1987–88 NCAA football bowl games

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President Ronald Reagan holds up a University of Miami jersey presented to him by Miami Hurricanes head coach Jimmy Johnson and the 1987 Miami Hurricanes football team after winning the 1987 national championship

Season

1987

Number of bowls

Bowl games

December 13, 1987 –
January 2, 1988

National Championship

Orange Bowl

Location of Championship

Miami, Florida

Champions

Miami Hurricanes

Bowl record by conference
Conference	Bowls	Record	Final AP poll
Independent	9	2–6–1 (0.278)	5
SEC	6	3–2–1 (0.583)	4
Big Ten	4	3–1 (0.750)	3
Pac-10	4	3–1 (0.750)	3
Big 8	3	1–2 (0.333)	3
SWC	3	2–1 (0.667)	1
WAC	3	0–3 (0.000)	0
ACC	2	2–0 (1.000)	1
MAC	1	1–0 (1.000)	0
PCAA	1	0–1 (0.000)	0

The 1987–88 NCAA football bowl games concluded the 1987 NCAA Division I-A football season, featuring 18 games. Twenty ranked teams participated, and seven of the eighteen matchups were between two ranked teams. The Miami Hurricanes were declared the national champions, after upsetting #1 Oklahoma in the Orange Bowl.

Seventeen of the bowl games ended with a winner, while there was a lone tie (Auburn vs Syracuse in the Sugar Bowl).

Nine independent teams competed, along with six SEC teams, four Big Ten, four Pac-10, three WAC, three Big 8, three SWC, two ACC, one MAC, and one PCAA.

The largest margin of victory occurred twice; Clemson beat Penn State and Texas A&M beat Notre Dame, both 35-10.

The "bowl week" started on December 13 with the California Bowl, and concluded on January 2, 1988 with the Hall of Fame Bowl and the Peach Bowl.

Bowl schedule

Date	Game	Site	Television	Teams	Affiliations	Results
Dec. 13	California Bowl	Bulldog Stadium Fresno, California	ESPN	Eastern Michigan Hurons (9–2) San Jose State Spartans (10–1)	MAC PCAA	Eastern Michigan 30 San Jose State 27
Dec. 19	Independence Bowl	Independence Stadium Shreveport, Louisiana	Mizlou	Washington Huskies (6–4–1) Tulane Green Wave (6–5)	Pac-10 Independent	Washington 24 Tulane 12
Dec. 22	All-American Bowl	Legion Field Birmingham, Alabama	Raycom	BYU Cougars (9–3) Virginia Cavaliers (7–4)	WAC ACC	Virginia 22 BYU 16
Dec. 25	Jeep Eagle Aloha Bowl	Aloha Stadium Honolulu, HI	ABC	#10 UCLA Bruins (9–2) Florida Gators (6–5)	Pac-10 SEC	UCLA 20 Florida 16
Dec. 25	John Hancock Sun Bowl	Sun Bowl Stadium El Paso, Texas	CBS	West Virginia Mountaineers (6–5) #11 Oklahoma State Cowboys (9–2)	Independent Big 8	Oklahoma State 35 West Virginia 33
Dec. 29	Liberty Bowl	Liberty Bowl Memorial Stadium Memphis, Tennessee	Raycom	Arkansas Razorbacks (9–3) #15 Georgia Bulldogs (8–3)	SWC SEC	Georgia 20 Arkansas 17
Dec. 30	Freedom Bowl	Anaheim Stadium Anaheim, California	Mizlou	Air Force Falcons (9–3) Arizona State Sun Devils (6–4–1)	WAC Pac-10	Arizona State 33 Air Force 28
Dec. 30	SeaWorld Holiday Bowl	Jack Murphy Stadium San Diego	ESPN	#18 Iowa Hawkeyes (9–3) Wyoming Cowboys (10–2)	Big Ten WAC	Iowa 20 Wyoming 19
Dec. 31	Mazda Gator Bowl	Gator Bowl Stadium Jacksonville, Florida	CBS	#9 South Carolina Gamecocks (8–3) #7 LSU Tigers (9–1–1)	Independent SEC	LSU 30 South Carolina 13
Dec. 31	Astro-Bluebonnet Bowl	Astrodome Houston	Mizlou	#19 Pittsburgh Panthers (8–3) Texas Longhorns (6–5)	Independent SWC	Texas 32 Pittsburgh 27
Jan. 1	Rose Bowl	Rose Bowl Pasadena, California	NBC	#16 USC Trojans (8–3) #8 Michigan State Spartans (8–2–1)	Pac-10 Big Ten	Michigan State 20 USC 17
	Orange Bowl National Championship	Orange Bowl Miami	NBC	#2 Miami Hurricanes (11–0) #1 Oklahoma Sooners (11–0)	Independent Big 8	Miami 20 Oklahoma 14
	Florida Citrus Bowl	Florida Citrus Bowl Orlando, Florida	ABC	#14 Clemson Tigers (9–2) #20 Penn State Nittany Lions (8–3)	ACC Independent	Clemson 35 Penn State 10
	Sunkist Fiesta Bowl	Sun Devil Stadium Tempe, Arizona	NBC	#3 Florida State Seminoles (10–1) #5 Nebraska Cornhuskers (10–1)	Independent Big 8	Florida State 31 Nebraska 28
	Cotton Bowl Classic	Cotton Bowl Dallas	CBS	#12 Notre Dame Fighting Irish (8–3) #13 Texas A&M Aggies (9–2)	Independent SWC	Texas A&M 35 Notre Dame 10
	USF&G Sugar Bowl	Louisiana Superdome New Orleans	ABC	#6 Auburn Tigers (9–1–1) #4 Syracuse Orangemen (11–0)	SEC Independent	Auburn 16 Syracuse 16
Jan. 2	Hall of Fame Bowl	Tampa Stadium Tampa, Florida	NBC	Michigan Wolverines (7–4) Alabama Crimson Tide (7–4)	Big Ten SEC	Michigan 28 Alabama 24
Jan. 2	Peach Bowl	Atlanta–Fulton County Stadium Atlanta	Mizlou	#17 Tennessee Volunteers (9–2–1) Indiana Hoosiers (8–3)	SEC Big Ten	Tennessee 27 Indiana 22

References

"AP and Coaches Yearly Final Polls". cfbdatawarehouse.com. Archived from the original on March 19, 2017. Retrieved November 19, 2016.
"Recognized National Championships by Year". cfbdatawarehouse.com. Archived from the original on October 15, 2016. Retrieved November 19, 2016.
Keith Meador. "1987 Oklahoma at Miami (FL) Game Recap - SoonerStats - Oklahoma Sooners Football, Basketball, Baseball, and Softball Scores, Records, and Stats". soonerstats.com. Retrieved November 19, 2016.

v t e 1987–88 NCAA football bowl game season
California (Dec. 12) Independence (Dec. 19) All-American (Dec. 22) Aloha (Dec. 25) Sun (Dec. 25) Liberty (Dec. 29) Freedom (Dec. 30) Holiday (Dec. 30) Gator (Dec. 31) Astro-Bluebonnet (Dec. 31) Rose (Jan. 1) Orange (Jan. 1) Florida Citrus (Jan. 1) Fiesta (Jan. 1) Cotton (Jan. 1) Sugar (Jan. 1) Hall of Fame (Jan. 2) Peach (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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