2006 NCAA Division I FBS football season

The 2006 NCAA Division I FBS football season was the highest level of college football competition in the United States organized by the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA).

2006 NCAA Division I FBS season
Number of teams	119
Duration	August 31 – December 2
Preseason AP No. 1	Ohio State
Postseason
Duration	December 19, 2006 – January 8, 2007
Bowl games	32
Heisman Trophy	Troy Smith (quarterback, Ohio State)
Bowl Championship Series
2007 BCS Championship Game
Site	University of Phoenix Stadium, Glendale, Arizona
Champion(s)	Florida
NCAA Division I FBS football seasons
← 2005 2007 →

The regular season began on August 31, 2006, and ended on December 2, 2006. The postseason concluded on January 8, 2007, with the BCS National Championship Game in Glendale, Arizona, where the No. 2 Florida Gators defeated the No. 1 Ohio State Buckeyes by a score of 41–14 to win the national title.^[1]

The Boise State Broncos were the year's only undefeated team in both levels of Division I football after defeating Oklahoma in the Fiesta Bowl.

Rules changes

The NCAA instituted the following rule changes for the 2006 season.^[2]

• The NCAA ruled that teams could schedule twelve regular-season games (up from eleven) beginning in the 2006 season.^[3] (NCAA teams in Alaska and Hawaii, and their home opponents, are allowed to schedule an extra game over and above this limit.)
• Instant replay is now officially sanctioned and standardized. All plays are reviewed by the replay officials as the play occurs. They may call down to the on-field officials to stop play if they need extra time to make a review. Each coach may also make one challenge per game. In the case of a coach's challenge, the coach must have at least one time-out remaining. If the challenge is upheld the coach gets the time-out back but the challenge is spent. If the challenge is rejected, both the challenge and the time-out are spent.
• Players may only wear clear eyeshields. Previously, both tinted and orange were also allowed.
• The kicking tee has been lowered from two inches tall to only one inch.
• Halftime lasts twenty minutes. Previously, it was only fifteen minutes, except for special ceremonies (i.e. homecoming).
• On a kickoff, the game clock starts when the ball is kicked rather than when the receiving team touches it.
  • This rule change has resulted in controversy, highlighted by the matchup between Wisconsin and Penn State on November 4, 2006, in which Wisconsin deliberately went off-sides on two consecutive kickoffs to run extra time off the clock at the close of the first half.^[4]
• On a change of possession, the clock starts when the referee marks the ball ready for play, instead of on the snap. This was the rule in the National Football League prior to 1973, and in high school football prior to 1996.
• The referee may no longer stop the game due to excessive crowd noise.
• When a live-ball penalty such as an illegal formation occurs on a kick, the receiving team may choose either to add the penalty yardage to the end of the return or require the kick to be attempted again with the spot moved back. Previously, only the latter option was available.
• If a team scores at the end of the game, they will not kick the extra point unless it would affect the outcome of the game.

Regular season top 10 matchups

Rankings reflect the AP Poll. Rankings for Week 8 and beyond will list BCS Rankings first and AP Poll second. Teams that failed to be a top 10 team for one poll or the other will be noted.

• Week 2
  • No. 1 Ohio State defeated No. 2 Texas, 24–7 (Darrell K Royal–Texas Memorial Stadium, Austin, Texas)
• Week 3
  • No. 3 Auburn defeated No. 6 LSU, 7–3 (Jordan-Hare Stadium, Auburn, Alabama)
• Week 6
  • No. 5 Florida defeated No. 9 LSU, 23–10 (Ben Hill Griffin Stadium, Gainesville, Florida)
• Week 10
  • No. 5/5 Louisville defeated No. 3/3 West Virginia, 44–34 (Papa John's Cardinal Stadium, Louisville, Kentucky)
• Week 12
  • No. 1/1 Ohio State defeated No. 2/2 Michigan, 42–39 (Ohio Stadium, Columbus, Ohio)
• Week 13
  • No. 3/3 USC defeated No. 5/6 Notre Dame, 44–24 (Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum, Los Angeles, California)
  • No. 10/9 LSU defeated No. 6/5 Arkansas, 31–26 (War Memorial Stadium, Little Rock, Arkansas)
• Week 14
  • No. 4/4 Florida defeated No. 9/8 Arkansas, 38–28 (2006 SEC Championship Game, Georgia Dome, Atlanta, Georgia)

