2003–04 NCAA football bowl games
The 2003–04 NCAA football bowl games were a series of 28 post-season games (including the Bowl Championship Series) played in December 2003 and January 2004 for Division I-A football teams and their all-stars. The post-season began with the New Orleans Bowl on December 16, 2003, and concluded on January 31, 2004, with the season-ending Gridiron Classic.
| 2003–04 NCAA football bowl games | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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 Gameplay during the BCS National Championship Sugar Bowl for the 2003 season | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Season | 2003 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Number of bowls | 28 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| All-star games | 5 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Bowl games | December 16, 2003 – January 4, 2004 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| National Championship | 2004 Sugar Bowl | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Location of Championship | Louisiana Superdome, New Orleans, Louisiana | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Champions | LSU Tigers (BCS/Coaches) & USC Trojans (AP) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Bowl Challenge Cup winner | ACC | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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A total of 28 team-competitive games, and two all-star games, were played. To fill the 56 available bowl slots, four teams with non-winning seasons participated in bowl games—all four had a .500 (6–6) season. While teams that did not have winning seasons were invited to bowl games, seven teams with winning records were left out: Northern Illinois (10–2); Connecticut (9-3); Marshall and Toledo (both 8–4); Air Force and Akron (both 7–5); and South Florida (7–4).
Poll rankings
The below table lists top teams (per polls taken after the completion of the regular season and any conference championship games), their win-loss records (prior to bowl games), and the bowls they later played in. The AP column represents rankings per the AP Poll,[1] while the BCS column represents the Bowl Championship Series rankings.[2]
| AP | BCS | Team | W–L | Bowl |
|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | 3 | USC Trojans | 11–1 | Rose Bowl  |
2 | 2 | LSU Tigers | 12–1 | Sugar Bowl |
3 | 1 | Oklahoma Sooners | 12–1 | Sugar Bowl |
4 | 4 | Michigan Wolverines | 10–2 | Rose Bowl |
5 | 6 | Texas Longhorns | 10–2 | Holiday Bowl |
6 | 8 | Tennessee Volunteers | 10–2 | Peach Bowl |
7 | 5 | Ohio State Buckeyes | 10–2 | Fiesta Bowl |
8 | 10 | Kansas State Wildcats | 11–3 | Fiesta Bowl |
9 | 7 | Florida State Seminoles | 10–2 | Orange Bowl |
10 | 9 | Miami Hurricanes | 10–2 | Orange Bowl |
11 | 12 | Georgia Bulldogs | 10–3 | Capital One Bowl |
12 | 14 | Purdue Boilermakers | 9–3 | Capital One Bowl |
13 | 13 | Iowa Hawkeyes | 9–3 | Outback Bowl |
14 | 11 | Miami (Ohio) RedHawks | 12–1 | GMAC Bowl |
15 | — | Washington State Cougars | 9–3 | Holiday Bowl |
16 | — | Ole Miss Rebels | 9–3 | Cotton Bowl Classic |
17 | 15 | Florida Gators | 8–4 | Outback Bowl |
18 | — | Boise State Broncos | 12–1 | Fort Worth Bowl |
19 | — | TCU Horned Frogs | 11–1 | Fort Worth Bowl |
20 | — | West Virginia Mountaineers | 8–4 | Gator Bowl |
