2000 NCAA Division I-A football season

The 2000 NCAA Division I-A football season ended with fans singing Oklahoma! as the Sooners claimed the first national championship and their first conference championship since the departure of Barry Switzer.

Oklahoma coach Bob Stoops was in only his second season as head coach, but was a hot commodity coming in, having been the defensive coordinator of Steve Spurrier's 1996 National Champion Florida Gators, and also having helped Bill Snyder turn the Kansas State Wildcats around in the early 1990s. While Oklahoma fans reveled in the national championship, it might have meant even more that Stoops erased a three-game losing streak against rival Texas in 63-14 trampling, one of Texas' worst defeats in its history. Despite the lopsided victory, this game marked a return of the Red River Shootout to a rivalry game with national title implications.

The BCS title game was not without controversy, as the system shut second ranked Miami out of the championship game, despite having beaten #3 Florida State during the regular season, being ranked higher in both the AP Writers' Poll and the ESPN/USA Today Coaches' Poll, and having the same record as the Seminoles. 10-1 Washington, the only team who had beaten both Miami and Oregon State, also deserved a shot at the national championship.

Virginia Tech also found themselves on the outside looking in, despite being ranked higher than both the at-large teams, Notre Dame and Oregon State.

Two new bowl games started this year: the Silicon Valley Bowl, which had a contractual tie-in with the WAC, and the GalleryFurntiture.com Bowl.

Bowl Championship Series Rankings

Final BCS Standings

# Oklahoma
# Florida State
# Miami
# Washington
# Virginia Tech
# Oregon State
# Florida
# Nebraska
# Kansas State
# Oregon
# Notre Dame
# Texas
# Georgia Tech
# TCU
# Clemson

Bowl Games

BCS Bowls

*Orange Bowl: #1 Oklahoma (BCS #1) 13, #3 Florida State (BCS #2) 2
*Rose Bowl: #4 Washington (Pac10 Champ) 34, #14 Purdue (Big10 co-Champ) 24
*Fiesta Bowl: #6 Oregon State (At Large [Pac10 co-champ] ) 41, #10 Notre Dame (At Large) 9
*Sugar Bowl: #2 Miami (Big East Champ) 37, #7 Florida (SEC Champ) 20

Other New Years Day Bowls

*Cotton Bowl: #11 Kansas State (Big 12 runner-up) 35, #21 Tennessee 21
*Florida Citrus Bowl: #17 Michigan (Big10 co-champ) 31, #20 Auburn (SEC runner-up) 28
*Gator Bowl: #6 Virginia Tech 41, #16 Clemson 20
*Outback Bowl: South Carolina 24, #19 Ohio State 7

December Bowl Games

*Holiday Bowl: #8 Oregon (Pac10 co-champ) 35, #12 Texas 30
*Peach Bowl: LSU 28, #15 Georgia Tech 14
*MicronPC.com Bowl: NC State 38, Minnesota 30
*Sun Bowl: Wisconsin 21, UCLA 20
*Alamo Bowl: #9 Nebraska 66, #18 Northwestern (Big10 co-champ) 17
*Insight.com Bowl: Iowa State 37, Pittsburgh 29
*Liberty Bowl: #23 Colorado State (MWC champ) 22, #22 Louisville (C-USA champ) 17
*Aloha Bowl: Boston College 31, Arizona State 17
*Oahu Bowl: #24 Georgia 37, Virginia 14
*Independence Bowl: Mississippi State 43, Texas A&M 41 (OT)
*Music City Bowl: West Virginia 49, Mississippi 38
*Las Vegas Bowl: UNLV 31, Arkansas 14
*Motor City Bowl: Marshall (MAC champ) 25, Cincinnati 14
*Humanitarian Bowl: Boise State (Big West champ) 38, UTEP (WAC co-champ) 23
*Mobile Alabama Bowl: Southern Miss 28, #13 TCU (WAC co-champ) 21
*Silicon Valley Bowl: Air Force 37, Fresno State 34
*Galleryfurniture.com bowl: East Carolina 40, Texas Tech 27

Heisman Trophy Voting

"The Heisman Memorial Trophy Award is given to the Most Outstanding Player of the year"
*Winner: Chris Weinke, Florida State (1628 points)
*2. Josh Heupel, Oklahoma (1552 points)
*3. Drew Brees, Purdue (619 points)
*4. LaDainian Tomlinson, TCU (566 points)
*5. Damien Anderson, Northwestern (101 points)

Other Major Awards

*Maxwell Award (College Player of the Year) - Drew Brees, Purdue
*Walter Camp Award (Back) - Josh Heupel, Oklahoma
*Davey O'Brien Award (Quarterback) - Chris Weinke, Florida State
*Johnny Unitas Golden Arm Award (Senior Quarterback) - Chris Weinke, Florida State
*Doak Walker Award (Running Back) - LaDainian Tomlinson, TCU
*Fred Biletnikoff Award (Wide Receiver) - Antonio Bryant, Pittsburgh
*Bronko Nagurski Trophy (Defensive Player) - Dan Morgan, Miami
*Chuck Bednarik Award - Dan Morgan, Miami
*Dick Butkus Award (Linebacker) - Dan Morgan, Miami
*Lombardi Award (Lineman or Linebacker) - Jamal Reynolds, Florida State
*Outland Trophy (Interior Lineman) - John Henderson, Tennessee, DT
*Jim Thorpe Award (Defensive Back) - Jamar Fletcher, Wisconsin
*Lou Groza Award (Placekicker) - Jonathan Ruffin, Cincinnati
*Paul "Bear" Bryant Award - Bob Stoops, Oklahoma