Standings

Legend: left-to-right: W-L-T-PF-PA (Conference) W-L-T-PF-PA (All Games)

(C) Conference Champions (CT) Tied for Conference Championship + One Non-Conference Game Left ^ Ineligible for Conference Title.

Division 1A College Bowl Results 1988

*Game acted as National Championship Game (Notre Dame 11-0, #1 and West Virginia 11-0 #3 going into Game)

Report

In the National Collegiate Athletic Association Football Division 1A Championship in 1988, Auburn Tigers (6-1; 10-1) and Louisiana State Tigers (6-1; 8-3) tied for the SEC Southeastern Conference Championship; Clemson Tigers (6-1; 9-2) took the ACC Atlantic Coast Conference; Michigan Wolverines (7-0-1; 8-2-1) won the Big 10 in the Upper Midwest; Nebraska Cornhuskers (7-0; 11-1) were Big Eight Champions in the Prairie States; Arkansas Razorbacks (7-0; 10-1) were SWC Southwestern Conference winners; Wyoming Cowboys (8-0; 11-1) were the Champions of the Western Athletic Conference (WAC); and Southern California Trojans (8-0; 10-1) won the PAC 10 Pacific 10 Conference.

Notre Dame Fighting Irish (11-0) 714 Pts were Voted Number 1 with the College Bowl Games left.

The 1988 College Football Bowl Games in 1988, had Four Big Bowl Games: Cotton, Rose, Sugar and Orange. The Bowl Games participants are selected by the Conferences.

In 1947-48, the Rose Bowl became a Western Universities match-up between the winners of the Pacific Coast (now Pacific 10) and the Big Ten, always held in Pasadena, California. Michigan beat USC (Southern California) 22-14 in the 1988 Rose Bowl.

The Orange Bowl had a tendency at the time to match up the Country’s two best teams, for the unofficial title of “National Champion”. In 1988 Miami beat Nebraska 23-3.

The Cotton Bowl matches the Champions of the Southwest Conference with another top College from across the USA, and in 1988 UCLA (California-Los Angeles) were the invited team, and beat Arkansas 17-3.

The Sugar Bowl, like the Cotton Bowl, matches the Champions of the Southeastern Conference (SEC) with another top College from elsewhere in the United States and in 1988 Florida State (an Independent) beat Auburn (the SEC Champions) 13-7.

The Irish interest, Notre Dame Fighting Irish, from South Bend, Indiana, just outside Chicago, won the Fiesta Bowl, beating West Virginia Mountaineers 34-21. It was a match-up between the Top Ranked team as voted by Press Writers, and the Third Ranked Team, the only two undefeated teams in the Nation (Division 1A). The game was an unofficial National Championship Game, as there were no National Playoffs in Division 1A at the time, with only one Bowl Game for each of the top teams in each Conference. The National Champions were voted for by the Press after the Bowl games at the end of the season.

References

Newspapers

[1] Anon. (1988) “College Scoreline” First Down. December 3, 1988. pg. 21.

[2] Anon. (1988) “Laois man is big name in American Football” Leinster Express. March 5, 1988. pg. 11.

Bibliography

[3] Rowe, Pete (1989) “Guinness American Football: Records, Facts and Champions” Fifth Edition, 1989. Pg. 112. Published in Great Britain by Guinness Publishing Ltd. Enfield, Middlesex

Acknowledgements

Thanks to Todd Zboyan, and Tim Leadingham

About this document

Researched, compiled and written by Enda Mulcahy for the

Eirball | Irish North American and World Sports Archive

Last Updated: 3 May 2020

(c) Copyright Enda Mulcahy and Eirball 2020

You may quote this document in whole or part provided that proper acknowledgement is given to the authors. All Rights Reserved.