulane 31âÂÂ17, No. 3 Michigan beat Washington State 41âÂÂ14, fellow No. 3 Miami visited No 20 Boston College for a 23âÂÂ7 victory, and No. 5 Texas A&M shut out LSU 24âÂÂ0. Miami dropped back to No. 4 in the next poll, with the other top teams remaining the same.
September 11: No. 1 Florida State dominated No. 21 Clemson 57-0 and No. 2 Alabama won 17âÂÂ6 at Vanderbilt, but No. 3 Michigan fell 27âÂÂ23 to No. 11 Notre Dame. No. 4 Miami was idle, while No. 5 Texas A&M lost 44âÂÂ14 at No. 17 Oklahoma. No. 8 Tennessee beat No. 22 Georgia 38-6 and moved up in the next poll: No. 1 Florida State, No. 2 Alabama, No. 3 Miami, No. 4 Notre Dame, and No. 5 Tennessee.
September 18: No. 1 Florida State visited No. 13 North Carolina and won 33âÂÂ7. No. 2 Alabama defeated Arkansas 43âÂÂ3, No. 3 Miami beat Virginia Tech 21âÂÂ2, and No. 4 Notre Dame won 36âÂÂ14 over Michigan State. No. 5 Tennessee fell 41âÂÂ34 to No. 9 Florida, who replaced them in the next poll: No. 1 Florida State, No. 2 Alabama, No. 3 Miami, No. 4 Notre Dame, and No. 5 Florida.
September 25: No. 1 Florida State and No. 5 Florida were idle. No. 2 Alabama blasted Louisiana Tech 56âÂÂ3. No. 3 Miami held off No. 13 Colorado 35âÂÂ29 in a game which featured a benches-clearing brawl near the end of the first half. No. 4 Notre Dame shut out Purdue 17âÂÂ0, and the top five remained the same in the next poll.
October 2: No. 1 Florida State continued their string of blowout victories with a 51-0 annihilation of Georgia Tech. No. 2 Alabama won 17âÂÂ6 at South Carolina, No. 3 Miami beat Georgia Southern 30âÂÂ7, No. 4 Notre Dame visited Stanford for a 48âÂÂ20 victory, and No. 5 Florida defeated Mississippi State 38âÂÂ24. The top five again remained the same in the next poll.
October 9: No. 1 Florida State had outscored their first five opponents by a total of 228âÂÂ14, but their next foe would be No. 3 Miami, who had defeated them in heartbreaking fashion in both 1991 and 1992. This time, the Seminoles finally prevailed with a 28âÂÂ10 victory. No. 2 Alabama was idle, No. 4 Notre Dame shut out Pittsburgh 44âÂÂ0, No. 5 Florida won 58âÂÂ3 at LSU, and No. 6 Ohio State was a 20âÂÂ12 victor at Illinois. The next poll featured No. 1 Florida State, No. 2 Alabama, No. 3 Notre Dame, No. 4 Florida, and No. 5 Ohio State.
October 16: No. 1 Florida State defeated No. 15 Virginia 40âÂÂ14. No. 2 Alabama trailed No. 10 Tennessee late in the fourth quarter, but put together a game-ending 83-yard drive to salvage a 17âÂÂ17 tie. No. 3 Notre Dame won 45âÂÂ20 at Brigham Young. In another SEC nailbiter, No. 4 Florida fell 38âÂÂ35 to No. 19 Auburn on a late field goal. No. 5 Ohio State beat No. 25 Michigan State 28âÂÂ21, and No. 6 Nebraska defeated Kansas State 45âÂÂ28. The next poll featured No. 1 Florida State, No. 2 Notre Dame, No. 3 Ohio State, No. 4 Alabama, and No. 5 Nebraska.
October 23: No. 1 Florida State was idle, No. 2 Notre Dame defeated USC 31âÂÂ13, and No. 3 Ohio State won 45âÂÂ24 at Purdue. No. 4 Alabama overcame an injury to quarterback Jay Barker and beat Mississippi 19âÂÂ14. No. 5 Nebraska overwhelmed Missouri 49âÂÂ7, but No. 6 Miami was even more impressive in a 49âÂÂ0 shutout of Syracuse. The Hurricanes moved up in the next poll: No. 1 Florida State, No. 2 Notre Dame, No. 3 Ohio State, No. 4 Miami, and No. 5 Alabama.
October 30: No. 1 Florida State shut out Wake Forest 55âÂÂ0, No. 2 Notre Dame defeated Navy 58âÂÂ27, No. 3 Ohio State beat No. 12 Penn State 24âÂÂ6, No. 4 Miami won 42âÂÂ7 over Temple, and No. 5 Alabama blanked Southern Mississippi 40âÂÂ0. The top five remained the same in the next poll.
November 6: No. 1 Florida State won 49âÂÂ20 at Maryland. No. 2 Notre Dame was idle. No. 3 Ohio State blocked a last-second field goal to come away with a 14âÂÂ14 tie against No. 15 Wisconsin. No. 4 Miami won 35âÂÂ7 at Pittsburgh. No. 5 Alabama carried a 31-game unbeaten streak into their game against LSU, but the Crimson Tide threw four second-half interceptions to enable a 17âÂÂ13 victory for the Tigers. No. 6 Nebraska was taken down to the wire by Kansas, but the Cornhuskers stopped a Jayhawks two-point conversion to preserve a 21âÂÂ20 win and move back into the top five: No. 1 Florida State, No. 2 Notre Dame, No. 3 Miami, No. 4 Nebraska, and No. 5 Ohio State.
