2002–03 NCAA football bowl games

The 2002–03 NCAA football bowl games were a series of 28 post-season games (including the Bowl Championship Series) played in December 2002 and January 2003 for Division I-A football teams and their all-stars. The post-season began with the New Orleans Bowl on December 17, 2002, and concluded on February 1, 2003, with the season-ending Hula Bowl.

2002–03 NCAA football bowl games
Season	2002
Number of bowls	28
All-star games	5
Bowl games	December 17, 2002 – January 3, 2003
National Championship	2003 Fiesta Bowl
Location of Championship	Sun Devil Stadium, Tempe, Arizona
Champions	Ohio State Buckeyes
Bowl Challenge Cup winner	Big Ten[1]
Bowl record by conference Conference Bowls Record Final AP Poll Big 12 8 5–3 (0.625) 4 ACC 7 4–3 (0.571) 4 Big Ten 7 5–2 (0.714) 4 Pac-10 7 2–5 (0.286) 2 SEC 7 3–4 (0.429) 3 Big East 5 3–2 (0.600) 4 Conference USA 5 2–3 (0.400) 1 Mountain West 3 0–3 (0.000) 0 WAC 3 2–1 (0.667) 1 MAC 2 1–1 (0.500) 1 Sun Belt 1 1–0 (1.000) 0 Independents 1 0–1 (0.000) 1

A new record of 28 team-competitive bowls, and two all-star games, were played, including the inaugural Continental Tire Bowl, Hawaii Bowl and San Francisco Bowl. To fill the 56 available team-competitive bowl slots, a total of three teams with non-winning seasons participated in bowl games—all three had a .500 (6–6) season.

Poll rankings

The below table lists top teams (per polls taken after the completion of the regular season and any conference championship games), their win-loss records (prior to bowl games), and the bowls they later played in. The AP column represents rankings per the AP Poll,[2] while the BCS column represents the Bowl Championship Series rankings.[3]

AP	BCS	Team	W–L	Bowl
1	1	Miami Hurricanes	12–0	Fiesta Bowl
2	2	Ohio State Buckeyes	13–0	Fiesta Bowl
3	5	Iowa Hawkeyes	11–1	Orange Bowl
4	3	Georgia Bulldogs	12–1	Sugar Bowl
5	4	USC Trojans	10–2	Orange Bowl
6	8	Kansas State Wildcats	10–2	Holiday Bowl
7	6	Washington State Cougars	10–2	Rose Bowl
8	7	Oklahoma Sooners	11–2	Rose Bowl
9	10	Texas Longhorns	10–2	Cotton Bowl Classic
10	12	Penn State Nittany Lions	9–3	Capital One Bowl
11	9	Notre Dame Fighting Irish	10–2	Gator Bowl
12	11	Michigan Wolverines	9–3	Outback Bowl
13	—	Alabama Crimson Tide	10–3	none
14	13	Colorado Buffaloes	9–4	Alamo Bowl
15	15	West Virginia Mountaineers	9–3	Continental Tire Bowl
16	14	Florida State Seminoles	9–4	Sugar Bowl
17	—	NC State Wolfpack	10–3	Gator Bowl
18	—	Boise State Broncos	11–1	Humanitarian Bowl
19	—	Auburn Tigers	8–4	Capital One Bowl
20	—	Maryland Terrapins	10–3	Peach Bowl
21	—	Virginia Tech Hokies	9–4	San Francisco Bowl
22	—	Florida Gators	8–4	Outback Bowl
23	—	Colorado State Rams	10–3	Liberty Bowl
24	—	Pittsburgh Panthers	8–4	Insight Bowl
25	—	Arkansas Razorbacks	9–4	Music City Bowl

