1979 college football season

1979 NCAA Division I-A season
Number of teams	140
Preseason AP #1	USC Trojans
Post-season
Bowl games	15
Heisman Trophy	Charles White, USC RB
Winner	Alabama Crimson Tide
Division I-A football seasons
← 1978 1980 →

1979 ACC football standings
	Conf							Overall
Team	W		L		T			W		L		T
NC State $	5	–	1	–	0			7	–	4	–	0
Clemson	4	–	2	–	0			8	–	4	–	0
Maryland	4	–	2	–	0			7	–	4	–	0
Wake Forest	3	–	2	–	0			8	–	4	–	0
#15 North Carolina	3	–	3	–	0			8	–	3	–	1
Virginia	1	–	4	–	0			6	–	5	–	0
Duke	0	–	6	–	0			2	–	8	–	1
$ – Conference champion Rankings from AP Poll

1979 Big 8 football standings
	Conf							Overall
Team	W		L		T			W		L		T
#3 Oklahoma $	7	–	0	–	0			11	–	1	–	0
#9 Nebraska	6	–	1	–	0			10	–	2	–	0
Oklahoma State	5	–	2	–	0			7	–	4	–	0
Missouri	3	–	4	–	0			7	–	5	–	0
Colorado	2	–	5	–	0			3	–	8	–	0
Iowa State	2	–	5	–	0			3	–	8	–	0
Kansas	2	–	5	–	0			3	–	8	–	0
Kansas State	1	–	6	–	0			3	–	8	–	0
$ – Conference champion Rankings from AP Poll

1979 Big Ten football standings
	Conf							Overall
Team	W		L		T			W		L		T
#4 Ohio State $	8	–	0	–	0			11	–	1	–	0
#10 Purdue	7	–	1	–	0			10	–	2	–	0
#18 Michigan	6	–	2	–	0			8	–	4	–	0
#19 Indiana	5	–	3	–	0			8	–	4	–	0
Iowa	4	–	4	–	0			5	–	6	–	0
Minnesota	3	–	5	–	1			4	–	6	–	1
Michigan State	3	–	5	–	0			5	–	6	–	0
Wisconsin	3	–	5	–	0			4	–	7	–	0
Illinois	1	–	6	–	1			2	–	8	–	1
Northwestern	0	–	9	–	0			1	–	10	–	0
$ – Conference champion Rankings from AP Poll

1979 Ivy League football standings
	Conf							Overall
Team	W		L		T			W		L		T
Yale $	6	–	1	–	0			8	–	1	–	0
Brown	5	–	2	–	0			6	–	3	–	0
Princeton	5	–	2	–	0			5	–	4	–	0
Cornell	4	–	3	–	0			5	–	4	–	0
Dartmouth	4	–	3	–	0			4	–	4	–	1
Harvard	3	–	4	–	0			3	–	6	–	0
Columbia	1	–	6	–	0			1	–	8	–	0
Penn	0	–	7	–	0			0	–	9	–	0
$ – Conference champion Rankings from AP Poll

1979 Mid-American Conference football standings
	Conf							Overall
Team	W		L		T			W		L		T
Central Michigan $	8	–	0	–	1			10	–	0	–	1
Toledo	7	–	1	–	1			7	–	3	–	1
Western Michigan	5	–	4	–	0			6	–	5	–	0
Ball State	4	–	4	–	0			6	–	5	–	0
Ohio	4	–	4	–	0			6	–	5	–	0
Northern Illinois	3	–	3	–	1			5	–	5	–	1
Miami	3	–	4	–	0			6	–	5	–	0
Bowling Green	3	–	5	–	0			4	–	7	–	0
Eastern Michigan	1	–	6	–	1			2	–	8	–	1
Kent State	1	–	8	–	0			1	–	10	–	0
$ – Conference champion Rankings from AP Poll

1979 Missouri Valley Conference football standings
	Conf							Overall
Team	W		L		T			W		L		T
West Texas State $	5	–	0	–	0			5	–	5	–	1
Southern Illinois	4	–	1	–	0			8	–	3	–	0
Indiana State	3	–	2	–	0			8	–	3	–	0
Drake	1	–	4	–	0			3	–	8	–	0
New Mexico State	1	–	5	–	0			2	–	9	–	0
Wichita State	1	–	5	–	0			1	–	10	–	0
Tulsa			–					6	–	5	–	0
$ – Conference champion Tulsa was ineligible for MVC title Rankings from AP Poll