21 | — | Oklahoma State Cowboys | 9–3 | Cotton Bowl Classic |
22 | — | Nebraska Cornhuskers | 9–3 | Alamo Bowl |
23 | — | Maryland Terrapins | 9–3 | Gator Bowl |
24 | — | Minnesota Golden Gophers | 9–3 | 2003 Sun Bowl |
25 | — | Utah Utes | 9–2 | Liberty Bowl |
denotes a BCS bowl game
Schedule
Conference bowl representation
| Conference | Bowl Appearances | Top 25 (December 7 Polls) | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| # | Record | % | Winners | Losers | # | Teams | AP Rank | CP Rank | ||
| Mid-American | 2 | 2–0 | 1.000 | Miami (Ohio) Bowling Green |
1 | Miami (Ohio) | #14 | #15 | ||
| ACC | 6 | 5–1 | 0.833 | Maryland Georgia Tech Clemson NC State Virginia |
Florida State | 2 | Florida State | #9 | #8 | |
| Maryland | #23 | #24 | ||||||||
| Western Athletic | 4 | 3–1 | 0.750 | Boise State Hawaii Fresno State |
Tulsa | 1 | Boise State | #18 | #16 | |
| SEC | 7 | 5–2 | 0.714 | LSU Georgia Mississippi Auburn Arkansas |
Tennessee Florida |
5 | LSU | #2 | #2 | |
| Tennessee | #6 | #7 | ||||||||
| Georgia | #11 | #11 | ||||||||
| Mississippi | #16 | #18 | ||||||||
| Florida | #17 | #17 | ||||||||
| Pac-10 | 6 | 4–2 | 0.667 | USC Washington State Oregon State California |
Oregon UCLA |
2 | USC | #1 | #1 | |
| Washington State | #15 | #14 | ||||||||
| Big East | 5 | 2–3 | 0.400 | Miami Boston College |
West Virginia Virginia Tech Pittsburgh |
2 | Miami | #10 | #9 | |
| West Virginia | #20 | #23 | ||||||||
| Big 10 | 8 | 3–5 | 0.375 | Ohio State Iowa Minnesota |
Michigan Purdue Michigan State Wisconsin Northwestern |
5 | Michigan | #4 | #4 | |
| Ohio State | #7 | #6 | ||||||||
| Iowa | #13 | #12 | ||||||||
| Purdue | #12 | #13 | ||||||||
| Minnesota | #24 | #20 | ||||||||
| Mountain West | 3 | 1–2 | 0.333 | Utah | New Mexico Colorado State |
1 | Utah | #25 | #25 | |
| Big 12 | 8 | 2–6 | 0.250 | Nebraska Texas Tech |
Oklahoma Texas Kansas State Oklahoma State Kansas Missouri |
5 | Oklahoma | #3 | #3 | |
| Texas | #5 | #5 | ||||||||
| Kansas State | #8 | #10 | ||||||||
| Nebraska | #22 | #21 | ||||||||
| Oklahoma State | #21 | #22 | ||||||||
| Conference USA | 5 | 1–4 | 0.200 | Memphis | TCU Louisville Houston Southern Miss |
1 | TCU | #19 | #19 | |
| Sun Belt | 1 | 0–1 | 0.000 | North Texas | 0 | none | ||||
| Independents | 1 | 0–1 | 0.000 | Navy | 0 | none | ||||
All-star games
| Date | Game | Winning Team | Losing Team | Venue | City | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January 10, 2004 | East–West Shrine Game | West Team | 28 | East Team | 7 | SBC Park | San Francisco, California |
| January 17, 2004 | Las Vegas All-American Classic | West Team | 14 | East Team | 7 | Sam Boyd Stadium | Las Vegas, Nevada |
| January 17, 2004 | Hula Bowl | South (Aina) | 26 | North (Kai) | 7 | War Memorial Stadium | Wailuku, Hawaii |
| January 24, 2004 | Senior Bowl | South Team | 28 | North Team | 10 | Ladd–Peebles Stadium | Mobile, Alabama |
| January 31, 2004 | Gridiron Classic | North All-Stars | 35 | South All-Stars | 31 | The Villages Polo Stadium | The Villages, Florida |
References
- "AP Poll". Tampa Bay Times. December 8, 2003. p. 49. Retrieved December 5, 2018 – via newspapers.com.
- "Bowl Championship Series Rankings". Tampa Bay Times. December 8, 2003. p. 49. Retrieved December 5, 2018 – via newspapers.com.
- "ESPN College FB Scoreboard (2003)". Retrieved 2009-01-01.
- "2003-2004 Bowl Results (about.com)". Retrieved 2009-01-01.