For just the second time in the
Bowl Championship Series era, no FBS team finished the season undefeated. Kansas was the only team from a BCS automatic-qualifying conference to finish the entire season with just one loss.
Rules changes
After coaches expressed their disapproval of the timing changes made in the
2006 season, the following changes were made:
On kickoffs, the clock will not start until the ball is touched in the field of play.
On change of possession, the clock will not start until the snap.
The attempt to reduce the time of games sought by those rules was successful, reducing the average college football page from 3:21 hours in 2005 to 3:07 hours in 2006.[2] However, the reduced game time also reduced the average number of plays in a game by 13, 66 fewer offensive yards per game and average points per game by 5.[2]
Other rules changes for the 2007 season include:
Moving the kick-off yard-line from 35 to 30, which matches the yard-line used in the
National Football League from
1994 to
2010, to reduce the number of touchbacks.[2]
Paring the 25-second play clock to 15 seconds after TV timeouts.[2]
Team time-outs for televised games are shortened from 60 seconds to 30 seconds.[2]
Allowing penalties against the kicking team on kickoffs to be assessed at the end of the runback, avoiding a re-kick, also matching the NFL rule.[2]
Once the umpire gives the ball to the kicker, the 25 second play clock starts.[2]
Kickoffs out of bounds are now penalized 35 yards from the spot of the kick or a re-kick with a five-yard penalty.[2]
Defenders cannot use any part of a teammate to jump over an opponent to block a kick.[2]
Conference and program changes
The only change in conference membership for the 2007 season occurred when
Temple left its Independent status to become the 13th member of the
Mid-American Conference.
No teams upgraded from
Division I FCS, leaving the number of Division I FBS schools fixed at 119.
Rankings reflect the
AP Poll. Rankings for Week 7 and beyond will list
BCS Rankings first and
AP Poll second. Teams that failed to be a top 10 team for one poll or the other will be noted.
The 2007 season was highlighted by the remarkable frequency with which ranked teams fell to lower-ranked or unranked opponents, leading the media to dub the season as the "Year of the Upset".[3] An unranked or lower-ranked opponent defeated a higher-ranked team 59 times over the course of the regular season. Teams ranked in the top five of the
AP Poll were defeated by unranked opponents 13 times during the regular season, setting a new record in the history of the AP Poll when at least 20 teams were ranked.[4] The only other season to see more such upsets was 1967, which was one of seven seasons when the AP Poll ranked only 10 teams.
The chaos began on the first weekend of the season when
FCS program Appalachian State defeated No. 5 Michigan on the road at
Michigan Stadium in what was immediately hailed as one of the greatest upsets in the history of college football. Appalachian State became just the second FCS team to defeat a ranked FBS opponent, and the first to do so against a top-five team.
"Curse of the No. 2"
The 2007 season became known for the "Curse of the No. 2", where the team ranked No. 2 by the AP Poll was defeated seven times in the final nine weeks of the regular season:[5]
Stanford defeated No. 2 USC,
24–23, on October 6 at
Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum. This result was particularly notable for the fact that USC was favored to win the game by 41 points, having carried winning streaks of 35 games at home and 24 games in Pac-10 play into the matchup. Both streaks ended with this loss.
No. 4 Missouri defeated No. 2 Kansas, 36–28, on November 24 at
Arrowhead Stadium in a
Border War rivalry game. This was the only such upset where the winning team was also ranked.
Pittsburgh defeated No. 2 West Virginia,
13–9, on December 1 at
Mountaineer Field in a
Backyard Brawl rivalry game. West Virginia was knocked out of contention for the BCS National Championship on the final weekend of the regular season.
The No. 1 and No. 2 ranked teams had not lost in the same week of the season since 1996. In 2007 alone, No. 1 and No. 2 fell during the same weekend three times, including in both of the final two weeks of the regular season:
No. 1
LSU lost to
Kentucky 43–37 in three overtimes, and No. 2 California lost to Oregon State 31–28 on October 13.
No. 1 LSU lost to
Arkansas 50–48 in three overtimes on November 23, and No. 2 Kansas lost to No. 4 Missouri 36–28 on November 24.
No. 1 Missouri lost to No. 9
Oklahoma 38–17 in the
Big 12 Championship Game, and No. 2 West Virginia lost to Pittsburgh 13–9 on December 1.
† Winner of the Bowl Challenge Cup
–
§ NCAA record for bowl victories in a conference in one bowl season.
Notes
The
Sun Belt Conference, represented by Florida Atlantic University, was not eligible for the Bowl Challenge Cup as they only had one bowl berth. Conferences must have a minimum of three bids to be a part of the challenge.
Awards and honors
Heisman Trophy voting
The
Heisman Trophy is given to the year's most outstanding player
^Western Kentucky University was in a two-year process of transition to FBS status in 2007 (completed in 2009), and, therefore,
some sources list the total for 2007 as 119.
^After Woodson's interception-free streak ended against
Florida Atlantic on September 29, he attempted three more passes without being intercepted. In the Cats' following game on October 4 against South Carolina, he made 14 pass attempts without an interception before being intercepted in his 15th attempt. The official Kentucky football site has posted detailed play-by-play of both the
Florida AtlanticArchived March 2, 2008, at the
Wayback Machine and
South CarolinaArchived March 2, 2008, at the
Wayback Machine games.
^Woodson's record-setting streak of pass attempts without an interception began on November 4, 2006 against
Georgia. In that game, he was intercepted early in the second quarter. He then attempted and completed seven passes before being intercepted for the second time in the quarter. His next pass attempt began his interception-free streak. The official Kentucky football site has a
detailed play-by-play of this gameArchived March 2, 2008, at the
Wayback Machine.
^Neal McCready (November 24, 2007).
"Orgeron fired at Ole Miss". Alabama Press-Register.
Archived from the original on March 8, 2012. Retrieved November 24, 2007.
^Brian Dohn (December 3, 2007).
"UCLA fires coach Dorrell". Los Angeles Daily News. Archived from
the original on December 5, 2007. Retrieved December 3, 2007.
^Smith, Craig (November 26, 2007).
"WSU fires head coach Doba". The Seattle Times.
Archived from the original on November 28, 2007. Retrieved November 26, 2007.