1979 Pacific Coast Athletic Association football standings
	Conf							Overall
Team	W		L		T			W		L		T
Utah State $	5	–	0	–	0			8	–	3	–	0
Long Beach State	3	–	2	–	0			7	–	4	–	0
Fresno State	3	–	2	–	0			5	–	6	–	0
Cal State Fullerton	2	–	3	–	0			4	–	7	–	0
San Jose State	2	–	3	–	0			3	–	8	–	0
Pacific (CA)	0	–	5	–	0			3	–	7	–	0
$ – Conference champion Rankings from AP Poll Records adjusted for San Jose State forfeits

1979 Pacific-10 football standings
	Conf							Overall
Team	W		L		T			W		L		T
#2 USC $	6	–	0	–	1			11	–	0	–	1
#11 Washington	5	–	2	–	0			9	–	3	–	0
Arizona	4	–	3	–	0			6	–	5	–	1
Oregon	4	–	3	–	0			6	–	5	–	0
California	5	–	4	–	0			6	–	6	–	0
Stanford	3	–	3	–	1			5	–	5	–	1
Arizona State *	3	–	4	–	0			6	–	6	–	0
UCLA	3	–	4	–	0			5	–	6	–	0
Washington State	2	–	6	–	0			3	–	8	–	0
Oregon State	1	–	7	–	0			1	–	10	–	0
$ – Conference champion * – Arizona State later forfeited 5 wins (3 in conference) due to NCAA sanctions Rankings from AP Poll

1979 SEC football standings
	Conf							Overall
Team	W		L		T			W		L		T
#1 Alabama $	6	–	0	–	0			12	–	0	–	0
Georgia	5	–	1	–	0			6	–	5	–	0
#16 Auburn	4	–	2	–	0			8	–	3	–	0
LSU	4	–	2	–	0			7	–	5	–	0
Tennessee	3	–	3	–	0			7	–	5	–	0
Kentucky	3	–	3	–	0			5	–	6	–	0
Ole Miss	3	–	3	–	0			4	–	7	–	0
Mississippi State	2	–	4	–	0			3	–	8	–	0
Vanderbilt	0	–	6	–	0			1	–	10	–	0
Florida	0	–	6	–	0			0	–	10	–	1
$ – Conference champion Rankings from AP Poll

The 1979 NCAA Division I-A football season saw the Alabama Crimson Tide bring home a national title with a perfect 12-0 season. The title was Alabama's 11th claimed, and their 6th Associated Press awarded title.

This was an extremely dominant Alabama team, only giving up 67 points the entire season and shutting out five opponents. The team won a tight game against LSU 3-0 and beat Auburn by a touchdown before beating Arkansas 24-9 in the Sugar Bowl.

There was very little movement at the top of the rankings throughout the season, as only three different teams held the top spot in the AP poll and only two in the UPI poll. USC was the pre-season top-ranked team, and held the number one ranking until a 21–21 tie with Stanford, a game USC led at halftime 21–0. A fumbled hold on the snap from center cost the Trojans a chance at a last-second field goal. Stanford was led by quarterback Turk Schonert, while freshman John Elway served as his backup. USC ended up finishing second in the country, but running back Charles White brought home the Heisman Trophy.

Number 2 Alabama then took over the top spot and never relinquished that position in the UPI poll. In the AP poll, however, Ohio State took over the top spot in the last regular season poll of the season. Ohio State had defeated #13 Michigan in Ann Arbor by a score of 18–15 to earn the Big 10 title. Two weeks later, Alabama defeated #14 Auburn 25-18 in Birmingham, but the AP voters saw fit to jump Ohio State ahead of them.

Thus, Ohio State came within one point of a national title under first-year coach Earle Bruce, who replaced coach Woody Hayes, falling to USC 17–16 in the Rose Bowl after an undefeated season.

Other Bowls:

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