Conference standings

2006 Atlantic Coast Conference football standings v t e Conf. Overall Team   W   L     W   L   Atlantic Division No. 18 Wake Forest x$   6 – 2     11 – 3   No. 20 Boston College   5 – 3     10 – 3   Maryland   5 – 3     9 – 4   Clemson   5 – 3     8 – 5   Florida State   3 – 5     7 – 6   NC State   2 – 6     3 – 9   Coastal Division Georgia Tech x   7 – 1     9 – 5   No. 19 Virginia Tech   6 – 2     10 – 3   Virginia   4 – 4     5 – 7   Miami (FL)   3 – 5     7 – 6   North Carolina   2 – 6     3 – 9   Duke   0 – 8     0 – 12   Championship: Wake Forest 9, Georgia Tech 6 $ – BCS representative as conference champion x – Division champion/co-champions Rankings from AP Poll	2006 Big 12 Conference football standings v t e Conf. Overall Team   W   L     W   L   North Division Nebraska x   6 – 2     9 – 5   Missouri   4 – 4     8 – 5   Kansas State   4 – 4     7 – 6   Kansas   3 – 5     6 – 6   Colorado   2 – 6     2 – 10   Iowa State   1 – 7     4 – 8   South Division No. 11 Oklahoma x$   7 – 1     11 – 3   No. 13 Texas   6 – 2     10 – 3   Texas A&M   5 – 3     9 – 4   Texas Tech   4 – 4     8 – 5   Oklahoma State   3 – 5     7 – 6   Baylor   3 – 5     4 – 8   Championship: Oklahoma 21, Nebraska 7 $ – BCS representative as conference champion x – Division champion/co-champions Rankings from AP Poll	2006 Big East Conference football standings v t e Conf. Overall Team   W   L     W   L   No. 6 Louisville $   6 – 1     12 – 1   No. 10 West Virginia   5 – 2     11 – 2   No. 12 Rutgers   5 – 2     11 – 2   South Florida   4 – 3     9 – 4   Cincinnati   4 – 3     8 – 5   Pittsburgh   2 – 5     6 – 6   Connecticut   1 – 6     4 – 8   Syracuse   1 – 6     4 – 8   $ – BCS representative as conference champion Rankings from AP Poll
2006 Big Ten Conference football standings v t e Conf. Overall Team   W   L     W   L   No. 2 Ohio State $   8 – 0     12 – 1   No. 8 Michigan %   7 – 1     11 – 2   No. 7 Wisconsin   7 – 1     12 – 1   No. 24 Penn State   5 – 3     9 – 4   Purdue   5 – 3     8 – 6   Minnesota   3 – 5     6 – 7   Indiana   3 – 5     5 – 7   Northwestern   2 – 6     4 – 8   Iowa   2 – 6     6 – 7   Illinois   1 – 7     2 – 10   Michigan State   1 – 7     4 – 8   $ – BCS representative as conference champion % – BCS at-large representative Rankings from AP Poll	2006 Conference USA football standings v t e Conf. Overall Team   W   L     W   L   East Division Southern Miss x   6 – 2     9 – 5   East Carolina   5 – 3     7 – 6   Marshall   4 – 4     5 – 7   UCF   3 – 5     4 – 8   UAB   2 – 6     3 – 9   Memphis   1 – 7     2 – 10   West Division Houston x$   7 – 1     10 – 4   Rice   6 – 2     7 – 6   Tulsa   5 – 3     8 – 5   SMU   4 – 4     6 – 6   UTEP   3 – 5     5 – 7   Tulane   2 – 6     4 – 8   Championship: Houston 34, Southern Miss 20 $ – Conference champion x – Division champion/co-champions Rankings from AP Poll	2006 Mid-American Conference football standings v t e Conf. Overall Team   W   L     W   L   East Division Ohio x   7 – 1     9 – 5   Kent State   5 – 3     6 – 6   Akron   3 – 5     5 – 7   Bowling Green   3 – 5     4 – 8   Miami (OH)   2 – 6     2 – 10   Buffalo   1 – 7     2 – 10   West Division Central Michigan x$   7 – 1     10 – 4   Western Michigan   6 – 2     8 – 5   Northern Illinois   5 – 3     7 – 6   Ball State   5 – 3     5 – 7   Toledo   3 – 5     5 – 7   Eastern Michigan   1 – 7     1 – 11   Championship: Central Michigan 31, Ohio 10 $ – Conference champion x – Division champion/co-champions
