2003 NCAA Division I-A football season


The 2003 NCAA Division I-A football season ended with an abundance of controversy, resulting in the claim of a split national championship. This was the first claimed split title since the inception of the BCS, something the BCS intended to eliminate. Due to on-field circumstances, the BCS becoming a means of having a single champion going forward, and finally the four-team title playoff system's institution in 2014, as of 2025 this is the most recent Division 1-A season to end with split national champions between the AP Poll and Coaches Poll. Several teams have been selected National Champions by designated selectors such as 2017 UCF and 2024 Oregon.
At season's end, three BCS Automatic Qualifying conference teams finished the regular season with one loss, with only two spots available in the BCS National Championship Game. Three BCS Non-Automatic Qualifying conference teams also finished with one loss, TCU, Boise State and [2003 Miami Hurricanes football|Miami RedHawks football team|Miami (OH)], stirring the debate of the BCS being unfair to BCS Non-AQ conference teams.
LSU defeated Oklahoma in the 2004 Sugar Bowl, securing the BCS National Championship, as the ESPN/USA Today Coaches' Poll was contractually obligated to vote the winner of the BCS National Championship Game No. 1, although three coaches violated this agreement by keeping USC atop their ballots. Meanwhile, when AP No. 1 USC beat [2003 2003 Michigan Wolverines football team|Michigan Wolverines football team|Michigan] in the 2004 Rose Bowl, the AP voters kept USC in the top spot.
Army became the first team in NCAA Division I-A football modern history to finish the season 0–13.
The Home Depot Coach of the Year Award sponsored by ESPN chose USC coach Pete Carroll as their award recipient, while the Paul "Bear" Bryant Award, voted on by an association of sportswriters, chose LSU coach Nick Saban.
The Orange Bowl game was noteworthy in that Miami and [2003 2003 Florida Gators football team|Florida State Seminoles football team|Florida State] previously had scheduled to play each other on Labor Day in 2004 in Miami's first game as a member of the Atlantic Coast Conference. Playing in the Orange Bowl ensured that their next meeting would be each of their very next games and their first of the 2004 season.

BCS selection process controversy

USC had lost in triple overtime at [2003 2003 California Golden Bears football team|California Golden Bears football team|California] on September 27, LSU lost at home to Florida on October 11, and Oklahoma, which had been No. 1 in every BCS rating, AP and Coaches' Poll of the season, lost to [2003 2003 Kansas Jayhawks football team|Kansas State Wildcats football team|Kansas State] in the Big 12 Championship Game, 35–7 on December 6. Although USC, then 11–1, finished ranked No. 1 in both the AP and Coaches' Polls, with LSU ranked No. 2 and Oklahoma No. 3, Oklahoma surpassed both USC and LSU on several BCS computer factors. Oklahoma's schedule strength was ranked 11th to LSU's 29th and USC's 37th. Oklahoma's schedule rank was 0.44 to LSU's 1.16 and USC's 1.48. As such, although the timing of Oklahoma's loss affected the human voters, the computers kept Oklahoma at No. 1 in the BCS poll. LSU was ranked No. 2 by the BCS based on its No. 2 ranking in the AP Poll, Coaches' Poll, six of seven computer rankings, and strength-of-schedule calculations. USC's No. 3 BCS ranking resulted from its No. 1 AP ranking, No. 1 Coaches' Poll ranking, and No. 3 ranking in five of seven computer rankings, and schedule strength, though separated by only 0.16 points.
Ted Waitt, CEO of Gateway Computers, offered the NCAA $31 million for a national championship game between USC and Louisiana State.

Rules changes

The NCAA Rules Committee adopted the following rules changes for the 2003 season:
  • The "Halo Rule" is abolished. The penalty for kick-catch interference remains at 15 yards if the returner is contacted before he has a chance to catch the punt/kick.
  • Backs not positioned within the "tackle box" are prohibited from blocking below the waist anywhere behind the scrimmage line, and up to a point 10 yards downfield.
  • The game clock will start on all kickoffs once touched in the field of play, repealing a rule change adopted in the 1997 season where the clock started on the kick.
  • Giving the offended team the option to enforce all personal fouls committed during and after a touchdown play either on the PAT or on the ensuing kickoff.

