1984 NCAA Division I-A football season

The 1984 NCAA Division I-A football season saw an aerial attack (in a college version of the West Coast offense), as the only undefeated team, Brigham Young University, won the national championship in the AP and Coaches Polls. Under the leadership of head coach LaVell Edwards, BYU had a 24-17 win over a 6-5 Michigan team in the Holiday Bowl. The crowning, by the pollsters, of BYU as the 1984 national champion was controversial, and, to many commentators, a sign that the football crown should be decided by a playoff of some sort, if not a reform of the bowl system.

BYU played in the Western Athletic Conference which, in the aftermath of the departure of Arizona and Arizona State a few years earlier, produced several highly ranked BYU teams. Although BYU's critics pointed out that the Cougars had not beaten a single team in the "final" AP or UPI poll, Pitt had been ranked #3 when BYU beat them (Pitt finished 3-7-1 for the year), and Michigan, despite a 6-5 finish in regular season play, had at one time been ranked as high as #2 (Before Michigan Quarterback Jim Harbaugh broke his arm against Michigan State ending Michigan hope for a good season). Moreover, BYU was, at the time, contractually committed to play in the Holiday Bowl as the Western Athletic Conference champion. By the same token, the top finishers in each conference were similarly committed to playing in other bowl games, with the Big Ten and Pac-10 winners playing in the Rose Bowl, the SEC winner in the Sugar Bowl, Big 8 champ in the Orange Bowl, and SWC titlist in the Cotton Bowl.

The #4 ranked Washington Huskies had been invited to play in the Holiday Bowl but declined in order to play traditional power Oklahoma in the more prestigious Orange Bowl, which also had a higher payout to its participants. The University of Oklahoma was contractually committed to the Orange Bowl as the champions of the Big 8 conference. Washington, whose only loss came in a 16-7 decision vs. Southern California, ended up at #2 after defeating Oklahoma in the Orange Bowl. In a thrilling last-minute victory, BYU beat a [then] six loss Michigan team to claim its national championship.

Critics of the Bowl Coalition and its successors (the Bowl Alliance and the Bowl Championship Series) claim larger conferences felt threatened by BYU's win. Critics consider this exclusion to have the intent of adversely affecting recruitment to exclude conferences and to create a de-facto two-tier Division I-A conference system. Defenders of the system conversely claim that it's unfair to allow a team from a non-BCS conference to only win a single game against a top tier opponent and claim a national championship while teams from the BCS conferences have to play several such games annually. Since the implementation of the six major BCS conference structure, five non-BCS Conference Division I-A teams have finished the regular season undefeated (Tulane in 1998, Marshall in 1999, Utah in 2004, and Boise State in 2004 and 2006) without being given an opportunity to win the title. That structure makes it practically impossible for team from a non-BCS conference to compete for the national title regardless of their achievements on the field.

The 1984 season was also famous for the Boston College v. Miami game, in which Doug Flutie threw a Hail Mary pass to defeat the Hurricanes. Doug Flutie won the Heisman Trophy that year as well, and Boston College obtained a number 5 final ranking.

As of 2008, 1984 was the last season in which the eventual national champion came from outside the Top-25 preseason polls.

#1 and #2 Progress

AP Final Poll

#Brigham Young
#Washington
#Florida
#Nebraska
#Boston College
#Oklahoma
#Oklahoma State
#SMU
#UCLA
#Southern California
#South Carolina
#Maryland
#Ohio State
#Auburn
#LSU
#Iowa
#Florida State
#Miami (Fl)
#Kentucky
#Virginia

Notable rivalry games

*Alabama 17, Auburn 15
*West Virginia 28, Pitt 10
*Arizona 16, Arizona State 10
*Florida 27, Florida State 17
*Florida 27, Georgia 0
*Georgia Tech 35, Georgia 18
*Iowa 59, Iowa State 21
*LSU 33, Tulane 15
*Michigan State 19, Michigan 7
*Army 28, Navy 11
*Notre Dame 19, USC 7
*Ohio State 21, Michigan 6
*Oklahoma 17, Nebraska 7
*Oklahoma 24, Oklahoma State 14
*Oregon 31, Oregon State 6
*South Carolina 22, Clemson 21
*Texas 15, Oklahoma 15
*UCLA 29, USC 10
*Washington 38, Washington State 29
*Minnesota 17, Wisconsin 14
*BYU 24, Utah 14

Bowl games

*Rose Bowl: #18 USC 20, #6 Ohio State 17
*Fiesta Bowl: #14 UCLA 39, #13 Miami (Fl) 37
*Sugar Bowl: #5 Nebraska 28, #11 LSU 10
*Orange Bowl: #4 Washington 28, #2 Oklahoma 17
*Florida Citrus Bowl: #15 Florida State 17, Georgia 17
*Gator Bowl: #9 Oklahoma State 21, #8 South Carolina 14
*Holiday Bowl: #1 Brigham Young 24, Michigan 17
*Peach Bowl: Virginia 27, Purdue 24
*Sun Bowl: Maryland 28, Tennessee 27
*Independence Bowl: Air Force 23, Virginia Tech 7
*Liberty Bowl: #16 Auburn 21, Arkansas 15

Heisman Trophy voting

"The Heisman Memorial Trophy Award is given to the

Most Outstanding Player of the year"
Winner:
Doug Flutie, Boston College, Quarterback (2,240 points)
*2. Keith Byars, Ohio State (1,251 points)
*3. Robbie Bosco, Brigham Young (443 points)
*4. Bernie Kosar, Miami-Fl (320 points)
*5. Kenneth Davis, TCU (86 points)

Other annual awards

*Maxwell Award (College Player of the Year) - Doug Flutie, Boston College
*Walter Camp Award (Back) - Doug Flutie, Boston College
*Davey O'Brien Award (Quarterback) - Doug Flutie, Boston College
*Lombardi Award (Lineman or Linebacker) - Tony Degrate, Texas
*Outland Trophy (Interior Lineman) - Bruce Smith, Virginia Tech
*Paul "Bear" Bryant Award - LaVell Edwards, BYU