November 13: Up to this point, No. 1 Florida State had defeated all nine of their opponents by 18 points or more, but now they would face their toughest test in a âÂÂGame of the Centuryâ against No. 2 Notre Dame. The Irish stunned the Seminoles by running off 24 consecutive points after an early Florida State touchdown, and they still led 31âÂÂ17 with a few minutes left to play. But FSU quarterback Charlie Ward led the Seminoles on a rapid drive which resulted in a touchdown pass on 4th-and-20, and the Irish went three-and-out on the next possession. Getting the ball back with less than a minute left, Florida State made it all the way to Notre Dame's 14-yard line, but Ward's last-second desperation pass was knocked away, and the Irish prevailed 31âÂÂ24. Meanwhile, No. 3 Miami defeated Rutgers 31âÂÂ17, No. 4 Nebraska beat Iowa State 49âÂÂ17 to clinch the Big 8 title and an Orange Bowl berth, and No. 5 Ohio State won 23âÂÂ17 over Indiana. The next poll featured No. 1 Notre Dame, No. 2 Florida State, No. 3 Nebraska, No. 4 Miami, and No. 5 Ohio State.
November 20: As No. 1 Notre Dame went into their season-ending game against No. 17 Boston College (a team which they had beaten 54-7 the previous year), the only uncertainty seemed to be whether their national championship opponent should be Nebraska in the Orange Bowl or Florida State in a rematch. However, the Eagles shocked the Irish by dominating the first three quarters, and BC held a 38âÂÂ17 lead early in the fourth. Notre Dame responded with a frantic comeback, scoring 22 points in 11 minutes to go back on top by a single point. But, just as Florida State had done the previous week, Boston College went on one last drive into Notre Dame territory. This time the Irish were not able to make the stop, as walk-on kicker David Gordon hit a last-second field goal to give the Eagles a 41âÂÂ39 win. No. 2 Florida State bounced back with a 62-3 domination of North Carolina State, and No. 3 Nebraska was idle. No. 4 Miami suffered a 17âÂÂ14 loss at No. 9 West Virginia; the Mountaineers, who had started the season unranked, improved their record to 10âÂÂ0. No. 5 Ohio State needed a win over unranked Michigan to clinch the Big Ten title and their first Rose Bowl berth in nine years. Instead, the Buckeyes threw interceptions on four straight possessions and failed to reach the Wolverinesâ 20-yard line at any point in the game. Michigan's 28âÂÂ0 win put No. 12 Wisconsin, who held the tiebreaker advantage over Ohio State, in line for a trip to Pasadena. No. 6 Auburn defeated No. 11 Alabama 22âÂÂ14 in the Iron Bowl; the Tigers finished the season with a perfect 11âÂÂ0 record, but were ineligible for postseason play due to recruiting violations. The next poll featured No. 1 Florida State, No. 2 Nebraska, No. 3 Auburn, No. 4 Notre Dame, and No. 5 West Virginia.
November 26âÂÂ27: No. 1 Florida State won 33âÂÂ21 at No. 7 Florida, and No. 2 Nebraska defeated No. 16 Oklahoma 21âÂÂ7. No. 3 Auburn and No. 4 Notre Dame had finished their schedules. No. 11 Boston College almost pulled off another upset, but No. 5 West Virginia came back from an 11-point fourth quarter deficit to win 17-14 and complete their undefeated season. The Mountaineers moved up in the next AP Poll: No. 1 Florida State, No. 2 Nebraska, No. 3 West Virginia, No. 4 Auburn, and No. 5 Notre Dame. The Coachesâ Poll disagreed with the AP's ordering of the top teams, choosing Nebraska for No. 1, West Virginia for No. 2, and Florida State for No. 3.
With No. 4 Auburn ineligible, No. 16 Alabama represented the SEC Western Division in the conference championship game on December 4. No. 9 Florida took revenge for the previous year's defeat with a 28âÂÂ13 victory, earning the Gators a trip to the Sugar Bowl. Even though the top teams had already finished their schedule, the AP voters slightly shuffled their order in the final poll of the regular season: No. 1 Florida State, No. 2 Nebraska, No. 3 West Virginia, No. 4 Notre Dame, and No. 5 Auburn. The Coachesâ Poll remained the same.
Undefeated Nebraska was assured of a spot in the national championship game. The organizers chose Florida State as the Cornhuskers' Orange Bowl opponent, feeling that the Seminolesâ pattern of dominant victories outweighed Notre Dame's head-to-head win and West Virginia's undefeated record. (Florida State had easily beaten Miami and Maryland, two teams which the Mountaineers struggled to beat.) Notre Dame would face No. 7 Texas A&M, the SWC champion, in the Cotton Bowl, while West Virginia squared off against No. 8 Florida in the Sugar Bowl. The major bowl matchups were rounded out by No. 9 Wisconsin against No. 14 UCLA in the Rose and No. 10 Miami against No. 16 Arizona in the Fiesta.
Italics denotes I-AA teams.
Florida State's Seminoles were the unanimous choice for No. 1 beginning with the October 19 poll and the three after that, receiving all 62 votes. After Notre Dame's 31âÂÂ24 defeat of Florida State on November 13, Notre Dame got all 62 first place votes in the next poll.
In 1993, the Alamo Bowl played its inaugural game. Additionally, the Sunshine Classic was no longer sponsored by Blockbuster Entertainment, and was renamed the Carquest Bowl.
The Heisman Trophy is given to the year's most outstanding player
Average home attendance top 3:
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