American college 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).
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 .
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 [ edit ]
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
Week 3
Week 6
Week 10
Week 12
Week 13
Week 14
Conference standings [ edit ]
FCS team wins over FBS teams [ edit ]
Italics denotes FCS teams.
Date
Visiting team
Home team
Site
Result
Attendance
Ref.
September 2
No. 22 (FCS ) Montana State
Colorado
Folsom Field • Boulder, Colorado
19–10
45,513
[ 5]
September 2
Portland State
New Mexico
University Stadium • Albuquerque, New Mexico
17–6
27,535
[ 5]
September 2
No. 15 (FCS ) Richmond
Duke
Wallace Wade Stadium • Durham, North Carolina
13–0
27,546
[ 5]
September 9
No. 2 (FCS ) New Hampshire
Northwestern
Ryan Field • Evanston, Illinois
34–17
20,108
[ 5]
September 16
No. 16 (FCS ) Southern Illinois
Indiana
Memorial Stadium • Bloomington, Indiana
35–28
31,156
[ 5]
September 23
No. 14 (FCS ) North Dakota State
Ball State
Scheumann Stadium • Muncie, Indiana
29–24
10,285
[ 5]
October 28
No. 9 (FCS ) Cal Poly
San Diego State
Qualcomm Stadium • San Diego , California
16–14
20,974
[ 5]
# Rankings from AP Poll released prior to game.
Conference champions [ edit ]
Conference championship games [ edit ]
Rankings reflect the Week 14 AP Poll before the games were played.
Other conference champions [ edit ]
Rankings are from the Week 15 AP Poll.
* Received conference's automatic BCS bowl bid.
BCS rankings progress [ edit ]
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
Winners are listed in boldface .
Bowl Championship Series [ edit ]
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.
December bowl games [ edit ]
Heisman Trophy voting [ edit ]
The Heisman Trophy is given to the year's most outstanding player
Other major award winners [ edit ]
Walter Camp Award (top player): Troy Smith, Ohio State[ 6]
Maxwell Award (top player): Brady Quinn, Notre Dame[ 6]
Associated Press College Football Player of the Year Award : Troy Smith, Ohio State[ 7]
Bronko Nagurski Trophy (defensive player): James Laurinaitis , Ohio State[ 6]
Chuck Bednarik Award (defensive player): Paul Posluszny , Penn State[ 6]
Dave Rimington Trophy (center): Dan Mozes , West Virginia[ 6]
Davey O'Brien Award (quarterback): Troy Smith, Ohio State[ 6]
Dick Butkus Award (linebacker): Patrick Willis , Ole Miss[ 6]
Doak Walker Award (running back): Darren McFadden, Arkansas[ 6]
Draddy Trophy ("academic Heisman"): Brian Leonard , Rutgers[ 8]
Fred Biletnikoff Award (wide receiver): Calvin Johnson , Georgia Tech[ 6]
Jim Thorpe Award (defensive back): Aaron Ross , Texas[ 6]
John Mackey Award (tight end): Matt Spaeth , Minnesota [ 6]
Johnny Unitas Award (Sr. quarterback): Brady Quinn, Notre Dame[ 6]
Lombardi Award (top lineman): LaMarr Woodley , Michigan[ 6]
Lott Trophy (defensive impact): Dante Hughes , California [ 9]
Lou Groza Award (placekicker): Art Carmody , Louisville[ 6]
Manning Award (quarterback): JaMarcus Russell , LSU[ 6]
Mosi Tatupu Award (special teams): A. J. Trapasso , Ohio State[ 6]
Outland Trophy (interior lineman): Joe Thomas , Wisconsin[ 6]
Ray Guy Award (punter): Daniel Sepulveda , Baylor [ 6]
Ted Hendricks Award (defensive end): LaMarr Woodley, Michigan[ 6]
The Home Depot Coach of the Year Award : Greg Schiano , Rutgers[ 10]
Associated Press Coach of the Year: Jim Grobe , Wake Forest[ 11]
Paul "Bear" Bryant Award (head coach): Chris Petersen , Boise State
Walter Camp Coach of the Year (head coach): Greg Schiano, Rutgers[ 10]
Broyles Award (assistant coach): Bud Foster, Virginia Tech
Postseason coaching changes [ edit ]
#
Team
G
Total
Average
1
Michigan
7
770,183
110,026
2
Penn State
