1971–72 NCAA football bowl games

Series of post-season NCAA football games

Season

1971

Number of bowls

Bowl games

December 18, 1971 –
January 1, 1972

National Championship

1972 Orange Bowl

Location of Championship

Miami Orange Bowl
Miami, Florida

Champions

Nebraska

Bowl record by conference
Conference	Bowls	Record	Final AP poll

The 1971–72 NCAA football bowl games were a series of post-season games played in December 1971 and January 1972 to end the 1971 NCAA University Division football season. A total of 11 team-competitive games were played. The post-season began with the Sun Bowl on December 18, 1971, and concluded on January 1, 1972, with the Orange Bowl.

Schedule

Date	Game	Site	TV	Teams	Results
Dec. 18	Sun Bowl	Sun Bowl El Paso, Texas	CBS	No. 11 LSU (8–3) Iowa State (8–3)	LSU 33 Iowa State 15
Dec. 18	Pasadena Bowl	Rose Bowl Pasadena, California		Memphis State (4–6) San Jose State (5–5–1)	Memphis State 28 San Jose State 9
Dec. 20	Liberty Bowl	Memphis Memorial Stadium Memphis, Tennessee	ABC	No. 9 Tennessee (9–2) Arkansas (8–2–1)	Tennessee 14 Arkansas 13
Dec. 27	Fiesta Bowl	Sun Devil Stadium Tempe, Arizona	Mizlou	No. 8 Arizona State (10–1) Florida State (8–3)	Arizona State 45 Florida State 38
Dec. 28	Tangerine Bowl	Tangerine Bowl Orlando, Florida		No. 14 Toledo (11–0) Richmond (5–5)	Toledo 28 Richmond 3
Dec. 30	Peach Bowl	Fulton County Stadium Atlanta, Georgia	Mizlou	No. 17 Ole Miss (9–2) Georgia Tech (6–5)	Ole Miss 41 Georgia Tech 18
Dec. 31	Gator Bowl	Gator Bowl Stadium Jacksonville, Florida	ABC	No. 6 Georgia (10–1) North Carolina (9–2)	Georgia 7 North Carolina 3
Dec. 31	Astro-Bluebonnet Bowl	Astrodome Houston, Texas	HTN	No. 7 Colorado (9–2) Houston (9–2)	Colorado 29 Houston 17
Jan. 1	Sugar Bowl	Tulane Stadium New Orleans, Louisiana	ABC	No. 3 Oklahoma (10–1) No. 5 Auburn (9–1)	Oklahoma 40 Auburn 22
	Cotton Bowl Classic	Cotton Bowl Dallas, Texas	CBS	No. 10 Penn State (10–1) No. 12 Texas (8–2)	Penn State 30 Texas 6
	Rose Bowl	Rose Bowl Pasadena, California	NBC	No. 16 Stanford (8–3) No. 4 Michigan (11–0)	Stanford 13 Michigan 12
	Orange Bowl	Miami Orange Bowl Miami, Florida	NBC	No. 1 Nebraska (12–0) No. 2 Alabama (11–0)	Nebraska 38 Alabama 6

Rankings from AP Poll

References

"All-Time Bowl-Game Results And Attendance" (PDF). National Collegiate Athletic Association. Retrieved May 1, 2024.
"1971 College Football Bowl Games". Sports Reference. Retrieved May 1, 2024.

v t e 1971–72 NCAA football bowl game season
Pasadena (Dec. 18) Liberty (Dec. 20) Fiesta (Dec. 27) Tangerine (Dec. 28) Peach (Dec. 30) Astro-Bluebonnet (Dec. 31) Gator (Dec. 31) Sun (Dec. 31) Cotton (Jan. 1) Orange (Jan. 1) Rose (Jan. 1) Sugar (Jan. 1)

v t e NCAA football bowl seasons
1901–02 1902–14 1915–16 1916–17 1917–18 1918–19 1919–20 1920–21 1921–22 1922–23 1923–24 1924–25 1925–26 1926–27 1927–28 1928–29 1929–30 1930–31 1931–32 1932–33 1933–34 1934–35 1935–36 1936–37 1937–38 1938–39 1939–40 1940–41 1941–42 1942–43 1943–44 1944–45 1945–46 1946–47 1947–48 1948–49 1949–50 1950–51 1951–52 1952–53 1953–54 1954–55 1955–56 1956–57 1957–58 1958–59 1959–60 1960–61 1961–62 1962–63 1963–64 1964–65 1965–66 1966–67 1967–68 1968–69 1969–70 1970–71 1971–72 1972–73 1973–74 1974–75 1975–76 1976–77 1977–78 1978–79 1979–80 1980–81 1981–82 1982–83 1983–84 1984–85 1985–86 1986–87 1987–88 1988–89 1989–90 1990–91 1991–92 1992–93 1993–94 1994–95 1995–96 1996–97 1997–98 1998–99 1999–2000 2000–01 2001–02 2002–03 2003–04 2004–05 2005–06 2006–07 2007–08 2008–09 2009–10 2010–11 2011–12 2012–13 2013–14 2014–15 2015–16 2016–17 2017–18 2018–19 2019–20 2020–21 2021–22 2022–23 2023–24 2024–25

NCAA football bowl seasons

1901–02
1902–14
1915–16
1916–17
1917–18
1918–19
1919–20
1920–21
1921–22
1922–23
1923–24
1924–25
1925–26
1926–27
1927–28
1928–29
1929–30
1930–31
1931–32
1932–33
1933–34
1934–35
1935–36
1936–37
1937–38
1938–39
1939–40
1940–41
1941–42
1942–43
1943–44
1944–45
1945–46
1946–47
1947–48
1948–49
1949–50
1950–51
1951–52
1952–53
1953–54
1954–55
1955–56
1956–57
1957–58
1958–59
1959–60
1960–61
1961–62
1962–63
1963–64
1964–65
1965–66
1966–67
1967–68
1968–69
1969–70
1970–71
1971–72
1972–73
1973–74
1974–75
1975–76
1976–77
1977–78
1978–79
1979–80
1980–81
1981–82
1982–83
1983–84
1984–85
1985–86
1986–87
1987–88
1988–89
1989–90
1990–91
1991–92
1992–93
1993–94
1994–95
1995–96
1996–97
1997–98
1998–99
1999–2000
2000–01
2001–02
2002–03
2003–04
2004–05
2005–06
2006–07
2007–08
2008–09
2009–10
2010–11
2011–12
2012–13
2013–14
2014–15
2015–16
2016–17
2017–18
2018–19
2019–20
2020–21
2021–22
2022–23
2023–24
2024–25

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