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2005 NCAA Division I-A season
2005 NCAA Division I-A season
	Texas team and coach Mack Brown with President George W. Bush after winning the 2005 national championship
Number of teams	119
Duration	September 1 – December 3
Preseason AP No. 1	USC
Postseason
Duration	December 20, 2005 – ; January 4, 2006
Bowl games	28
Heisman Trophy	Reggie Bush (running back, USC)
Bowl Championship Series
	2006 Rose Bowl
Site	Rose Bowl Stadium,; Pasadena, California
Champion(s)	Texas
Division I-A football seasons
	← 2004 2006 →

The 2005 NCAA Division I-A football season was the highest level of college football competition in the United States organized by the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA). The regular season began on September 1, 2005 and ended on December 3, 2005. The postseason concluded on January 4, 2006 with the Rose Bowl, which served as the season's BCS National Championship Game.

The USC Trojans and the Texas Longhorns finished the regular season as the only undefeated teams in Division I-A and consequently met in the Rose Bowl to play for the national title. Texas defeated USC largely due to the performance of quarterback Vince Young, who gained 467 yards of total offense and ran for three touchdowns. The Longhorns won their first national championship since 1970, and their first consensus national title since 1969.

Rule changes

After the Big Ten Conference's 2004 experiment with instant replay, its use was expanded to all but the Sun Belt and the WAC conferences in Division I-A. The rules varied between conferences (including the use of coaches' challenges similar to the NFL in the Mountain West Conference) until the NCAA standardized the rules in 2006. Replay was also permitted in bowl games and, provided the visiting team agreed to its use, in non-conference regular season games.
The protection for a receiver who signals a fair catch includes situations when the ball is muffed until it hits the ground.
Penalties for spearing or similar hits in which the tackler leads with the crown of the head are enforced regardless of the "intent" of the tackler.
The penalty for leaping on field goals/PATs now states it is a foul if a player lined up more than one yard behind the line of scrimmage jumps and lands on players of any team trying to block the kick. If lined up one yard or closer to the line, it is not a foul.
Eliminated the "legal clipping zone"; hits from behind below the knee are prohibited anywhere on the field.
Provided for officials a specific list of acts by players considered unsportsmanlike conduct, including the "throat slash", high stepping and diving into the end zone unchallenged among others. Spontaneous celebrations by players are allowed provided they are not prolonged, taunting, or bring attention to themselves.

Conference changes

A major conference realignment occurred prior to the 2005 season, when 18 teams in Division I-A changed conferences.

Temple was expelled from the Big East Conference while Army ended its brief affiliation with Conference USA, resulting in both schools becoming Independents.

Boston College left the Big East to become the 12th member of the Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC), allowing the league to split into two divisions and hold an annual championship game.

Cincinnati, Louisville and South Florida left Conference USA to join the Big East. Texas Christian University also left Conference USA to become the Mountain West Conference's ninth member.

Despite its losses, Conference USA added six schools to increase its membership to twelve, poaching Marshall and UCF from the Mid-American Conference and Rice, Southern Methodist, Tulsa, and UTEP from the Western Athletic Conference (WAC). Like the ACC, Conference USA split into two divisions and started a conference championship game.

The Western Athletic Conference added Idaho, New Mexico State and Utah State from the Sun Belt Conference.

The Sun Belt picked up I-AA Independents Florida Atlantic and Florida International.

School	2004 Conference	2005 Conference
Army Black Knights	Conference USA	I-A Independent
Boston College Eagles	Big East	ACC
Central Florida Knights	MAC	Conference USA
Cincinnati Bearcats	Conference USA	Big East
Louisville Cardinals	Conference USA	Big East
Marshall Thundering Herd	MAC	Conference USA
Florida Atlantic Owls	I-AA Independent	Sun Belt
Florida International Panthers	I-AA Independent	Sun Belt
Idaho Vandals	Sun Belt	WAC
New Mexico State Aggies	Sun Belt	WAC
Rice Owls	WAC	Conference USA
South Florida Bulls	Conference USA	Big East
SMU Mustangs	WAC	Conference USA
Temple Owls	Big East Conference	I-A Independent
TCU Horned Frogs	Conference USA	Mountain West
Tulsa Golden Hurricane	WAC	Conference USA
Utah State Aggies	Sun Belt	WAC
UTEP Miners	WAC	Conference USA

Coaching changes

Steve Spurrier returned to college coaching for the first time since 2001 after a stint in the NFL, leading South Carolina to a respectable 7–5 season. Urban Meyer, after leading Utah to an undefeated season in 2004, took over at Florida (Spurrier's old school). Charlie Weis left the New England Patriots to become head coach at alma mater Notre Dame, taking the team to a BCS bowl.

Longtime head coaches Barry Alvarez of Wisconsin and Bill Snyder of Kansas State, both of whom took struggling programs to national prominence during their tenures, retired. Dan Hawkins, having helped make Boise State a powerhouse in the Western Athletic Conference, left the Broncos to coach struggling Colorado.

Regular season top 10 matchups

Rankings reflect the AP Poll. Rankings for Week 8 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.

