(632) 1992 North Carolina State - 25 (1417) 2004 Minnesota - 20
(905) 2004 Boston College - 21 (1144) 2008 Northwestern - 17
(120) 2006 Boise State - 46 (1929) 1993 San Diego State - 20
Round 2 Matchups- (9) 1986 Penn State vs (1016) 1997 Syracuse (504) 1996 Iowa vs (521) 1993 Colorado (265) 1990 Florida State vs (760) 2000 Ohio State (248) 1998 Florida vs (777) 2001 Toledo (137) 1989 Auburn vs (1161) 1993 Fresno State (376) 1987 Clemson vs (649) 1983 East Carolina (393) 2002 Kansas State vs (632) 1992 North Carolina State (120) 2006 Boise State vs (905) 2004 Boston College
RESULTS - BRACKET 3 Round 1 (seed) year school - score
Highlights are available as links in Orange so look at the players, teams and plays that shaped the college football landscape for that particular team.
(126) 1991 Alabama - 31 (1923) 1981 East Carolina - 10 WR David Palmer is too fast for Coach Ed Emory's porous Pirate defense, and John Copeland and Eric Curry eliminated the run game in this very overmatched first round match-up. This game wasn't competitive after halftime and Alabama rested most of its starters in the second half.
(899) 1997 Toledo - 23 (1150) 1997 Clemson - 22 Toledo coach Gary Pinkel rides RB Dwayne Harris to a hard fought victory over a Clemson team from the same year. The very average QB Nealon Greene threw 2 interceptions one for a pick six by sophomore Jameel Turner. Clemson CB Antuan Edwards picked off Toledo QB Chris Wallace in the waning seconds of the 4th qtr but he only made it to the 5 yard line as time expired. So the great LB Anthony Simmons and RB Raymond Priester get eliminated from the tournament.
(638) 1983 UCLA - 28 (1411) 2001 Michigan State - 24 QB Rick Neuheisel outsmarts the Spartans and utilizes the great WR Mike Sherrard to beat this tough Michigan State team featuring the triplets: QB Jeff Smoker, WR Charles Rogers, and RB T.J. Duckett. Charles Rodgers had a great catch in this one for a 50 yard touchdown to bridge the gap to 4. But UCLA held on and sealed the victory with a interception of a hail mary by DB Ron Pitts.
(387) 1983 Illinois - 30 (1662) 2003 Washington - 24 The QB Jack Trudeau to David Williams connection outgunned the Cody Pickett-to-Reggie Williams duo. This was a shootout but a key pick by Craig Swoope turned the tide and a fumble by Rich Alexis sealed the victory for the Illni. But here is a tribute to Cody Pickett and one of his eliminations from the tournament, good luck with your 2001 and 2002 teams.
(382) 1978 Houston - 28 (1667) 1996 Texas A&M - 20 In the first of what is sure to be many intra-state matchups, Bill Yeoman's Houston squad takes advantage of a young Aggie defense and RB Emmett King runs for 120 and 3 TD's and FB Randy Love pounded a 35 yard run straight up the gut to seal this first round matchup. Sophomore A&M LB's Warrick Holdman and Dat Nguyen were overmatched by the running game of the Cougs. QB Branndon Stewart's interception late in the 4th quarter locked the game for the Cougars.
(643) 1989 Fresno State - 28 (1406) 1981 Tulsa - 21 Tulsa coach John Cooper and the Golden Hurricane can't keep up with Fresno St. QB Mark Barsotti lights them up for 343 and 4 TD's and all the Tulsa TD's came in garbage time.
(894) 1977 Arizona State - 25 (1155) 1990 North Carolina - 17 Mack Brown has a lot of teams in this bracket, but this one, featuring RB Natrone Means and WR Corey Holliday, doesn't have enough firepower to keep up with the Sun Devils and WR John Jefferson. QB Dennis Sproul hit Jefferson for a 50 yarder and a 42 yard touchdown to give Jefferson 6 catches for 223.
(131) 1985 Tennessee - 28 (1918) 1997 Wyoming - 13 It's not 2008 anymore (when Wyoming beat the Vols) this game is being played in a black hole somewhere that allows teams from different decades to play on the same field! And here, coach Johnny Majors atones for the 2008 loss by defeating Dana Dimel's Jay Stoner-quarterbacked Cowboys. The OL for Tennessee controlled the game from the get go with Harry Galbreath and Bruce Wilkerson paving the way for TB Keith Davis.