2006 Mountain West Conference football standings v t e Conf. Overall Team   W   L     W   L   No. 16 BYU $   8 – 0     11 – 2   No. 22 TCU   6 – 2     11 – 2   Utah   5 – 3     8 – 5   Wyoming   5 – 3     6 – 6   New Mexico   4 – 4     6 – 7   Air Force   3 – 5     4 – 8   San Diego State   3 – 5     3 – 9   Colorado State   1 – 7     4 – 8   UNLV   1 – 7     2 – 10   $ – Conference champion Rankings from AP Poll	2006 Pacific-10 Conference football standings v t e Conf. Overall Team   W   L     W   L   No. 4 USC +   7 – 2     11 – 2   No. 14 California +   7 – 2     10 – 3   No. 21 Oregon State   6 – 3     10 – 4   UCLA   5 – 4     7 – 6   Arizona State   4 – 5     7 – 6   Oregon   4 – 5     7 – 6   Arizona   4 – 5     6 – 6   Washington State   4 – 5     6 – 6   Washington   3 – 6     5 – 7   Stanford   1 – 8     1 – 11   + – Conference co-champions Rankings from AP Poll	2006 Southeastern Conference football standings v t e Conf. Overall Team   W   L     W   L   Eastern Division No. 1 Florida x$#   7 – 1     13 – 1   No. 25 Tennessee   5 – 3     9 – 4   Kentucky   4 – 4     8 – 5   No. 23 Georgia   4 – 4     9 – 4   South Carolina   3 – 5     8 – 5   Vanderbilt   1 – 7     4 – 8   Western Division No. 15 Arkansas x   7 – 1     10 – 4   No. 9 Auburn   6 – 2     11 – 2   No. 3 LSU  %   6 – 2     11 – 2   Alabama   2 – 6     6 – 7   Ole Miss   2 – 6     4 – 8   Mississippi State   1 – 7     3 – 9   Championship: Florida 38, Arkansas 28 # – BCS National Champion $ – BCS representative as conference champion % – BCS at-large representative x – Division champion/co-champions Alabama had all victories vacated by the NCAA in 2010. As such, the official record for Alabama is 0–7 (0–6). Rankings from AP Poll
2006 Sun Belt Conference football standings v t e Conf. Overall Team   W   L     W   L   Troy +   6 – 1     8 – 5   Middle Tennessee +   6 – 1     7 – 6   Arkansas State   4 – 3     6 – 6   Florida Atlantic   4 – 3     5 – 7   Louisiana–Lafayette   3 – 4     6 – 6   Louisiana–Monroe   3 – 4     4 – 8   North Texas   2 – 5     3 – 9   FIU   0 – 7     0 – 12   + – Conference co-champions	2006 Western Athletic Conference football standings v t e Conf. Overall Team   W   L     W   L   No. 5 Boise State $   8 – 0     13 – 0   Hawaii   7 – 1     11 – 3   San Jose State   5 – 3     9 – 4   Nevada   5 – 3     8 – 5   Fresno State   4 – 4     4 – 8   Idaho   3 – 5     4 – 8   New Mexico State   2 – 6     4 – 8   Louisiana Tech   1 – 7     3 – 10   Utah State   1 – 7     1 – 11   $ – Conference champion and BCS representative as top non-AQ school to meet automatic qualification criteria Rankings from AP Poll	2006 NCAA Division I FBS independents football records v t e Conf. Overall Team   W   L     W   L   No. 17 Notre Dame  %   –     10 – 3   Navy   –     9 – 4   Army   –     3 – 9   Temple   –     1 – 11   % – BCS at-large representative Rankings from AP Poll