Week 2
- No. 2 Texas defeated No. 4 Ohio State, 25–22 (Ohio Stadium, Columbus, Ohio)
Week 3
- No. 6 Florida defeated No. 5 Tennessee, 16–7 (Ben Hill Griffin Stadium, Gainesville, Florida)
Week 4
- No. 10 Tennessee defeated No. 4 LSU, 30–27 ^OT (Tiger Stadium, Baton Rouge, Louisiana)
Week 6
- No. 5 Georgia defeated No. 8 Tennessee, 27–14 (Neyland Stadium, Knoxville, Tennessee)
Week 7
- No. 1 USC defeated No. 9 Notre Dame, 34–31 (Notre Dame Stadium, South Bend, Indiana)
Week 8
- No. 2/2 Texas defeated No. 7/10 Texas Tech, 52–17 (Darrell K Royal–Texas Memorial Stadium, Austin, Texas)
Week 10
- No. 6/5 Miami defeated No. 3/3 Virginia Tech, 27–7 (Lane Stadium, Blacksburg, Virginia)
Week 11
- No. 7/5 LSU defeated No. 3/4 Alabama, 16–13 ^OT (Bryant-Denny Stadium, Tuscaloosa, Alabama)

Conference standings

2005 Atlantic Coast Conference football standings
v t e
Team	W		L	W		L
Atlantic Division
No. 23 Florida State xy$	5	–	3	8	–	5
No. 18 Boston College x	5	–	3	9	–	3
No. 21 Clemson	4	–	4	8	–	4
Wake Forest	3	–	5	4	–	7
NC State	3	–	5	7	–	5
Maryland	3	–	5	5	–	6
Coastal Division
No. 7 Virginia Tech x	7	–	1	11	–	2
No. 17 Miami (FL)	6	–	2	9	–	3
Georgia Tech	5	–	3	7	–	5
North Carolina	4	–	4	5	–	6
Virginia	3	–	5	7	–	5
Duke	0	–	8	1	–	10
Championship: Florida State 27, Virginia Tech 22
$ – BCS representative as conference champion x – Division champion/co-champions y – Championship game participant Rankings from AP Poll

2005 Big 12 Conference football standings
v t e
Team	W		L	W		L
North Division
Colorado x	5	–	3	7	–	6
No. 24 Nebraska	4	–	4	8	–	4
Missouri	4	–	4	7	–	5
Iowa State	4	–	4	7	–	5
Kansas	3	–	5	7	–	5
Kansas State	2	–	6	5	–	6
South Division
No. 1 Texas x$#	8	–	0	13	–	0
No. 20 Texas Tech	6	–	2	9	–	3
No. 22 Oklahoma	6	–	2	8	–	4
Texas A&M	3	–	5	5	–	6
Baylor	2	–	6	5	–	6
Oklahoma State	1	–	7	4	–	7
Championship: Texas 70, Colorado 3
# – BCS National Champion $ – BCS representative as conference champion x – Division champion/co-champions Rankings from AP Poll

2005 Big East Conference football standings
v t e
Team	W		L	W		L
No. 5 West Virginia $	7	–	0	11	–	1
No. 19 Louisville	5	–	2	9	–	3
Rutgers	4	–	3	7	–	5
South Florida	4	–	3	6	–	6
Pittsburgh	4	–	3	5	–	6
Connecticut	2	–	5	5	–	6
Cincinnati	2	–	5	4	–	7
Syracuse	0	–	7	1	–	10

$ – BCS representative as conference champion Rankings from AP Poll

2005 Big Ten Conference football standings
v t e
Team	W		L	W		L
No. 3 Penn State $+	7	–	1	11	–	1
No. 4 Ohio State %+	7	–	1	10	–	2
No. 15 Wisconsin	5	–	3	10	–	3
Michigan	5	–	3	7	–	5
Northwestern	5	–	3	7	–	5
Iowa	5	–	3	7	–	5
Minnesota	4	–	4	7	–	5
Purdue	3	–	5	5	–	6
Michigan State	2	–	6	5	–	6
Indiana	1	–	7	4	–	7
Illinois	0	–	8	2	–	9

$ – BCS representative as conference champion % – BCS at-large representative + – Conference co-champions Rankings from AP Poll

2005 Conference USA football standings
v t e
Team	W		L	W		L
East Division
UCF x	7	–	1	8	–	5
Southern Miss	5	–	3	7	–	5
Memphis	5	–	3	7	–	5
East Carolina	4	–	4	5	–	6
Marshall	3	–	5	4	–	7
UAB	3	–	5	5	–	6
West Division
Tulsa x$	6	–	2	9	–	4
UTEP	5	–	3	8	–	4
Houston	4	–	4	6	–	6
SMU	4	–	4	5	–	6
Tulane	1	–	7	2	–	9
Rice	1	–	7	1	–	10
Championship: Tulsa 44, UCF 27
$ – Conference champion x – Division champion/co-champions Rankings from AP Poll

