1988 NCAA Division I-A football season

1988 NCAA Division I-A season
Number of teams	104
Preseason AP #1	Florida State Seminoles
Post-season
Bowl games	17
Heisman Trophy	Barry Sanders Oklahoma State RB
Winner	Notre Dame Fighting Irish
Division I-A football seasons
← 1987 1989 →

1988 ACC football standings
	Conf							Overall
Team	W		L		T			W		L		T
#9 Clemson $	6	–	1	–	0			10	–	2	–	0
Virginia	5	–	2	–	0			7	–	4	–	0
NC State	4	–	2	–	1			8	–	3	–	1
Wake Forest	4	–	3	–	0			6	–	4	–	1
Maryland	4	–	3	–	0			5	–	6	–	0
Duke	3	–	3	–	1			7	–	3	–	1
North Carolina	1	–	6	–	0			1	–	10	–	0
Georgia Tech	0	–	7	–	0			3	–	8	–	0
$ – Conference champion Rankings from AP Poll

1988 Big 8 football standings
	Conf							Overall
Team	W		L		T			W		L		T
#10 Nebraska $	7	–	0	–	0			11	–	2	–	0
#14 Oklahoma	6	–	1	–	0			9	–	3	–	0
#11 Oklahoma State	5	–	2	–	0			10	–	2	–	0
Colorado	4	–	3	–	0			8	–	4	–	0
Iowa State	3	–	4	–	0			5	–	6	–	0
Missouri	2	–	5	–	0			3	–	7	–	1
Kansas	1	–	6	–	0			1	–	10	–	0
Kansas State	0	–	7	–	0			0	–	11	–	0
$ – Conference champion Rankings from AP Poll

1988 Big Ten football standings
	Conf							Overall
Team	W		L		T			W		L		T
#4 Michigan $	7	–	0	–	1			9	–	2	–	1
Michigan State	6	–	1	–	1			6	–	5	–	1
Illinois	5	–	2	–	1			6	–	5	–	1
Iowa	4	–	1	–	3			6	–	4	–	3
#20 Indiana	5	–	3	–	0			8	–	3	–	1
Purdue	3	–	5	–	0			4	–	7	–	0
Ohio State	2	–	5	–	1			4	–	6	–	1
Northwestern	2	–	5	–	1			2	–	8	–	1
Wisconsin	1	–	7	–	0			1	–	10	–	0
Minnesota	0	–	6	–	2			2	–	7	–	2
$ – Conference champion Rankings from AP Poll

1988 Big West Conference football standings
	Conf							Overall
Team	W		L		T			W		L		T
Fresno State $	7	–	0	–	0			10	–	2	–	0
Cal State Fullerton	5	–	2	–	0			5	–	6	–	0
Utah State	4	–	3	–	0			4	–	7	–	0
San Jose State	4	–	3	–	0			4	–	8	–	0
UNLV	3	–	4	–	0			4	–	7	–	0
Long Beach State	3	–	4	–	0			3	–	9	–	0
Pacific (CA)	2	–	5	–	0			2	–	9	–	0
New Mexico State	0	–	7	–	0			1	–	10	–	0
$ – Conference champion Rankings from AP Poll

1988 Mid-American football standings
	Conf							Overall
Team	W		L		T			W		L		T
Western Michigan $	7	–	1	–	0			9	–	3	–	0
Eastern Michigan	5	–	2	–	1			6	–	3	–	1
Ball State	5	–	3	–	0			8	–	3	–	0
Central Michigan	5	–	3	–	0			7	–	4	–	0
Ohio	4	–	3	–	1			4	–	6	–	1
Toledo	4	–	4	–	0			6	–	5	–	0
Kent State	3	–	5	–	0			5	–	6	–	0
Bowling Green	1	–	6	–	1			2	–	8	–	1
Miami	0	–	7	–	1			0	–	10	–	1
$ – Conference champion Rankings from AP Poll

