The game was played at Sun Devil Stadium in Tempe, Arizona between the Tennessee Volunteers (ranked #5 in the BCS) and the Nebraska Cornhuskers (ranked #3 in the BCS).
The matchup featured the two most current National Championship teams: Nebraska in 1997, and Tennessee in 1998.
The teams first met two years earlier for the 1998 Orange Bowl.
Nebraska – Dan Alexander 7 yard run (Josh Brown kick) 11:34 NEB 7 TN 0 Nebraska – Bobby Newcombe 60 yard punt return (Josh Brown kick) 3:21 NEB 14 TN 0 Nebraska – Josh Brown 31-yard field goal 1:37 NEB 17 TN 0 Tennessee – Donté Stallworth 9 yard pass from Tee Martin (Alex Walls kick) 0:18 NEB 17 TN 7 Tennessee – Travis Henry 4 yard run (Alex Walls kick) 13:03 NEB 17 TN 14 Nebraska – Aaron Golliday 13 yard pass from Eric Crouch (Josh Brown kick) 4:44 NEB 24 TN 14 Nebraska – Correll Buckhalter 2 yard run (Josh Brown kick) 12:01 NEB 31 TN 14 Tennessee – Donte Stallworth 44 yard pass from Cedrick Wilson (Alex Walls kick) 7:25 NEB 31 TN 21 Pound sign (#) denotes national championship game.
Pound sign (#) denotes national championship game.