Rules changes
The NCAA instituted the following rule changes for the 2006 season.[ 2]
The NCAA ruled that teams could schedule twelve regular-season games (up from eleven) beginning in the 2006 season.[ 3] (NCAA teams in Alaska and Hawaii, and their home opponents, are allowed to schedule an extra game over and above this limit.)
Instant replay is now officially sanctioned and standardized. All plays are reviewed by the replay officials as the play occurs. They may call down to the on-field officials to stop play if they need extra time to make a review. Each coach may also make one challenge per game. In the case of a coach's challenge, the coach must have at least one time-out remaining. If the challenge is upheld the coach gets the time-out back but the challenge is spent. If the challenge is rejected, both the challenge and the time-out are spent.
Players may only wear clear eyeshields. Previously, both tinted and orange were also allowed.
The kicking tee has been lowered from two inches tall to only one inch.
Halftime lasts twenty minutes. Previously, it was only fifteen minutes, except for special ceremonies (i.e. homecoming).
On a kickoff, the game clock starts when the ball is kicked rather than when the receiving team touches it.
This rule change has resulted in controversy, highlighted by the matchup between Wisconsin and Penn State on November 4, 2006, in which Wisconsin deliberately went off-sides on two consecutive kickoffs to run extra time off the clock at the close of the first half.[ 4]
On a change of possession, the clock starts when the referee marks the ball ready for play, instead of on the snap. This was the rule in the National Football League prior to 1973, and in high school football prior to 1996.
The referee may no longer stop the game due to excessive crowd noise.
When a live-ball penalty such as an illegal formation occurs on a kick, the receiving team may choose either to add the penalty yardage to the end of the return or require the kick to be attempted again with the spot moved back. Previously, only the latter option was available.
If a team scores at the end of the game, they will not kick the extra point unless it would affect the outcome of the game.
Regular season top 10 matchups
Rankings reflect the AP Poll . Rankings for Week 8 and beyond will list BCS Rankings first and AP Poll second. Teams that failed to be a top 10 team for one poll or the other will be noted.
Week 2
Week 3
Week 6
Week 10
Week 12
Week 13
Week 14
FCS team wins over FBS teams
Italics denotes FCS teams.
Date Visiting team Home team Site Result Attendance Ref.
September 2
No. 22 (FCS ) Montana State
Colorado
Folsom Field • Boulder, Colorado
19–10 45,513 [ 5]
September 2
Portland State
New Mexico
University Stadium • Albuquerque, New Mexico
17–6 27,535 [ 5]
September 2
No. 15 (FCS ) Richmond
Duke
Wallace Wade Stadium • Durham, North Carolina
13–0 27,546 [ 5]
September 9
No. 2 (FCS ) New Hampshire
Northwestern
Ryan Field • Evanston, Illinois
34–17 20,108 [ 5]
September 16
No. 16 (FCS ) Southern Illinois
Indiana
Memorial Stadium • Bloomington, Indiana
35–28 31,156 [ 5]
September 23
No. 14 (FCS ) North Dakota State
Ball State
Scheumann Stadium • Muncie, Indiana
29–24 10,285 [ 5]
October 28
No. 9 (FCS ) Cal Poly
San Diego State
Qualcomm Stadium • San Diego , California
16–14 20,974 [ 5]
# Rankings from AP Poll released prior to game.
Conference champions
Conference championship games
Rankings reflect the Week 14 AP Poll before the games were played.
Other conference champions
Rankings are from the Week 15 AP Poll.
* Received conference's automatic BCS bowl bid.
BCS rankings progress
Ohio State was ranked No. 1 in all of the BCS-component polls (AP, Coaches', USA Today ) in the preseason and the 14 polls taken in the regular season. When the BCS rankings began on October 15, Ohio State was No. 1 on all 8 rankings released during the season.
WEEK
No. 1
No. 2
EVENT
OCT 15
Ohio State
USC
Oregon State 33, USC 31
OCT 22
Ohio State
Michigan
Ohio St 44, Minnesota 0
OCT 29
Ohio State
Michigan
Ohio St 17, Illinois 10
NOV 5
Ohio State
Michigan
Ohio St 54, Northwestern 10
NOV 12
Ohio State
Michigan
Ohio St 42, Michigan 39
NOV 19
Ohio State
Michigan
Ohio St 42, Michigan 39
NOV 26
Ohio State
USC
UCLA 13, USC 9
DEC 3
Ohio State
Florida
Florida 38, Arkansas 28
Bowl games
Winners are listed in boldface .
