The 1993 NCAA Division I-A football season saw Florida State crowned national champions, but not without controversy.
Under the Bowl Coalition, undefeated Big 8 champ and #2 ranked Nebraska hosted ACC champ and #1 ranked Florida State in the Orange Bowl. In theory this should have produced a clear champion, however then #2 Notre Dame had beaten then #1 Florida State 31-24 during the regular season, in a game known by many as the "Game of the Century". This much hyped clash between #1 and #2 was the site of the first ever "live" broadcast of the ESPN College GameDay show and did not fail to live up to expectations as Irish defensive back Shawn Wooden batted down a Charlie Ward pass in the end zone with three seconds left to play. Despite the win over Florida State, Notre Dame's title chances ended the very next week when the Fighting Irish lost to #17 Boston College. Further controversy surrounded the inclusion of one-loss Florida State in the national title game over undefeated West Virginia, who was ranked #2 (ahead of Florida State) by the final regular season coaches' poll. Further complicating the issue was that Auburn finished the regular season undefeated, but was on probation and ineligible for postseason play.
Despite beating Florida State in the regular season, Notre Dame finished #2 in both major polls.
Florida State's Charlie Ward threw for 3,032 yards, completed 70 percent of his passes and became the first player to win the Heisman Trophy and the national championship in the same season since Pittsburgh's Tony Dorsett in 1976.
Penn State also played their first year as a member of the Big Ten Conference.
Another Big West member and Cal State school dropped football, this time Cal State Fullerton. The league picked up four other teams; Southwest Louisiana (later Louisiana-Lafayette) and Arkansas State which had just made the jump to Division IA, and former independents Northern Illinois and Louisiana Tech.
The Alamo Bowl played its inaugural game.
The Sunshine Classic was no longer sponsored by Blockbuster Entertainment, and was now known as the Carquest Bowl.
Prior to this season, the distance between the hashmarks was narrowed from 53 feet, 4 inches (the same as high school football) to 40 feet (the standard used by the National Football League through the 1971 season). This cut down on severe angles for kickers who attempted short field goals, although angles would still be far greater than those encountered by kickers in the NFL, where the hashmarks are the same width as the goalposts, 18 feet, 6 inches.
Read more about 1993 NCAA Division I-A Football Season: Final Conference Standings, #1 and #2 Progress, Bowl Games, Final AP Poll, Final Coaches Poll, Heisman Trophy Voting, Other Major Awards
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