Conference and program changes

No teams upgraded from Division I-AA, leaving the number of Division I-A schools fixed at 117.
School2002 Conference2003 Conference
South Florida BullsI-A IndependentConference USA
Utah State AggiesI-A IndependentSun Belt

Regular season top 10 matchups

Rankings reflect the AP Poll. Rankings for Week 8 and beyond will list BCS Rankings first and AP Poll second. Teams that failed to be a top 10 team for one poll or the other will be noted.
  • Week 1
  • *No. 8 USC defeated No. 6 Auburn, 23–0
  • Week 6
  • *No. 2 Miami defeated No. 5 Florida State, 22–14
  • Week 7
  • *No. 8 [2003 2003 Ohio State Buckeyes football team|Ohio State Buckeyes football team|Ohio State] defeated No. 9 [2003 2003 Iowa Hawkeyes football team|Iowa Hawkeyes football team|Iowa], 19–10
  • Week 9
  • *No. 4/3 USC defeated No. 8/6 Washington State, 43–16
  • *No. 16/10 [2003 2003 Virginia Tech Hokies football team|Virginia Tech Hokies football team|Virginia Tech] defeated No. 2/2 Miami, 31–7
  • Week 12
  • *No. 9/5 Michigan defeated No. 2/4 Ohio State, 35–21
  • Week 14
  • *No. 3/3 LSU defeated No. 7/5 [2003 2003 Georgia Bulldogs football team|Georgia Bulldogs football team|Georgia], 34–13

I-AA team wins over I-A teams

Italics denotes I-AA teams.

Bowl Championship Series rankings

WEEKNo. 1No. 2EVENT
OCT 20OklahomaMiami
OCT 27OklahomaMiami[2003 2003 Virginia Cavaliers football team|Virginia Tech Hokies football team|Virginia Tech] 31, Miami 7
NOV 3OklahomaUSC
NOV 10OklahomaUSC
NOV 17OklahomaOhio StateMichigan 35, Ohio State 21
NOV 24OklahomaUSC
DEC 1OklahomaUSCLSU 34, Georgia 13
FINALOklahomaLSU

Bowl games

''Rankings given are AP poll positions at time of game''

BCS bowls

Other January bowls

December Bowl games

Final AP Poll

Others receiving votes: 26. Oklahoma State 109, 27. Arkansas 73, 28. Virginia 36, 29. Northern Illinois 30, 30. Auburn 8, 30. Oregon State 8, 32. Pittsburgh 7, 32. N.C. State 7, 34. West Virginia 4, 35. Connecticut 2.

Final Coaches Poll

Three coaches voted for USC as the No. 1 team, even though the polled coaches are required to vote the BCS champion as No. 1. Because the votes were not public, it is not known which three coaches placed those votes. However, it is known that USC coach Pete Carroll could not have voted for his own team since he was not a voting coach that season.
Also receiving votes
Northern Illinois 80; Arkansas 74; Oklahoma State 63; Auburn 20; North Carolina State 17; Oregon State 15; West Virginia 14; Southern Mississippi 12; Fresno State 6; Hawaii 6; Pittsburgh 5; Texas Tech 4; Marshall 3; Virginia 3; Boston College 2; California 1; Connecticut 1; Memphis 1; Michigan State Spartans 1; Missouri 1; North Texas 1.

Heisman Trophy voting

The Heisman Trophy is given to the year's most outstanding player
PlayerSchoolPosition1st2nd3rdTotal
Jason WhiteOklahomaQB3192041161,481
Larry FitzgeraldPittsburghWR2532331281,353
Eli ManningOle MissQB95132161710
Chris PerryMichiganRB2766128341
Darren SprolesKansas StateRB153029134
Matt LeinartUSCQB52758127
Philip RiversNC StateQB182024118
Mike WilliamsUSCWR12121878
Ben RoethlisbergerMiami (OH)QB591447
B. J. SymonsTexas TechQB172138