(254) 2001 Illinois - 30 (1795) 2002 Tulane - 22 This was a more star-studded matchup than it looked on paper. Ron Turner's Illinois offense, led by the dynamic QB Kurt Kittner and WR Brandon Lloyd, overcame their mistake prone defense to outscore a Green Wave offense paced by RB Mewelde Moore and QB J.P. Losman. The Illni defense was paced by a stellar performance by CB Eugene Wilson and the rush by Jeff Schumacher forced the elusive Losman into several on the run decisions. Despite the Green Wave staying composed it wasn't enough to beat the Great Kurt Kittner.
(771) 1981 Washington State - 26 (1278) 2006 Texas Tech - 23 Even across time lines, defense wins big games. Despite this being QB Graham Harrel's first year at QB he was constantly under pressure by Keith Millard and the Cougar D and they slowed him down. A fumble by RB Shannon Woods on a screen pass with 1:20 at their own 20 brought on K Kevin Morris to hit the game winner for the Cougars. So say good bye to the 2006 Texas Tech Team.
(766) 2000 LSU - 24 (1283) 1997 New Mexico - 23 Nick Saban named Rohan Davey over his starting quarterback Josh Booty for this tournament due to off the field trouble. The Lobos kept the game close but Rohan Davey threw for 318 and Josh Reed caught 3 TD's Two tipped passes late by LB Bradie Smith sealed the victory and skated the upset for LSU.
(259) 1986 Alabama - 31 (1790) 2005 Michigan State - 19 QB Mike Shula and RB Bobby Humphrey rolled over the the very pedestrian and uninspired John L Smith coached Spartans. The Crimson Tide Defense punished poor Drew Stanton all day and linebacker Cornelius Bennett finished the game with 4 sacks, 2 pass deflects and a forced fumble to pave the way for the easy first round victory. This was the only year Drew Stanton started all the games and it was Javon Ringer's first year as the starter lets have a moment of silence for Drew Stanton.
(510) 2001 Marshall - 31 (1539) 1998 TCU - 23 Who isn't excited for this game? Dennis Franchione guided his second team in the bracket (the other being 1997 New Mexico, who lost a heart breaker to 2000 LSU) to face QB Byron Leftwich. Unfortunately, Franchione's defense wasn't fine tuned enough to keep up with the Marshall offense. Byron Leftwich to Darius Watts was the story all day as they combined for 160 yards and 2 td's. Leftwich slightly hurt his ankle but was able to finish the game so this injury will be monitored for the second round match up. The TCU RB duo Basil Mitchell and sophomore LaDainian Tomlinson are sent home early. But watch out for 1999 TCU.
(515) 1981 Michigan - 29 (1534) 2003 Notre Dame - 14 A classic rivalry matchup that spans decades. Bo Schembechler gets the better of Tyrone Willingham here, and this game turns into the Anthony Carter show. thanks to a defense that forced QB Carlyle Holliday into bad decisions all day, which had the crowd calling for Quinn, but he is already suited up for the Irish in 2004, 2005, 2006 teams, this was his freshman year.
(1022) 1998 West Virginia - 26 (1027) 1993 Washington - 23 Two teams with excellent quarterbacks (Marc Bulger and Damon Huard) let their running backs do the talking in this tightly contested affair. In the end it was Amos Zereoue out-gaining Napoleon Kaufman that gave the Mountaineers the edge. This was a back and forth struggle but a late in the game sack of Huard by Gary Stills sealed the victory for the Mountainers.
(3) 1978 USC - 35 (2046) 1981 Arizona -10 No hint of an upset here. Heisman Trophy winning RB Charles White paced the Trojans to an early 17-0 lead and then let the backups take care of the second half in order to rest for what coach John Robinson hopes will be a deep tournament run. Arizona coach Larry Smith was just glad to be a part of the field. He knows his hopes lay elsewhere (namely in QB Corby Jones and the 1997 Missouri squad). Ronnie Lott makes his appearance late in this one as a sophomore.
Round 2 Matchups: (126) 1991 Alabama vs (899) 1997 Toledo (387) 1983 Illinois vs (638) 1983 UCLA (382) 1978 Houston vs (643) 1989 Fresno State (131) 1985 Tennessee vs (894) 1977 Arizona State (254) 2001 Illinois vs (771) 1981 Washington State (259) 1986 Alabama vs (766) 2000 LSU (510) 2001 Marshall vs (515) 1981 Michigan (3) 1978 USC vs (1022) 1998 West Virginia
