The 1987 NCAA Division I-A football season ended with Miami winning its second national championship of the 1980s in an Orange Bowl game featuring a rare No.
Miami's first three games were against ranked opponents in what was labeled a rebuilding year.
After some late game theatrics by Michael Irvin against rival Florida State, the Hurricanes were 3–0, the national media started to take notice.
Oklahoma was also seen as quite the juggernaut, averaging 428.8 yards rushing per game with their potent wishbone offense.
Miami was able to hold Oklahoma to just 179 yards on the ground, winning the game 20–14.
This was LSU's first ten win season in 26 years and their highest ranking since 1961.
2, their only loss to Miami, and began a streak of 14 years where FSU finished in the top 5.
This would be the first of two years SMU would not field a team due to the NCAA's death penalty.
The loss of Wichita State and SMU and the gain of Akron decreased the number of teams to 104.
The preseason AP Poll ranked Big 8 rivals Oklahoma and Nebraska at No.
5 Ohio State opened their schedule with a 24-3 win over West Virginia, and No.
5 Ohio State defeated Oregon 24-14 but fell out of the top five in the next poll.
6 Miami, who was idle this week but had started the year with an impressive 31-4 blowout of then-No.
4 Florida State squared off in a game which featured 63 future NFL players.
The Seminoles led 19-3 late in the third quarter, but the Hurricanes responded with 23 unanswered points to take a seven-point lead.
After Florida State scored a touchdown with 42 seconds left, coach Bobby Bowden sent out his kicker for a game-tying extra point, but changed his mind at the last moment and called for a two-point conversion.
Quarterback Danny McManus’ pass was deflected, giving Miami a 26-25 victory.
1 Oklahoma held their opponent without a touchdown for the fourth game in a row, limiting Texas to three field goals in a 44-9 triumph.
5 Auburn won 20-10 at Georgia Tech, but the AP voters were more impressed with No.
6 LSU’s 34-9 victory over Kentucky, and the teams switched spots in the next poll: No.
October 31: All of the highly-ranked teams registered blowout wins this week.
12 Oklahoma State and won 29-10, but quarterback Jamelle Holieway was lost for the season with a torn ACL, and fullback Lydell Carr also suffered a knee injury.
2 Nebraska, who had defeated Missouri by 35 points a few weeks earlier, was idle.
2 Oklahoma met to decide the Big 8 title and an Orange Bowl berth.
Despite their injuries, the Sooners finished an undefeated regular season with a 17-7 victory, their fourth win in as many years over the Cornhuskers.
5 UCLA needed only a win over unranked USC to gain the Pac-10 title, but the Trojans pulled off a 17-13 upset to earn the Rose Bowl berth.
6 Syracuse won a thriller against West Virginia, triumphing 32-31 on a two-point conversion with ten seconds left to finish the regular season undefeated.
The other top-ranked teams had already finished their schedules, and the top five remained the same in the final poll of the regular season.
Over the past three years, the Sooners were 0-2 against the Hurricanes and 33-0 against all other opponents, and they would have the opportunity for revenge on the biggest stage.
5 Nebraska (whose only losses were to Miami and Oklahoma respectively) would match up in the Fiesta Bowl.