7
752,972
107,567
3
Tennessee
7
740,521
105,789
4
Ohio State
7
735,674
105,096
5
Georgia
7
649,222
92,746
6
LSU
8
737,696
92,212
7
Alabama
8
737,104
92,138
8
Southern California
6
548,880
91,480
9
Florida
7
632,866
90,409
10
Texas
7
619,534
88,505
11
Auburn
8
680,506
85,063
12
Nebraska
7
595,309
85,044
13
Oklahoma
6
507,366
84,561
14
Clemson
7
580,942
82,992
15
Wisconsin
7
569,576
81,368
16
Notre Dame
7
565,565
80,795
17
Florida State
8
644,256
80,532
18
Texas A&M
7
531,894
75,985
19
South Carolina
7
529,412
75,630
20
Arkansas
6
443,368
73,895
21
Michigan State
7
495,731
70,819
22
Iowa
7
494,095
70,585
23
Virginia Tech
8
529,864
66,233
24
UCLA
7
454,683
64,955
25
California
7
450,223
64,318
26
BYU
6
363,146
60,524
27
West Virginia
7
411,408
58,773
28
Oregon
6
350,267
58,378
29
Virginia
6
346,389
57,732
30
Washington
6
344,897
57,483
31
Kentucky
7
401,307
57,330
32
NC State
7
395,779
56,540
33
Missouri
7
391,424
55,918
34
Arizona
7
390,589
55,798
35
Purdue
7
388,198
55,457
36
Arizona State
6
327,369
54,562
37
Mississippi
7
376,604
53,801
38
Minnesota
6
313,239
52,207
39
Texas Tech
6
305,243
50,874
40
Georgia Tech
7
354,321
50,617
41
Maryland
7
345,752
49,393
42
North Carolina
7
342,000
48,857
43
Kansas State
8
373,547
46,693
44
Iowa State
7
323,197
46,171
45
Colorado
6
276,286
46,048
46
Kansas
7
308,961
44,137
47
Illinois
7
304,118
43,445
48
Pittsburgh
7
303,138
43,305
49
Utah
6
259,675
43,279
50
UTEP
6
254,662
42,444
51
Miami Hurricanes
7
293,359
41,908
52
Stanford
5
208,710
41,742
53
Mississippi State
7
290,688
41,527
54
Louisville
6
248,891
41,482
55
Rutgers
6
246,675
41,113
56
Oklahoma State
6
245,726
40,954
57
Oregon State
7
285,808
40,830
58
Connecticut
7
272,576
38,939
59
Boston College
7
271,903
38,843
60
Fresno State
6
231,307
38,551
61
Air Force
6
228,206
38,034
62
Syracuse
6
223,577
37,263
63
East Carolina
6
223,006
37,168
64
Baylor
7
259,559
37,080
65
Hawaii
8
292,708
36,589
66
Vanderbilt
6
209,168
34,861
67
Washington State
7
242,698
34,671
68
Navy
5
166,375
33,275
69
Indiana
7
231,443
33,063
70
Wake Forest
6
195,091
32,515
71
Memphis
7
227,077
32,440
72
TCU
6
191,557
31,926
73
UCF
7
220,980
31,569
74
Army
5
153,469
30,694
75
Boise State
6
182,718
30,453
76
South Florida
6
181,333
30,222
77
San Diego State
6
175,364
29,227
78
Southern Miss
6
173,963
28,994
79
New Mexico
7
200,431
28,633
80
Northwestern
6
167,973
27,996
81
Marshall
5
130,155
26,031
82
Colorado State
5
120,916
24,183
83
UAB
6
138,835
23,139
84
Middle Tennessee State
5
110,185
22,037
85
Houston
8
175,277
21,910
86
Central Michigan
5
107,817
21,563
87
Tulsa
6
128,186
21,364
88
Troy
5
104,048
20,810
89
Northern Illinois
6
124,623
20,771
90
Cincinnati
7
142,613
20,373
91
Toledo
6
121,863
20,311
92
Duke
7
137,061
19,580
93
UNLV
6
115,442
19,240
94
Wyoming
6
114,653
19,109
95
Arkansas State
5
95,344
19,069
96
Tulane
5
94,710
18,942
97
San Jose State
7
131,978
18,854
98
Western Michigan
5
93,124
18,625
99
Louisiana–Monroe
5
111,564
18,594
100
New Mexico State
7
123,172
17,596
101
Kent State
5
85,018
17,004
102
Bowling Green
4
67,335
16,834
103
Nevada
6
100,367
16,728
104
Ohio
5
83,622
16,724
105
Buffalo
5
82,084
16,417
106
Akron
5
80,658
16,132
107
Temple
4
63,241
15,810
108
North Texas
5
78,249
15,650
109
SMU
6
92,565
15,428
110
Miami RedHawks
5
76,219
15,244
111
Florida International
5
75,552
15,110
112
Ball State
6
90,367
15,061
113
Rice
4
59,041
14,760
114
Eastern Michigan
4
58,934
14,734
115
Louisiana Tech
5
72,928
14,586
116
Idaho
5
72,717
14,543
117
Louisiana–Lafayette
6
87,096
14,516
118
Utah State
5
56,800
11,360
119
Florida Atlantic
5
46,382
9,276
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Conference seasons Inter-conference All-Americans