The 1983 NCAA Division I-A football season ended with the University of Miami, led by Bernie Kosar, winning their first national championship over perennial power and top ranked Nebraska in the Orange Bowl.
The Hurricanes' 31–30 win over Nebraska is still talked about as one of the greatest games of all time, not only for its last minute finish, but for its role in changing the face of college football.
Nebraska scored a touchdown with 48 seconds remaining, putting them within one point of the Hurricanes.
This Miami team was the first to win a national title without a single player voted to the first team All-Americans and only the second to win a national title gaining more passing yards than rushing.
The Auburn Tigers, featuring Bo Jackson, also had a stellar season, going 11–1 and beating Michigan in the Sugar Bowl 9–7.
The NCAA record book also formally recognizes the Tigers as co-national champions, along with Nebraska (and Miami).
This season's edition of the annual rivalry game between Oregon and Oregon State is still widely known and derided as "The Toilet Bowl", as the teams played to a 0–0 tie, the last scoreless tie in college football.
(Note, however, that even when a conference officially recognizes multiple champions, it will invariably have some kind of tiebreaker system to determine placement for bowl berths.)
The Nittany Lions opened with three straight losses and never made it back into the polls.
1 Nebraska annihilated Minnesota 84–13, setting a school scoring record against a Division I opponent.
5 North Carolina won 38–21 at Georgia Tech, which was beginning its first year in the ACC.
6 Alabama, which had started 4–0 in their first year without Bear Bryant (the most recent win being 44–13 over Memphis) and No.
1 Nebraska finally ran into trouble, being taken down to the wire in their Big 8 opener against Oklahoma State.
The Cornhuskers pulled out a 14–10 win with an interception in the end zone on the game’s final play.
7 Miami (which had won eight straight games by double digits after a season opening loss to Florida) beat No.
1 Nebraska put on another offensive clinic, winning 72–29 over Iowa State; Mike Rozier rushed for four touchdowns to set a new Big 8 record for TDs in a season.
5 Miami needed a late touchdown to beat East Carolina 12–7; they were passed in the next poll by No.
1 Nebraska posted their fourth consecutive 50+ point performance, defeating Kansas 67–13.
5 Illinois beat Indiana 49–21 to clinch a surprise Big Ten title and Rose Bowl berth.
6 Miami finished its schedule with a 17–16 win at Florida State on a late field goal.
2 Texas clinched the SWC title and a Cotton Bowl berth with a 24–21 win over Baylor.
The Illini’s Rose Bowl opponent would be UCLA, which earned the Pac-10 title with a 27–17 victory at USC.
1 Nebraska, unranked Oklahoma only had one conference loss and could still gain an Orange Bowl berth by defeating the Cornhuskers.
Trailing by only seven points with under a minute left, the Sooners got as far as the Nebraska 1–yard line before a Cornhuskers defensive stand preserved a 28–21 victory.
The Tigers prevailed 23-20 in a torrential rainstorm, with the key play being a 71-yard touchdown run by Bo Jackson.
Because the winners of major conferences were tied to specific bowls, none of the top four teams were able to play each other in the postseason.
In the AP preseason poll released on August 27, Big 8 Conference rivals Nebraska and Oklahoma were No.
After the Oklahoma Sooners lost 24–14 to Ohio State on September 17, the Nebraska Cornhuskers remained No.
Meanwhile, the University of Miami Hurricanes, unranked in the preseason Top 20, began winning after their first week 28–3 loss to Florida.
5 by October 31, where they remained in the final regular season poll after they were invited to play against Nebraska in the Orange Bowl.