denotes a BCS bowl game
ineligible for bowl play due to NCAA sanctions

Schedule

Non BCS Contests[4]
Date	Game	Site	Time (US EST)	TV	Matchup (pre-game record)	AP pre-game rank	USA Today pre-game rank
12/17	New Orleans Bowl	Louisiana Superdome New Orleans, Louisiana	7:00 PM	ESPN2	North Texas 24 (7–5), Cincinnati 19 (7–6)	NR NR	NR NR
12/18	GMAC Bowl	Ladd–Peebles Stadium Mobile, Alabama	8:00 PM	ESPN	Marshall 38 (10–2), Louisville 15 (7–5)	NR NR	#24 NR
12/23	Tangerine Bowl	Citrus Bowl Orlando, Florida	6:30 PM	ESPN	Texas Tech 55 (8–5), Clemson 15 (7–5)	NR NR	NR NR
12/25	Las Vegas Bowl	Sam Boyd Stadium Whitney, Nevada	4:30 PM	ESPN	UCLA 27 (7–5), New Mexico 13 (7–6)	NR NR	NR NR
12/25	Hawai'i Bowl	Aloha Stadium Honolulu, Hawaii	8:00 PM	ESPN	Tulane 36 (7–5), Hawaii 28 (10–3)	NR NR	NR NR
12/26	Motor City Bowl	Ford Field Detroit, Michigan	5:00 PM	ESPN	Boston College 51 (8–4), Toledo 25 (9–4)	NR NR	NR NR
12/26	Insight Bowl	Bank One Ballpark Phoenix, Arizona	8:30 PM	ESPN	Pittsburgh 38 (8–4), Oregon State 13 (8–4)	#24 NR	#23 NR
12/27	Houston Bowl	Reliant Stadium Houston, Texas	2:30 PM	ESPN	Oklahoma State 33 (7–4), Southern Miss 23 (7–4)	NR NR	NR NR
12/27	Independence Bowl	Independence Stadium Shreveport, Louisiana	5:30 PM	ESPN	Ole Miss 27 (6–6), Nebraska 23 (7–6)	NR NR	NR NR
12/27	Holiday Bowl	Qualcomm Stadium San Diego, California	8:00 PM	ESPN	Kansas State 34 (10–2), Arizona State 27 (8–5)	#6 NR	#6 NR
12/28	Continental Tire Bowl	Ericsson Stadium Charlotte, North Carolina	12:00 PM	ESPN	Virginia 48 (8–5), West Virginia 22 (9–3)	NR #15	NR #13
12/28	Alamo Bowl	Alamodome San Antonio, Texas	8:00 PM	ESPN	Wisconsin 31 (7–6), Colorado 28 (9–4) (OT)	NR #14	NR #14
12/30	Music City Bowl	LP Field Nashville, Tennessee	2:00 PM	ESPN	Minnesota 29 (7–5), Arkansas 14 (9–4)	NR #25	NR NR
12/30	Seattle Bowl	Qwest Field Seattle, Washington	5:00 PM	ESPN	Wake Forest 38 (6–6), Oregon 14 (7–5)	NR NR	NR NR
12/31	Humanitarian Bowl	Bronco Stadium Boise, Idaho	12:00 PM	ESPN	Boise State 34 (11–1), Iowa State 16 (7–6)	#18 NR	#15 NR
12/31	Sun Bowl	Sun Bowl Stadium El Paso, Texas	2:00 PM	CBS	Purdue 34 (6–6), Washington 24 (7–5)	NR NR	NR NR
12/31	Liberty Bowl	Liberty Bowl Memorial Stadium Memphis, Tennessee	2:30 PM	ESPN	TCU 17 (9–2), Colorado State 3 (10–3)	NR #23	NR #21
12/31	Silicon Valley Classic	Spartan Stadium San Jose, California	3:30 PM	ESPN2	Fresno State 30 (8–5), Georgia Tech 21 (7–5)	NR NR	NR NR
12/31	Peach Bowl	Georgia Dome Atlanta, Georgia	7:30 PM	ESPN	Maryland 30 (10–3), Tennessee 3 (8–4)	#20 NR	#18 NR
12/31	San Francisco Bowl	Pacific Bell Park San Francisco, California	8:30 PM	ESPN2	Virginia Tech 20 (9–4), Air Force 13 (8–4)	#21 NR	#19 NR
1/1	Outback Bowl	Raymond James Stadium Tampa, Florida	11:00 AM	ESPN	Michigan 38 (9–3), Florida 30 (8–4)	#12 #22	#11 #20
1/1	Cotton Bowl Classic	Cotton Bowl Dallas, Texas	11:00 AM	FOX	Texas 35 (10–2), LSU 20 (8–4)	#9 NR	#9 #25
1/1	Gator Bowl	Alltel Stadium Jacksonville, Florida	12:30 PM	NBC	NC State 28 (10–3), Notre Dame 6 (10–2)	#17 #11	#17 #12
1/1	Capital One Bowl	Citrus Bowl Orlando, Florida	1:00 PM	ABC	Auburn 13 (8–4), Penn State 9 (9–3)	#19 #10	#22 #10
Bowl Championship Series[4]
Date	Game	Site	Time (US EST)	TV	Matchup	AP rank	BCS rank
1/1	Rose Bowl	Rose Bowl Pasadena, California	4:30 PM	ABC	Oklahoma 34 (11–2) (Big 12 Champion), Washington State 14 (10–2) (Pac-10 co-Champ)	#8 #7	#7 #6
1/1	Sugar Bowl	Louisiana Superdome New Orleans, Louisiana	8:30 PM	ABC	Georgia 26 (12–1) (SEC Champion), Florida State 13 (9–4) (ACC Champion)	#4 #16	#3 #14
1/2	Orange Bowl	Pro Player Stadium Miami Gardens, Florida	8 PM	ABC	USC 38 (10–2) (Pac-10 co-Champion), Iowa 17 (11–1) (Big Ten co-Champion)	#5 #3	#4 #5
1/3	Fiesta Bowl (BCS National Championship Game)	Sun Devil Stadium Tempe, Arizona	8 PM	ABC	Ohio State 31 (13–0) (Big Ten co-Champion), Miami 24 (12–0) (Big East Champion)	#2 #1	#2 #1

All-star games

Date	Game	Winning Team		Losing Team		Venue	City
January 11, 2003	East–West Shrine Game	East Team	20	West Team	17	SBC Park	San Francisco, California
January 18, 2003	Senior Bowl	North Team	17	South Team	0	Ladd–Peebles Stadium	Mobile, Alabama
January 25, 2003	Gridiron Classic	Team USA	20	Team Florida	17	Citrus Bowl	Orlando, Florida
January 25, 2003	Paradise Bowl	Midwest All-Stars	36	West All-Stars	31	Hansen Stadium	St. George, Utah
February 1, 2003	Hula Bowl	South (Aina)	27	North (Kai)	24	War Memorial Stadium	Wailuku, Hawaii

References

1. "Bowl Challenge Cup standings". 2003-01-05. Retrieved 2016-12-11.
2. "The AP Top 25". The Times. Shreveport, Louisiana. December 9, 2002. p. 18. Retrieved December 5, 2018 – via newspapers.com.
3. "BCS Standings". The Times. Shreveport, Louisiana. December 9, 2002. p. 18. Retrieved December 5, 2018 – via newspapers.com.
4. "FBS (I-A) Schedule - 2002 (Bowls)". Retrieved 2016-12-11.