1980 NCAA Division I-A football season

1980 NCAA Division I-A season
Number of teams	138
Preseason AP #1	Ohio State Buckeyes
Post-season
Bowl games	15
Heisman Trophy	George Rogers, South Carolina RB
Winner	Georgia Bulldogs
Division I-A football seasons
← 1979 1981 →

1980 ACC football standings
	Conf							Overall
Team	W		L		T			W		L		T
#10 North Carolina $	6	–	0	–	0			11	–	1	–	0
Maryland	5	–	1	–	0			8	–	4	–	0
NC State	3	–	3	–	0			6	–	5	–	0
Clemson	2	–	4	–	0			6	–	5	–	0
Wake Forest	2	–	4	–	0			5	–	6	–	0
Virginia	2	–	4	–	0			4	–	7	–	0
Duke	1	–	5	–	0			2	–	9	–	0
$ – Conference champion Rankings from AP Poll

1980 Big 8 football standings
	Conf							Overall
Team	W		L		T			W		L		T
#3 Oklahoma $	7	–	0	–	0			10	–	2	–	0
#7 Nebraska	6	–	1	–	0			10	–	2	–	0
Missouri	5	–	2	–	0			8	–	4	–	0
Iowa State	3	–	4	–	0			7	–	4	–	0
Oklahoma State	3	–	4	–	0			4	–	7	–	0
Kansas State	2	–	5	–	0			4	–	7	–	0
Kansas	1	–	6	–	0			2	–	8	–	1
Colorado	1	–	6	–	0			1	–	10	–	0
$ – Conference champion Rankings from AP Poll

1980 Big Ten football standings
	Conf							Overall
Team	W		L		T			W		L		T
#4 Michigan $	8	–	0	–	0			10	–	2	–	0
#15 Ohio State	7	–	1	–	0			9	–	3	–	0
#17 Purdue	7	–	1	–	0			9	–	3	–	0
Iowa	4	–	4	–	0			4	–	7	–	0
Minnesota	4	–	5	–	0			5	–	6	–	0
Indiana	3	–	5	–	0			6	–	5	–	0
Wisconsin	3	–	5	–	0			4	–	7	–	0
Illinois	3	–	5	–	0			3	–	7	–	1
Michigan State	2	–	6	–	0			3	–	8	–	0
Northwestern	0	–	9	–	0			0	–	11	–	0
$ – Conference champion Rankings from AP Poll

1980 Ivy League football standings
	Conf							Overall
Team	W		L		T			W		L		T
Yale $	6	–	1	–	0			8	–	2	–	0
Cornell	5	–	2	–	0			5	–	5	–	0
Harvard	4	–	3	–	0			7	–	3	–	0
Brown	4	–	3	–	0			6	–	4	–	0
Princeton	4	–	3	–	0			6	–	4	–	0
Dartmouth	4	–	3	–	0			4	–	6	–	0
Penn	1	–	6	–	0			1	–	9	–	0
Columbia	0	–	7	–	0			1	–	9	–	0
$ – Conference champion Rankings from AP Poll

1980 Mid-American Conference football standings
	Conf							Overall
Team	W		L		T			W		L		T
Central Michigan $	7	–	2	–	0			9	–	2	–	0
Western Michigan	6	–	3	–	0			7	–	4	–	0
Northern Illinois	4	–	3	–	0			7	–	4	–	0
Miami	4	–	3	–	0			5	–	6	–	0
Ball State	5	–	4	–	0			6	–	5	–	0
Ohio	5	–	4	–	0			6	–	5	–	0
Bowling Green	4	–	4	–	0			4	–	7	–	0
Toledo	3	–	6	–	0			4	–	7	–	0
Kent State	3	–	6	–	0			3	–	8	–	0
Eastern Michigan	1	–	7	–	0			1	–	9	–	0
$ – Conference champion Rankings from AP Poll

