The 1992 NCAA Division I-A football season was the first year of the Bowl Coalition and concluded with Alabama's first national championship in thirteen years—their first since the departure of Bear Bryant.

For this year, (host) SEC champ Alabama played (at-large) Big East Champ Miami-FL, the Orange Bowl featured (host) Big-8 champ Nebraska and (at-large) ACC champ Florida St., the Cotton Bowl Classic featured (host) SWC champ Texas A&M and (at-large) independent Notre Dame, and the Fiesta Bowl featured (at-large) Big East runner up Syracuse and (at-large) Big 8 runner up Colorado.

The 1992 season also saw the expansion of the SEC and the first conference championship game to be played in the country.

Before the 1992 season, the Arkansas Razorbacks and the South Carolina Gamecocks joined the SEC, which expanded the conference to twelve teams.

In the Sugar Bowl, to decide the national champion, Miami came in a heavy favorite with even heavier swagger.

In other circles, the Big West Conference lost two members; Fresno State left for the WAC and Long Beach State stopped sponsoring football, but they also gained a member in Nevada, which made the jump from Division I-AA.

None of the top five teams had started their schedule by the time the second poll was taken, but the AP voters dropped Florida to No.

4 Florida State, playing their first year in the ACC after having previously been an independent, defeated Duke 48-21.

6 Michigan to a 17-17 tie; the Irish came back from a 10-point fourth-quarter deficit but ran out of time on their final drive.

1 Miami barely escaped Arizona, coming away with an 8-7 victory only when the Wildcats missed a field goal with time running out.

Miami’s close call led the AP voters to drop them out of first place in the next poll: No.

20 USC 17-10, with the key play being a late-game interception in the end zone.

3 Florida State was remarkably similar to their matchup from the previous year.

Despite being held without an offensive touchdown, the Seminoles led 16-10 in the fourth quarter (they had returned the opening kickoff for a TD and kicked three field goals), but the Hurricanes drove for a touchdown and later increased their lead to 19-16 by forcing a safety.

Florida State got the ball back with 95 seconds left and drove to the Miami 22-yard line, but for the second year in a row their kicker’s field goal attempt went wide right as time ran out.

4 Tennessee held a commanding lead over Arkansas with a few minutes left, but the Razorbacks (playing their first season in the SEC after moving from their longtime home in the SWC) scored a touchdown, recovered an onside kick, and converted a game-ending field goal for a 25-24 victory.

For the third time in four weeks, Texas A&M was jumped by a lower-ranked team which had pulled off an impressive win: No.

5 Texas A&M had a controversial 19-13 win over Baylor (a first-quarter Baylor touchdown was nullified on a disputed call, and the Bears later lost the opportunity to kick a field goal when the operator failed to stop the clock after an incomplete pass).

The AP voters shuffled the order of the top teams in the next poll: No.

16 Mississippi State, clinching the SEC Western Division title and a berth in the conference’s first-ever championship game.

Nevertheless, the Wolverines were far enough ahead in the Big Ten standings to clinch the conference title and a Rose Bowl berth.

6 Washington beat Oregon State 45-16, earning the Pac-10 crown and a bowl matchup with Michigan.

The Orangemen mounted a comeback, but the Hurricanes came away with a 16-10 win when a Syracuse receiver was tackled at the Miami 3-yard line as time ran out.

4 Texas A&M clinched the SWC title and a Cotton Bowl berth with a 37-10 victory over TCU, but No.

1 Miami wrapped up an undefeated regular season with a 63-17 win at San Diego State, No.

College football’s first-ever conference championship game was played on December 5, when No.

The Gators came back from a 14-point deficit to tie the game in the fourth quarter, but an interception return for a touchdown sealed a 28-21 Alabama victory.

4 Texas A&M was undefeated and untied, but their relatively light schedule took them out of championship contention; they would face No.

In the preseason poll, Miami had 40 of the 62 first place votes cast, and Washington 12.

After both teams went 5–0, they each got first place votes from 31 electors, split 31½ each, and on October 13, the Huskies were ahead by a single point 1,517½ to 1,516½.