Conference champions

Conference championship games

Rankings reflect the Week 14 AP Poll before the games were played.

Conference	Champion	Runner-Up	Score	Site
ACC	No. 16 Wake Forest	No. 23 Georgia Tech	9–6	Alltel Stadium Jacksonville, Florida
Big 12	No. 8 Oklahoma	No. 19 Nebraska	21–7	Arrowhead Stadium Kansas City, Missouri
Conference USA	Houston	Southern Miss	34–20	Robertson Stadium Houston
MAC	Central Michigan	Ohio	31–10	Ford Field Detroit
SEC	No. 4 Florida	No. 8 Arkansas	38–28	Georgia Dome Atlanta

Other conference champions

Rankings are from the Week 15 AP Poll.

Conference	Winner(s)
Big East	No. 6 Louisville
Big Ten	No. 1 Ohio State
Mountain West	No. 19 BYU
Pac-10	No. 20 California, No. 8 USC*
Sun Belt	Middle Tennessee, Troy
WAC	No. 9 Boise State

* Received conference's automatic BCS bowl bid.

BCS rankings progress

Main article: 2006 NCAA Division I FBS football rankings

Ohio State was ranked No. 1 in all of the BCS-component polls (AP, Coaches', USA Today) in the preseason and the 14 polls taken in the regular season. When the BCS rankings began on October 15, Ohio State was No. 1 on all 8 rankings released during the season.

WEEK	No. 1	No. 2	EVENT
OCT 15	Ohio State	USC	Oregon State 33, USC 31
OCT 22	Ohio State	Michigan	Ohio St 44, Minnesota 0
OCT 29	Ohio State	Michigan	Ohio St 17, Illinois 10
NOV 5	Ohio State	Michigan	Ohio St 54, Northwestern 10
NOV 12	Ohio State	Michigan	Ohio St 42, Michigan 39
NOV 19	Ohio State	Michigan	Ohio St 42, Michigan 39
NOV 26	Ohio State	USC	UCLA 13, USC 9
DEC 3	Ohio State	Florida	Florida 38, Arkansas 28

Bowl games

Main article: 2006–07 NCAA football bowl games

Winners are listed in boldface.

Bowl Championship Series

The Bowl Championship Series selected the No. 1 and No. 2 ranked teams to play for the national championship on January 8. The 2006 season marked a change for the BCS system, as the BCS National Championship Game became a standalone bowl game for the first time, to be played at the site of one of the four BCS bowls (the Fiesta, Orange, Sugar, and Rose Bowls) on a rotating basis. Under the previous format used from 1998 to 2006, the BCS National Championship coincided with one of the BCS bowls. The 2007 BCS Championship Game was played in Glendale, Arizona, the week after the Fiesta Bowl had been played there.

Rankings are from the Week 15 AP Poll.