Bowl Championship Series
The Bowl Championship Series selected the No. 1 and No. 2 ranked teams to play for the national championship on January 8. The 2006 season marked a change for the BCS system, as the BCS National Championship Game became a standalone bowl game for the first time, to be played at the site of one of the four BCS bowls (the Fiesta, Orange, Sugar, and Rose Bowls) on a rotating basis. Under the previous format used from 1998 to 2006, the BCS National Championship coincided with one of the BCS bowls. The 2007 BCS Championship Game was played in Glendale, Arizona, the week after the Fiesta Bowl had been played there.
Rankings are from the Week 15 AP Poll.
Awards and honors
Heisman Trophy voting
The Heisman Trophy is given to the year's most outstanding player
Other major award winners
Walter Camp Award (top player): Troy Smith, Ohio State[ 6]
Maxwell Award (top player): Brady Quinn, Notre Dame[ 6]
Associated Press College Football Player of the Year Award : Troy Smith, Ohio State[ 7]
Bronko Nagurski Trophy (defensive player): James Laurinaitis , Ohio State[ 6]
Chuck Bednarik Award (defensive player): Paul Posluszny , Penn State[ 6]
Dave Rimington Trophy (center): Dan Mozes , West Virginia[ 6]
Davey O'Brien Award (quarterback): Troy Smith, Ohio State[ 6]
Dick Butkus Award (linebacker): Patrick Willis , Ole Miss[ 6]
Doak Walker Award (running back): Darren McFadden, Arkansas[ 6]
Draddy Trophy ("academic Heisman"): Brian Leonard , Rutgers[ 8]
Fred Biletnikoff Award (wide receiver): Calvin Johnson , Georgia Tech[ 6]
Jim Thorpe Award (defensive back): Aaron Ross , Texas[ 6]
John Mackey Award (tight end): Matt Spaeth , Minnesota [ 6]
Johnny Unitas Award (Sr. quarterback): Brady Quinn, Notre Dame[ 6]
Lombardi Award (top lineman): LaMarr Woodley , Michigan[ 6]
Lott Trophy (defensive impact): Dante Hughes , California [ 9]
Lou Groza Award (placekicker): Art Carmody , Louisville[ 6]
Manning Award (quarterback): JaMarcus Russell , LSU[ 6]
Mosi Tatupu Award (special teams): A. J. Trapasso , Ohio State[ 6]
Outland Trophy (interior lineman): Joe Thomas , Wisconsin[ 6]
Ray Guy Award (punter): Daniel Sepulveda , Baylor [ 6]
Ted Hendricks Award (defensive end): LaMarr Woodley, Michigan[ 6]
The Home Depot Coach of the Year Award : Greg Schiano , Rutgers[ 10]
Associated Press Coach of the Year: Jim Grobe , Wake Forest[ 11]
Paul "Bear" Bryant Award (head coach): Chris Petersen , Boise State
Walter Camp Coach of the Year (head coach): Greg Schiano, Rutgers[ 10]
Broyles Award (assistant coach): Bud Foster, Virginia Tech
Postseason coaching changes
Attendances
# Team G Total Average
1 Michigan 7 770,183 110,026
2 Penn State 7 752,972 107,567
3 Tennessee 7 740,521 105,789
4 Ohio State 7 735,674 105,096
5 Georgia 7 649,222 92,746
6 LSU 8 737,696 92,212
7 Alabama 8 737,104 92,138
8 Southern California 6 548,880 91,480
9 Florida 7 632,866 90,409
10 Texas 7 619,534 88,505
11 Auburn 8 680,506 85,063
12 Nebraska 7 595,309 85,044
13 Oklahoma 6 507,366 84,561
14 Clemson 7 580,942 82,992
15 Wisconsin 7 569,576 81,368
16 Notre Dame 7 565,565 80,795
17 Florida State 8 644,256 80,532
18 Texas A&M 7 531,894 75,985
19 South Carolina 7 529,412 75,630
