1977–78 NCAA football bowl games

Series of post-season NCAA football games

Season

1977

Number of bowls

Bowl games

December 17, 1977 –
January 2, 1978

National Championship

1978 Cotton Bowl Classic

Location of Championship

Cotton Bowl,
Dallas, Texas

Champions

Notre Dame

Bowl record by conference
Conference	Bowls	Record	Final AP poll

The 1977–78 NCAA football bowl games were a series of post-season games played in December 1977 and January 1978 to end the 1977 NCAA Division I football season. A total of 13 team-competitive games were played. The post-season began with the Independence Bowl on December 17, 1977, and concluded on January 2, 1978, with the Orange Bowl.

Schedule

Date	Game	Site	TV	Teams	Results
Dec. 17	Independence Bowl	State Fair Stadium Shreveport, Louisiana	WTCG-TV	Louisiana Tech (8–1–2) Louisville (7–3–1)	Louisiana Tech 24 Louisville 14
Dec. 19	Liberty Bowl	Liberty Bowl Memorial Stadium Memphis, Tennessee	ABC	No. 12 Nebraska (8–3) No. 14 North Carolina (8–2–1)	Nebraska 21 North Carolina 17
Dec. 22	Hall of Fame Classic	Legion Field Birmingham, Alabama	Mizlou	Maryland (7–4) Minnesota (6–5)	Maryland 17 Minnesota 7
Dec. 23	Tangerine Bowl	Orlando Stadium Orlando, Florida	Mizlou	No. 19 Florida State (9–2) Texas Tech (7–4)	Florida State 40 Texas Tech 17
Dec. 25	Fiesta Bowl	Sun Devil Stadium Tempe, Arizona	CBS	No. 8 Penn State (10–1) No. 15 Arizona State (9–2)	Penn State 42 Arizona State 30
Dec. 30	Gator Bowl	Gator Bowl Stadium Jacksonville, Florida	ABC	No. 10 Pittsburgh (8–2–1) No. 11 Clemson (8–2–1)	Pittsburgh 34 Clemson 3
Dec. 31	Peach Bowl	Fulton County Stadium Atlanta, Georgia	Mizlou	NC State (7–4) Iowa State (8–3)	NC State 24 Iowa State 14
	Sun Bowl	Sun Bowl El Paso, Texas	CBS	Stanford (8–3) LSU (8–3)	Stanford 24 LSU 14
	Astro-Bluebonnet Bowl	Astrodome Houston, Texas	Mizlou	No. 20 USC (7–4) No. 18 Texas A&M (8–3)	USC 47 Texas A&M 28
Jan. 2	Cotton Bowl Classic	Cotton Bowl Dallas, Texas	CBS	No. 5 Notre Dame (10–1) No. 1 Texas (11–0)	Notre Dame 38 Texas 10
	Sugar Bowl	Louisiana Superdome New Orleans, Louisiana	ABC	No. 3 Alabama (10–1) No. 9 Ohio State (9–2)	Alabama 35 Ohio State 6
	Rose Bowl	Rose Bowl Pasadena, California	NBC	No. 13 Washington (7–4) No. 4 Michigan (10–1)	Washington 27 Michigan 20
	Orange Bowl	Miami Orange Bowl Miami, Florida	NBC	No. 6 Arkansas (10–1) No. 2 Oklahoma (10–1)	Arkansas 31 Oklahoma 6

Rankings from AP Poll

References

"All-Time Bowl-Game Results And Attendance" (PDF). National Collegiate Athletic Association. Retrieved April 28, 2024.
"1977 College Football Bowl Games". Sports Reference. Retrieved April 22, 2024.

v t e 1977–78 NCAA football bowl game season
Grantland Rice (Dec. 3) Independence (Dec. 17) Liberty (Dec. 19) Hall of Fame Classic (Dec. 22) Tangerine (Dec. 23) Fiesta (Dec. 25) Gator (Dec. 30) Peach (Dec. 31) Sun (Dec. 31) Bluebonnet (Dec. 31) Sugar (Jan. 2) Cotton (Jan. 2) Orange (Jan. 2) Rose (Jan. 2)

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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