Other major awards

Attendances

#TeamGTotalAverage
1Michigan7776,429110,918
2Penn State7739,403105,629
3Tennessee7735,269105,038
4Ohio State8838,963104,870
5Georgia6552,34892,058
6LSU7636,81790,974
7Florida6541,06090,177
8Auburn7596,42285,203
9Texas6500,03483,339
10Oklahoma7582,41383,202
11Florida State6498,89583,149
12Alabama8659,10682,388
13South Carolina8646,75480,844
14Notre Dame6484,77080,795
15Wisconsin7549,40478,486
16Southern California6466,82477,804
17Nebraska7544,27677,754
18Texas A&M7533,70376,243
19Clemson7532,55176,079
20Michigan State7509,81172,830
21Washington7503,34171,906
22Iowa7460,58465,798
23Kentucky7454,45764,922
24Arkansas7445,11963,588
25Virginia Tech7434,21462,031
26Brigham Young6369,00361,501
27Virginia6362,54560,424
28Pittsburgh6355,18359,197
29Purdue7410,17658,597
30Miami Hurricanes7406,94658,135
31Oregon6346,20757,701
32UCLA6339,81356,636
33Mississippi7395,56156,509
34Arizona State6325,48854,248
35Missouri6319,72153,287
36North Carolina State7372,91953,274
37Georgia Tech6317,17252,862
38West Virginia7365,43652,205
39Maryland6307,41851,236
40Colorado6302,53850,423
41Texas Tech6297,65049,608
42Illinois6288,58148,097
43Mississippi State6286,00047,667
44North Carolina6282,80047,133
45Kansas State8376,87847,110
46Oklahoma State7314,10744,872
47Stanford6269,22144,870
48Iowa State7313,75744,822
49Minnesota7309,03844,148
50Arizona7299,35242,765
51Boston College6255,62242,604
52Syracuse7288,23841,177
53Hawaii7285,54040,791
54Louisville6240,27940,047
55Air Force6235,25939,210
56Kansas7271,25138,750
57Memphis7270,67338,668
58Fresno State6231,61838,603
59California6229,83138,305
60Connecticut6222,35637,059
61Army7255,60536,515
62TCU6216,93136,155
63Oregon State7252,99336,142
64Utah6210,80135,134
65Indiana6209,90034,983
66Washington State5166,65333,331
67New Mexico7232,73733,248
68East Carolina6198,07333,012
69Colorado State6183,78630,631
70South Florida6183,06930,512
71Navy5149,68229,936
72Baylor7208,96029,851
73Northwestern6172,57828,763
74Southern Miss6171,87028,645
75Vanderbilt7197,97728,282
76Wake Forest7197,91128,273
77Boise State6168,59028,098
78Marshall5139,18627,837
79Rutgers6164,03227,339
80Tulane6153,80825,635
81Miami RedHawks5125,66125,132
82Toledo6147,82024,637
83UNLV6146,19124,365
84UCF5121,57424,315
85Temple5120,68724,137
86Northern Illinois7165,02623,575
87UAB5116,19023,238
88San Diego State6135,66922,612
89Nevada6133,54622,258
90Tulsa6132,78922,132
91Cincinnati6131,76621,961
92Houston6130,84421,807
93Bowling Green7147,01321,002
94Troy State483,59620,899
95Louisiana Tech5103,89020,778
96Rice6123,07120,512
97Duke7140,18120,026
98UTEP7140,06520,009
99North Texas593,46918,694
100Western Michigan6110,87218,479
101Arkansas State587,43917,488
102Southern Methodist6104,60917,435
103New Mexico State580,34316,069
104Ohio694,94415,824
105Wyoming694,21415,702
106San Jose State575,39815,080
107Utah State574,60414,921
108Louisiana-Lafayette683,97013,995
109Central Michigan683,44213,907
110Akron682,86913,812
111Buffalo674,51312,419
112Ball State674,03412,339
113Idaho560,31912,064
114Louisiana-Monroe556,49211,298
115Eastern Michigan778,80811,258
116Middle Tennessee666,12711,021
117Kent State651,1448,524

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