The 2002–03 NCAA football bowl games were a series of 28 post-season games (including the Bowl Championship Series) played in December 2002 and January 2003 for Division I-A football teams and their all-stars. The post-season began with the New Orleans Bowl on December 17, 2002, and concluded on February 1, 2003, with the season-ending Hula Bowl.
A new record of 28 team-competitive bowls, and two all-star games, were played, including the inaugural Continental Tire Bowl, Hawaii Bowl and San Francisco Bowl. To fill the 56 available team-competitive bowl slots, a total of three teams with non-winning seasons participated in bowl games—all three had a .500 (6–6) season.
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, while the BCS column represents the Bowl Championship Series rankings.
AP BCS Team W–L Bowl Miami Hurricanes Fiesta Bowl Ohio State Buckeyes Fiesta Bowl Iowa Hawkeyes Orange Bowl Georgia Bulldogs Sugar Bowl USC Trojans Orange Bowl Kansas State Wildcats Holiday Bowl Washington State Cougars Rose Bowl Oklahoma Sooners Rose Bowl Texas Longhorns Cotton Bowl Classic Penn State Nittany Lions Capital One Bowl Notre Dame Fighting Irish Gator Bowl Michigan Wolverines Outback Bowl Alabama Crimson Tide none Colorado Buffaloes Alamo Bowl West Virginia Mountaineers Continental Tire Bowl Florida State Seminoles Sugar Bowl NC State Wolfpack Gator Bowl Boise State Broncos Humanitarian Bowl Auburn Tigers Capital One Bowl Maryland Terrapins Peach Bowl Virginia Tech Hokies San Francisco Bowl Florida Gators Outback Bowl Colorado State Rams Liberty Bowl Pittsburgh Panthers Insight Bowl Arkansas Razorbacks Music City Bowl denotes a BCS bowl game ineligible for bowl play due to NCAA sanctions
Schedule
Non BCS ContestsDateGameSiteTime(US EST)TVMatchup(pre-game record)APpre-gamerankUSA Todaypre-gamerank12/17New Orleans BowlLouisiana Superdome New Orleans, Louisiana7:00 PMESPN2North Texas 24 (7–5),Cincinnati 19 (7–6)NRNRNRNR12/18GMAC BowlLadd–Peebles Stadium Mobile, Alabama8:00 PMESPNMarshall 38 (10–2),Louisville 15 (7–5)NRNR#24NR12/23Tangerine BowlCitrus Bowl Orlando, Florida6:30 PMESPNTexas Tech 55 (8–5),Clemson 15 (7–5)NRNRNRNR12/25Las Vegas BowlSam Boyd Stadium Whitney, Nevada4:30 PMESPNUCLA 27 (7–5),New Mexico 13 (7–6)NRNRNRNR12/25Hawai'i BowlAloha Stadium Honolulu, Hawaii8:00 PMESPNTulane 36 (7–5),Hawaii 28 (10–3)NRNRNRNR12/26Ford Field Detroit, Michigan5:00 PMESPNBoston College 51 (8–4),Toledo 25 (9–4)NRNRNRNR12/26Insight BowlBank One Ballpark Phoenix, Arizona8:30 PMESPNPittsburgh 38 (8–4),Oregon State 13 (8–4)#24NR#23NR12/27Reliant Stadium Houston, Texas2:30 PMESPNOklahoma State 33 (7–5),Southern Miss 23 (7–5)NRNRNRNR12/27Independence Stadium Shreveport, Louisiana5:30 PMESPNOle Miss 27 (6–6),Nebraska 23 (7–6)NRNRNRNR12/27Holiday BowlQualcomm Stadium San