1988 Pacific-10 football standings
	Conf							Overall
Team	W		L		T			W		L		T
#7 USC $	8	–	0	–	0			10	–	2	–	0
#6 UCLA	6	–	2	–	0			10	–	2	–	0
#16 Washington State	5	–	3	–	0			9	–	3	–	0
Arizona	5	–	3	–	0			7	–	4	–	0
Arizona State	3	–	4	–	0			6	–	5	–	0
Washington	3	–	5	–	0			6	–	5	–	0
Oregon	3	–	5	–	0			6	–	6	–	0
Oregon State	2	–	5	–	1			4	–	6	–	1
Stanford	1	–	5	–	2			3	–	6	–	2
California	1	–	5	–	1			5	–	5	–	1
$ – Conference champion Rankings from AP Poll

1988 SEC football standings
	Conf							Overall
Team	W		L		T			W		L		T
#8 Auburn +	6	–	1	–	0			10	–	2	–	0
#19 LSU +	6	–	1	–	0			8	–	4	–	0
#15 Georgia	5	–	2	–	0			9	–	3	–	0
#17 Alabama	4	–	3	–	0			9	–	3	–	0
Florida	4	–	3	–	0			7	–	5	–	0
Tennessee	3	–	4	–	0			5	–	6	–	0
Ole Miss	3	–	4	–	0			5	–	6	–	0
Kentucky	2	–	5	–	0			5	–	6	–	0
Vanderbilt	2	–	5	–	0			3	–	8	–	0
Mississippi State	0	–	7	–	0			1	–	10	–	0
+ – Conference co-champions Rankings from AP Poll

1988 Southwest Conference football standings
	Conf							Overall
Team	W		L		T			W		L		T
#12 Arkansas $	7	–	0	–	0			10	–	2	–	0
Texas A&M*	6	–	1	–	0			7	–	5	–	0
Houston	5	–	2	–	0			9	–	3	–	0
Texas Tech	4	–	3	–	0			5	–	6	–	0
Baylor	2	–	5	–	0			6	–	5	–	0
Texas	2	–	5	–	0			4	–	7	–	0
TCU	2	–	5	–	0			4	–	7	–	0
Rice	0	–	7	–	0			0	–	11	–	0
$ – Conference champion *- Ineligible for conference championship and postseason bowl games due to NCAA sanctions. Rankings from AP Poll

1988 WAC football standings
	Conf							Overall
Team	W		L		T			W		L		T
Wyoming $	8	–	0	–	0			11	–	2	–	0
UTEP	6	–	2	–	0			10	–	3	–	0
Hawaii	5	–	3	–	0			9	–	3	–	0
BYU	5	–	3	–	0			9	–	4	–	0
Utah	4	–	4	–	0			6	–	5	–	0
Air Force	3	–	5	–	0			5	–	7	–	0
San Diego State	3	–	5	–	0			3	–	8	–	0
New Mexico	1	–	7	–	0			2	–	10	–	0
Colorado State	1	–	7	–	0			1	–	10	–	0
$ – Conference champion Rankings from AP Poll

The 1988 NCAA Division I-A football season ended with Notre Dame winning the national championship. The Fighting Irish won the title via a 34-21 defeat of previously unbeaten West Virginia in the Fiesta Bowl in Tempe, Arizona.

Notre Dame had several notable victories this season, including a 19–17 victory over #9 Michigan, won on a last drive field goal, which started off the championship season. The season's marquee game was a 31–30 victory over #1 Miami. Entering the game, Miami had a 36 game regular season winning streak, 20 straight road victories and a 16-game winning streak overall. This year was also the first time Notre Dame and USC had ever met when ranked #1 and #2. Most notable about this game is Notre Dame coach Lou Holtz's decision to leave behind two of his stars, Tony Brooks and Ricky Watters because they were late, cementing discipline as the main theme of this championship team.

This year's edition of the UCLA-USC rivalry game featured a second ranked USC and a fourth ranked UCLA. For the second year in a row the Rose Bowl berth was on the line but for USC it also had national title implications as the rivalry game with Notre Dame was the following week. USC beat UCLA but lost to Notre Dame, and then lost to Michigan in the Rose Bowl.

Oklahoma State running back Barry Sanders ran the Wing T offense all the way to the Heisman Trophy and numerous rushing records.

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