1980 Missouri Valley Conference football standings
	Conf							Overall
Team	W		L		T			W		L		T
Tulsa $	4	–	1	–	0			8	–	3	–	0
Wichita State	4	–	1	–	1			5	–	5	–	1
Indiana State	4	–	2	–	0			6	–	5	–	0
Drake	3	–	2	–	0			8	–	3	–	0
West Texas State	2	–	4	–	0			5	–	6	–	0
New Mexico State	1	–	4	–	1			3	–	7	–	1
Southern Illinois	1	–	5	–	0			3	–	8	–	0
Illinois State			–					4	–	7	–	0
$ – Conference champion Illinois State was admitted to the MVC in June, 1980; ineligible for championship Rankings from AP Poll

1980 Pacific Coast Athletic Association football standings
	Conf							Overall
Team	W		L		T			W		L		T
Long Beach State $	5	–	0	–	0			8	–	3	–	0
Utah State	4	–	1	–	0			6	–	5	–	0
San Jose State	3	–	2	–	0			7	–	4	–	0
Fresno State	1	–	4	–	0			5	–	6	–	0
Cal State Fullerton	1	–	4	–	0			4	–	7	–	0
Pacific (CA)	1	–	4	–	0			4	–	8	–	0
$ – Conference champion Rankings from AP Poll

1980 Pacific-10 football standings
	Conf							Overall
Team	W		L		T			W		L		T
#16 Washington $	6	–	1	–	0			9	–	3	–	0
#13 UCLA	5	–	2	–	0			9	–	2	–	0
#11 USC	4	–	2	–	1			8	–	2	–	1
Arizona State	5	–	3	–	0			7	–	4	–	0
Oregon	4	–	3	–	1			6	–	3	–	2
Stanford	3	–	4	–	0			6	–	5	–	0
Arizona	3	–	4	–	0			5	–	6	–	0
Washington State	3	–	4	–	0			4	–	7	–	0
California	3	–	5	–	0			3	–	8	–	0
Oregon State	0	–	8	–	0			0	–	11	–	0
$ – Conference champion Rankings from AP Poll

1980 SEC football standings
	Conf							Overall
Team	W		L		T			W		L		T
#1 Georgia $	6	–	0	–	0			12	–	0	–	0
#6 Alabama	5	–	1	–	0			10	–	2	–	0
#19 Mississippi State	5	–	1	–	0			9	–	3	–	0
Florida	4	–	2	–	0			8	–	4	–	0
LSU	4	–	2	–	0			7	–	4	–	0
Tennessee	3	–	3	–	0			5	–	6	–	0
Ole Miss	2	–	4	–	0			3	–	8	–	0
Kentucky	1	–	5	–	0			3	–	8	–	0
Auburn	0	–	6	–	0			5	–	6	–	0
Vanderbilt	0	–	6	–	0			2	–	9	–	0
$ – Conference champion Rankings from AP Poll

The 1980 NCAA Division I-A football season saw the U.S. state of Georgia take its first national title since World War II.

Nine days following the bowl games to close the 1979 season, tragedy struck when new LSU coach Bo Rein died when the plane he was flying in crashed into the Atlantic Ocean off the coast of Virginia. Rein, who coached North Carolina State to the Atlantic Coast Conference championship in 1979, was named on November 30 of that year as the successor to Charles McClendon, who coached LSU to an 137-59-7 mark from 1962 through 1979. Jerry Stovall, a former LSU All-American and St. Louis Cardinals defensive back, was named to succeed Rein approximately 36 hours after the crash.

The Georgia Bulldogs starred freshman running back Herschel Walker, who made his NCAA debut against Tennessee. Down 15-2 at halftime, Georgia sent in Walker, the third string running back at the time, to try to light a spark. Walker ran over All-American safety Bill Bates, in a play that would set the tempo for the rest of his career.

This year was the final season in which long time rivals Rutgers and Princeton played against each other. The rivalry between the New Jersey schools has not been played since.

This year's edition of Florida–Georgia game was won on a last minute 92 yard pass from Georgia's own endzone, known by the play by play call "Run, Lindsay, run!".

The Bulldogs ran through the rest of the season unscathed, beating Notre Dame in the Sugar Bowl. Walker rushed for 150 yards against Notre Dame, a defense which had not given up a hundred-yard game that whole season. He did this with a dislocated shoulder.

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