Bowl game	Date	Playing as visitor	Playing as home	Score
BCS National Championship Game	January 8	No. 2 Florida	No. 1 Ohio State	41 – 14
Sugar Bowl	January 3	No. 11 Notre Dame	No. 4 LSU	14 – 41
Orange Bowl	January 2	No. 5 Louisville	No. 15 Wake Forest	24 – 13
Fiesta Bowl	January 1	No. 9 Boise State	No. 7 Oklahoma	43 – 42 (OT)
Rose Bowl	January 1	No. 8 Southern California	No. 3 Michigan	32 – 18

January bowl games

Bowl game	Day	Playing as visitor	Playing as home	Score
GMAC Bowl	7th	Ohio	Southern Mississippi	7 – 28
International Bowl	6th	Western Michigan	Cincinnati	24 – 27
Cotton Bowl	1st	No. 10 Auburn	No. 22 Nebraska	17 – 14
Capital One Bowl	1st	No. 12 Arkansas	No. 6 Wisconsin	14 – 17
Gator Bowl	1st	Georgia Tech	No. 13 West Virginia	35 – 38
Outback Bowl	1st	No. 17 Tennessee	Penn State	10 – 20

December bowl games

Bowl game	Day	Playing as visitor	Playing as home	Score
MPC Computers Bowl	31st	Miami	Nevada	21 – 20
Chick-fil-A Bowl	30th	Georgia	No. 14 Virginia Tech	31 – 24
Alamo Bowl	30th	No. 18 Texas	Iowa	26 – 24
Meineke Car Care Bowl	30th	Navy	No. 23 Boston College	24 – 25
Champs Sports Bowl	29th	Purdue	Maryland	7 – 24
Insight Bowl	29th	Texas Tech	Minnesota	44 – 41
Liberty Bowl	29th	Houston	South Carolina	36 – 44
Sun Bowl	29th	No. 24 Oregon State	Missouri	39 – 38
Music City Bowl	29th	Clemson	Kentucky	20 – 28
Holiday Bowl	28th	No. 21 Texas A&M	No. 20 California	10 – 45
Texas Bowl	28th	No. 16 Rutgers	Kansas State	37 – 10
Independence Bowl	28th	Oklahoma State	Alabama	34 – 31
Emerald Bowl	27th	Florida State	UCLA	44 – 27
Motor City Bowl	26th	Middle Tennessee	Central Michigan	14 – 31
Hawaii Bowl	24th	Arizona State	Hawaii	24 – 41
Armed Forces Bowl	23rd	Tulsa	Utah	13 – 25
New Mexico Bowl	23rd	New Mexico	San José State	12 – 20
PapaJohns.com Bowl	23rd	South Florida	East Carolina	24 – 7
New Orleans Bowl	22nd	Rice	Troy	17 – 41
Las Vegas Bowl	21st	No. 19 BYU	Oregon	38 – 8
Poinsettia Bowl	19th	Northern Illinois	No. 25 TCU	7 – 37

Bowl Challenge Cup standings

Conference	Wins	Losses	Pct.
Big East Conference	5	0	1.000
Mountain West Conference	3	1	.750
Western Athletic Conference	3	1	.750
Southeastern Conference	6	3	.667
Atlantic Coast Conference	4	4	.500
Pacific-10 Conference	3	3	.500
Sun Belt Conference	1	1	.500
Big 12 Conference	3	5	.375
Big Ten Conference	2	5	.286
Mid-American Conference	1	3	.250
Conference USA	1	4	.200
Independents	0	2	.000

Awards and honors

Heisman Trophy voting

The Heisman Trophy is given to the year's most outstanding player

Player	School	Position	1st	2nd	3rd	Total
Troy Smith	Ohio State	QB	801	62	13	2,540
Darren McFadden	Arkansas	RB	45	298	147	878
Brady Quinn	Notre Dame	QB	13	276	191	782
Steve Slaton	West Virginia	RB	6	51	94	214
Mike Hart	Michigan	RB	5	58	79	210
Colt Brennan	Hawaii	QB	6	44	96	202
Ray Rice	Rutgers	RB	1	16	44	79
Ian Johnson	Boise State	RB	1	13	44	73
Dwayne Jarrett	USC	WR	1	11	22	47
Calvin Johnson	Georgia Tech	WR	1	8	24	43