20 Arkansas 6 443,368 73,895
21 Michigan State 7 495,731 70,819
22 Iowa 7 494,095 70,585
23 Virginia Tech 8 529,864 66,233
24 UCLA 7 454,683 64,955
25 California 7 450,223 64,318
26 BYU 6 363,146 60,524
27 West Virginia 7 411,408 58,773
28 Oregon 6 350,267 58,378
29 Virginia 6 346,389 57,732
30 Washington 6 344,897 57,483
31 Kentucky 7 401,307 57,330
32 NC State 7 395,779 56,540
33 Missouri 7 391,424 55,918
34 Arizona 7 390,589 55,798
35 Purdue 7 388,198 55,457
36 Arizona State 6 327,369 54,562
37 Mississippi 7 376,604 53,801
38 Minnesota 6 313,239 52,207
39 Texas Tech 6 305,243 50,874
40 Georgia Tech 7 354,321 50,617
41 Maryland 7 345,752 49,393
42 North Carolina 7 342,000 48,857
43 Kansas State 8 373,547 46,693
44 Iowa State 7 323,197 46,171
45 Colorado 6 276,286 46,048
46 Kansas 7 308,961 44,137
47 Illinois 7 304,118 43,445
48 Pittsburgh 7 303,138 43,305
49 Utah 6 259,675 43,279
50 UTEP 6 254,662 42,444
51 Miami Hurricanes 7 293,359 41,908
52 Stanford 5 208,710 41,742
53 Mississippi State 7 290,688 41,527
54 Louisville 6 248,891 41,482
55 Rutgers 6 246,675 41,113
56 Oklahoma State 6 245,726 40,954
57 Oregon State 7 285,808 40,830
58 Connecticut 7 272,576 38,939
59 Boston College 7 271,903 38,843
60 Fresno State 6 231,307 38,551
61 Air Force 6 228,206 38,034
62 Syracuse 6 223,577 37,263
63 East Carolina 6 223,006 37,168
64 Baylor 7 259,559 37,080
65 Hawaii 8 292,708 36,589
66 Vanderbilt 6 209,168 34,861
67 Washington State 7 242,698 34,671
68 Navy 5 166,375 33,275
69 Indiana 7 231,443 33,063
70 Wake Forest 6 195,091 32,515
71 Memphis 7 227,077 32,440
72 TCU 6 191,557 31,926
73 UCF 7 220,980 31,569
74 Army 5 153,469 30,694
75 Boise State 6 182,718 30,453
76 South Florida 6 181,333 30,222
77 San Diego State 6 175,364 29,227
78 Southern Miss 6 173,963 28,994
79 New Mexico 7 200,431 28,633
80 Northwestern 6 167,973 27,996
81 Marshall 5 130,155 26,031
82 Colorado State 5 120,916 24,183
83 UAB 6 138,835 23,139
84 Middle Tennessee State 5 110,185 22,037
85 Houston 8 175,277 21,910
86 Central Michigan 5 107,817 21,563
87 Tulsa 6 128,186 21,364
88 Troy 5 104,048 20,810
89 Northern Illinois 6 124,623 20,771
90 Cincinnati 7 142,613 20,373
91 Toledo 6 121,863 20,311
92 Duke 7 137,061 19,580
93 UNLV 6 115,442 19,240
94 Wyoming 6 114,653 19,109
95 Arkansas State 5 95,344 19,069
96 Tulane 5 94,710 18,942
97 San Jose State 7 131,978 18,854
98 Western Michigan 5 93,124 18,625
99 Louisiana–Monroe 5 111,564 18,594
100 New Mexico State 7 123,172 17,596
101 Kent State 5 85,018 17,004
102 Bowling Green 4 67,335 16,834
103 Nevada 6 100,367 16,728
104 Ohio 5 83,622 16,724
105 Buffalo 5 82,084 16,417
106 Akron 5 80,658 16,132
107 Temple 4 63,241 15,810
108 North Texas 5 78,249 15,650
109 SMU 6 92,565 15,428
110 Miami RedHawks 5 76,219 15,244
111 Florida International 5 75,552 15,110
112 Ball State 6 90,367 15,061
113 Rice 4 59,041 14,760
114 Eastern Michigan 4 58,934 14,734
115 Louisiana Tech 5 72,928 14,586
116 Idaho 5 72,717 14,543
117 Louisiana–Lafayette 6 87,096 14,516
118 Utah State 5 56,800 11,360
119 Florida Atlantic 5 46,382 9,276
Source:[ 53]
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Conference seasons Inter-conference All-Americans