[2] The Penn State Nittany Lions won their first consensus national championship, closing out an 11–1 season by defeating Georgia and Heisman Trophy winner Herschel Walker 27–23 in the Sugar Bowl to edge out undefeated SMU for the national championship.

It was Joe Paterno's first national championship, after three undefeated non-championship seasons.

[3][4][5] UCLA moved from the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum to the Rose Bowl and fulfilled a promise made by coach Terry Donahue by closing out their season there as well, beating Michigan 24–14 in the Rose Bowl on New Year's Day.

It is also the year of "The Play", an improbable finish to the annual rivalry game between Cal and Stanford.

The Aloha Bowl premiered in Honolulu, Hawaii, and was won by Washington.

Pittsburgh, with a 33-3 record in the past three seasons and quarterback Dan Marino heading into his senior year, was No.

1 in the preseason AP Poll despite the departure of head coach Jackie Sherrill to Texas A&M.

In the first regular-season poll on September 6 (taken before any of the top five teams had begun their schedules), Nebraska and Alabama switched places to No.

2 Washington moved ahead of Pitt in the next poll with a 55-0 shutout of UTEP.

The Panthers were again leapfrogged by a team that dominated a weak opponent, as No.

The outcome of the game was controversial as Penn State tight end Mike McCloskey would later admit catching a key pass out of bounds that kept the winning drive alive.

5 Florida defeated Mississippi State 27-17, and the two teams switched places in the next poll: No.

2 Alabama was knocked off in Knoxville by Tennessee, 35-28, the Volunteers’ first victory over the Crimson Tide in twelve years.

After a 5-0 start and a big win over Penn State, Alabama would lose four of their last six regular-season games to end coach Bear Bryant’s storied career.

2 Pittsburgh shut out Syracuse 14-0, leading the two teams to switch places at the top.

6 Arkansas blasted Houston 38-3, leading to another change in the next poll: No.

1 Pittsburgh beat Louisville 63-14, while John Elway and Stanford stunned No.

1 Georgia won at Auburn, 19-14, to clinch the SEC title and a Sugar Bowl berth, while No.

2 SMU traveled to Lubbock and beat Texas Tech 34-27.

In a controversial late-game decision, SMU coach Bobby Collins chose to tie the game with an extra point rather than try for a two-point conversion which would have given the Mustangs the lead.

Neither team was able to score in the remaining time, resulting in a 17-17 tie.

By avoiding a loss, SMU clinched the SWC title and a Cotton Bowl berth, but damaged their national championship prospects by giving up their chance at a perfect record.

(Ironically, the sacrifice turned out to be unnecessary, as Arkansas went on to lose their final game and would have finished behind SMU in the conference standings even with a head-to-head win.)

11 Oklahoma for the Big 8 championship and an Orange Bowl berth, and the Cornhuskers won 28-24.

8 UCLA (which had finished its schedule with the USC win) was elevated to first place.

20 Michigan, which won the Big Ten championship despite a loss in their rivalry game against Ohio State.

The final AP Poll of the regular season featured No.

The Sugar Bowl would match up Georgia and Penn State in a de facto national title game, the Cotton Bowl featured SMU and No.

6 Pittsburgh, the Orange Bowl selected SEC runner-up No.

13 LSU to face Nebraska, and the Rose Bowl had the traditional Big Ten/Pac-10 showdown between UCLA and Michigan.