Diego, California8:00 PMESPNKansas State 34 (10–2),Arizona State 27 (8–5)#6NR#6NR12/28Continental Tire BowlEricsson Stadium Charlotte, North Carolina12:00 PMESPNVirginia 48 (8–5),West Virginia 22 (9–3)NR#15NR#1312/28Alamo BowlAlamodome San Antonio, Texas8:00 PMESPNWisconsin 31 (7–6),Colorado 28 (9–4) (OT)NR#14NR#1412/30Music City BowlLP Field Nashville, Tennessee2:00 PMESPNMinnesota 29 (7–5),Arkansas 14 (9–4)NR#25NRNR12/30Seattle BowlQwest Field Seattle, Washington5:00 PMESPNWake Forest 38 (6–6),Oregon 14 (7–5)NRNRNRNR12/31Humanitarian BowlBronco Stadium Boise, Idaho12:00 PMESPNBoise State 34 (11–1),Iowa State 16 (7–6)#18NR#15NR12/31Sun BowlSun Bowl Stadium El Paso, Texas2:00 PMCBSPurdue 34 (6–6),Washington 24 (7–5)NRNRNRNR12/31Liberty BowlLiberty Bowl Memorial Stadium Memphis, Tennessee2:30 PMESPNTCU 17 (9–2),Colorado State 3 (10–3)NR#23NR#2112/31Silicon Valley ClassicSpartan Stadium San Jose, California3:30 PMESPN2Fresno State 30 (8–5),Georgia Tech 21 (7–5)NRNRNRNR12/31Peach BowlGeorgia Dome Atlanta, Georgia7:30 PMESPNMaryland 30 (10–3),Tennessee 3 (8–4)#20NR#18NR12/31Pacific Bell Park San Francisco, California8:30 PMESPN2Virginia Tech 20 (9–4),Air Force 13 (8–4)#21NR#19NR1/1Outback BowlRaymond James Stadium Tampa, Florida11:00 AMESPNMichigan 38 (9–3),Florida 30 (8–4)#12#22#11#201/1Cotton Bowl Dallas, Texas11:00 AMFOXTexas 35 (10–2),LSU 20 (8–4)#9NR#9#251/1Gator BowlAlltel Stadium Jacksonville, Florida12:30 PMNBCNC State 28 (10–3),Notre Dame 6 (10–2)#17#11#17#121/1Capital One BowlCitrus Bowl Orlando, Florida1:00 PMABCAuburn 13 (8–4),Penn State 9 (9–3)#19#10#22#10Bowl Championship SeriesDateGameSiteTime(US EST)TVMatchupAP rankBCS rank1/1Rose BowlRose Bowl Pasadena, California4:30 PMABCOklahoma 34 (11–2) (Big 12 Champion),Washington State 14 (10–2) (Pac-10 co-Champ)#8#7#7#61/1Sugar BowlLouisiana Superdome New Orleans, Louisiana8:30 PMABCGeorgia 26 (12–1) (SEC Champion),Florida State 13 (9–4) (ACC Champion)#4#16#3#141/2Orange BowlPro Player Stadium Miami Gardens, Florida8 PMABCUSC 38 (10–2) (Pac-10 co-Champion),Iowa 17 (11–1) (Big Ten co-Champion)#5#3#4#51/3Fiesta Bowl (BCS National Championship Game)Sun Devil Stadium Tempe, Arizona8 PMABCOhio State 31 (13–0) (Big Ten co-Champion),Miami 24 (12–0) (Big East Champion)#2#1#2#1
All-star games Date Game Winning Team Losing Team Venue City January 11, 2003 East–West Shrine Game East Team 20 West Team 17 SBC Park San Francisco, California January 18, 2003 Senior Bowl North Team 17 South Team 0 Ladd–Peebles Stadium Mobile, Alabama January 25, 2003 Gridiron Classic Team USA 20 Team Florida 17 Citrus Bowl Orlando, Florida January 25, 2003 Paradise Bowl Midwest All-Stars 36 West All-Stars 31 Hansen Stadium St. George, Utah February 1, 2003 Hula Bowl South (Aina) 27 North (Kai) 24 War Memorial Stadium Wailuku, Hawaii
References