Other major award winners

• Walter Camp Award (top player): Troy Smith, Ohio State^[5]
• Maxwell Award (top player): Brady Quinn, Notre Dame^[5]
• Associated Press College Football Player of the Year Award: Troy Smith, Ohio State^[6]
• Bronko Nagurski Trophy (defensive player): James Laurinaitis, Ohio State^[5]
• Chuck Bednarik Award (defensive player): Paul Posluszny, Penn State^[5]
• Dave Rimington Trophy (center): Dan Mozes, West Virginia^[5]
• Davey O'Brien Award (quarterback): Troy Smith, Ohio State^[5]
• Dick Butkus Award (linebacker): Patrick Willis, Ole Miss^[5]
• Doak Walker Award (running back): Darren McFadden, Arkansas^[5]
• Draddy Trophy ("academic Heisman"): Brian Leonard, Rutgers^[7]
• Fred Biletnikoff Award (wide receiver): Calvin Johnson, Georgia Tech^[5]
• Jim Thorpe Award (defensive back): Aaron Ross, Texas^[5]
• John Mackey Award (tight end): Matt Spaeth, Minnesota^[5]
• Johnny Unitas Award (Sr. quarterback): Brady Quinn, Notre Dame^[5]
• Lombardi Award (top lineman): LaMarr Woodley, Michigan^[5]
• Lott Trophy (defensive impact): Dante Hughes, California^[8]
• Lou Groza Award (placekicker): Art Carmody, Louisville^[5]
• Manning Award (quarterback): JaMarcus Russell, LSU^[5]
• Mosi Tatupu Award (special teams): A. J. Trapasso, Ohio State^[5]
• Outland Trophy (interior lineman): Joe Thomas, Wisconsin^[5]
• Ray Guy Award (punter): Daniel Sepulveda, Baylor^[5]
• Ted Hendricks Award (defensive end): LaMarr Woodley, Michigan^[5]
• The Home Depot Coach of the Year Award: Greg Schiano, Rutgers^[9]
• Associated Press Coach of the Year: Jim Grobe, Wake Forest^[10]
• Paul "Bear" Bryant Award (head coach): Chris Petersen, Boise State
• Walter Camp Coach of the Year (head coach): Greg Schiano, Rutgers^[9]
• Broyles Award (assistant coach): Bud Foster, Virginia Tech

Postseason coaching changes

Team	Former coach	Interim	New coach
Air Force	Fisher DeBerry[11]		Troy Calhoun[12]
Alabama	Mike Shula[13]	Joe Kines[13]	Nick Saban[14]
Army	Bobby Ross[15]		Stan Brock[15]
Arizona State	Dirk Koetter[16]		Dennis Erickson[17]
Boston College	Tom O'Brien[18]	Frank Spaziani	Jeff Jagodzinski[19]
Central Michigan	Brian Kelly[20]	Jeff Quinn[21]	Butch Jones[22]
Cincinnati	Mark Dantonio[23]		Brian Kelly[20]
Florida International	Don Strock[24]		Mario Cristobal[25]
Idaho	Dennis Erickson[26]		Robb Akey[27]
Iowa State	Dan McCarney[28]		Gene Chizik[29]
Louisiana Tech	Jack Bicknell III[30]		Derek Dooley[31]
Louisville	Bobby Petrino[32]		Steve Kragthorpe[33]
Miami (FL)	Larry Coker[34]		Randy Shannon[35]
Michigan State	John L. Smith[36]		Mark Dantonio[23]
Minnesota	Glen Mason[37]		Tim Brewster[38]
North Carolina	John Bunting[39]		Butch Davis[40]
NC State	Chuck Amato[41]		Tom O'Brien[18]
North Texas	Darrell Dickey[42]		Todd Dodge[43]
Rice	Todd Graham[44]		David Bailiff[45]
Stanford	Walt Harris[46]		Jim Harbaugh[47]
Tulane	Chris Scelfo[48]		Bob Toledo[49]
Tulsa	Steve Kragthorpe[33]		Todd Graham[44]
UAB	Watson Brown[50]		Neil Callaway[51]

See also

• FIU–Miami football brawl