The 1996 NCAA Division I-A football season ended with the Florida Gators being crowned National Champions after defeating rival Florida State in the Sugar Bowl, which was the season's designated Bowl Alliance national championship game.

3 Nebraska in the first ever Big 12 Championship Game set up the rematch of in-state rivals in New Orleans.

In the Sugar Bowl, Florida's Heisman Trophy-winning senior quarterback Danny Wuerffel and head coach Steve Spurrier led the Gators to a 52–20 victory and their first national championship.

In a close Rose Bowl contest, Arizona State's Jake Plummer ran for a touchdown with 1:40 left to play to give his team the lead, but Ohio State responded with its own touchdown drive led by backup quarterback Joe Germaine and won 20–17.

The poll results helped push the Pac-10 and Big Ten to give up their Rose Bowl tradition.

Before the 1998 season, they both agreed to join an expanded Bowl Championship Series (BCS) agreement, giving their programs a chance to play in a national championship game.

The Big 12 began play as a two division conference, with Oklahoma and Oklahoma State joining the South Division, breaking up the classic Nebraska–Oklahoma rivalry, but making the Texas-Oklahoma rivalry, known as the Red River Shootout into a conference game.

The first Big 12 football game featured Texas Tech and Kansas State.

[3] The 1996 season was also notable as it marked the end of ties in college football, as an overtime system was put into place across all of Division I.

[4]) Four teams upgraded from Division I-AA prior to the season and one university dropped its football program.

Two-time defending champion Nebraska was heavily favored to win a third straight national title, and the Cornhuskers were followed in the preseason AP Poll by No.

5 Colorado, who committed 14 penalties (one of which nullified a game-tying touchdown) in a 20-13 loss to No.

6 Penn State shut out Northern Illinois 49-0 and moved up in the next poll: No.

17 Arizona State, a team they had defeated by 49 points the previous year.

However, the Sun Devils completely neutralized the Cornhuskers’ offense in a 19-0 shutout win, Nebraska’s first loss since the 1993 national title game.

2 Ohio State needed a fourth-quarter comeback to escape unranked Wisconsin 17-14.

4 Arizona State fell behind again and again in their game against USC but made three game-tying drives in regulation and another one in overtime.

14 Virginia, who had defeated them in a major upset the previous year, and the Seminoles got their revenge with a 31-24 victory.

1 Florida had an unexpectedly hard time with last-place Vanderbilt, but held on for a 28-21 win which clinched the SEC Eastern Division title for the Gators.

3 Florida State wrapped up the ACC title with a 44-7 victory at Wake Forest, while No.

2 Ohio State clinched the Big Ten title with a 27-17 win at Indiana, and No.

2 Ohio State was undefeated going into their season-ending contest with archrival Michigan.

21 Michigan held OSU without a touchdown in a 13-9 come-from-behind victory which dropped Ohio State coach John Cooper’s career record against Michigan to 1-7-1.

2 Florida State, both undefeated, met with a spot in the national title game seemingly on the line.

The Seminoles jumped out to a 17-0 lead in the first quarter and held off a late Gators comeback to earn a 24-21 victory.

5 Colorado, both with one loss, faced each other for the championship of the new Big 12 Northern Division, and the Cornhuskers prevailed 17-12 on a rain-soaked field.

However, due to the recent merger between the Big 8 and SWC, the Cornhuskers needed to play one more game before heading into the bowls.

In the first-ever Big 12 Championship Game on December 7, Nebraska faced off against Texas.

The unranked Longhorns trailed in the fourth quarter, but scored two late touchdowns to pull off a 37-27 upset.

11 Alabama 45-30 in the SEC Championship Game to move back ahead of Nebraska in the final pre-bowl poll.