2005 Mid-American Conference football standings
v t e
Team	W		L	W		L
East Division
Akron xy$	5	–	3	7	–	6
Miami (OH) x	5	–	3	7	–	4
Bowling Green x	5	–	3	6	–	5
Ohio	3	–	5	4	–	7
Buffalo	1	–	7	1	–	10
Kent State	0	–	8	1	–	10
West Division
Northern Illinois xy	6	–	2	7	–	5
Toledo x	6	–	2	9	–	3
Western Michigan	5	–	3	7	–	4
Central Michigan	5	–	3	6	–	5
Ball State	4	–	4	4	–	7
Eastern Michigan	3	–	5	4	–	7
Championship: Akron 31, NIU 30
$ – Conference champion x – Division champion/co-champions

2005 Mountain West Conference football standings
v t e
Team	W		L	W		L
No. 11 TCU $	8	–	0	11	–	1
BYU	5	–	3	6	–	6
Colorado State	5	–	3	6	–	6
Utah	4	–	4	7	–	5
New Mexico	4	–	4	6	–	5
San Diego State	4	–	4	5	–	7
Air Force	3	–	5	4	–	7
Wyoming	2	–	6	4	–	7
UNLV	1	–	7	2	–	9

$ – Conference champion Rankings from AP Poll

2005 Pacific-10 Conference football standings
v t e
Team	W		L	W		L
No. 2 USC † $	8	–	0	12	–	1
No. 13 Oregon	7	–	1	10	–	2
No. 16 UCLA	6	–	2	10	–	2
No. 25 California	4	–	4	8	–	4
Arizona State	4	–	4	7	–	5
Stanford	4	–	4	5	–	6
Oregon State	3	–	5	5	–	6
Arizona	2	–	6	3	–	8
Washington State	1	–	7	4	–	7
Washington	1	–	7	2	–	9

$ – Conference champion † – USC later vacated 12 wins (8 in conference) and 1 loss due to NCAA sanctions. Rankings from AP Poll

2005 Southeastern Conference football standings
v t e
Team	W		L	W		L
Eastern Division
No. 10 Georgia x$	6	–	2	10	–	3
South Carolina	5	–	3	7	–	5
No. 12 Florida	5	–	3	9	–	3
Vanderbilt	3	–	5	5	–	6
Tennessee	3	–	5	5	–	6
Kentucky	2	–	6	3	–	8
Western Division
No. 5 LSU xy	7	–	1	11	–	2
No. 14 Auburn x	7	–	1	9	–	3
No. 8 Alabama	6	–	2	10	–	2
Arkansas	2	–	6	4	–	7
Mississippi State	1	–	7	3	–	8
Ole Miss	1	–	7	3	–	8
Championship: Georgia 34, LSU 14
$ – BCS representative as conference champion x – Division champion/co-champions y – Championship game participant Alabama had all victories vacated by the NCAA in 2010. As such, the official record for Alabama is 0–2 (0–2). Rankings from AP Poll

2005 Sun Belt Conference football standings
v t e
Team	W		L	W		L
Arkansas State +	5	–	2	6	–	6
Louisiana–Lafayette +	5	–	2	6	–	5
Louisiana–Monroe +	5	–	2	5	–	6
Middle Tennessee	3	–	4	4	–	7
Troy	3	–	4	4	–	7
Florida Atlantic	2	–	5	2	–	9
North Texas	2	–	5	2	–	9
FIU†	0	–	4	0	–	6

+ – Conference co-champions † – The NCAA vacated all 5 of FIU's (3–4, 5–6) wins

2005 Western Athletic Conference football standings
v t e
Team	W		L	W		L
Boise State +	7	–	1	9	–	4
Nevada +	7	–	1	9	–	3
Louisiana Tech	6	–	2	7	–	4
Fresno State	6	–	2	8	–	5
Hawaii	4	–	4	5	–	7
San Jose State	2	–	6	3	–	8
Utah State	2	–	6	3	–	8
Idaho	2	–	6	2	–	9
New Mexico State	0	–	8	0	–	12

+ – Conference co-champions

2005 NCAA Division I-A independents football records
v t e
Team	W		L	W		L
No. 9 Notre Dame %		–		9	–	3
Navy		–		8	–	4
Army		–		4	–	7
Temple		–		0	–	11

% – BCS at-large representative Rankings from AP Poll

Bowl games

BCS bowls

Rose Bowl: No. 2 (BCS No. 2, Big 12 Champ) Texas 41, No. 1 (BCS No. 1, Pac 10 Champ) Southern California 38
Fiesta Bowl: (BCS No. 4) No. 4 Ohio State 34, (At Large) No. 5 Notre Dame 20
Sugar Bowl: (Big East Champ) No. 11 West Virginia 38, (SEC Champ) No. 8 Georgia 35
Orange Bowl: (Big Ten Champ) No. 3 Penn State 26, (ACC Champ) No. 22 Florida State 23 (3 OT)

Other New Year's Day bowls

Cotton Bowl: No. 13 Alabama 13, No. 18 Texas Tech 10
Capital One Bowl: No. 21 Wisconsin 24, No. 7 Auburn 10
Gator Bowl: No. 12 Virginia Tech 35, No. 15 Louisville 24
Outback Bowl: No. 16 Florida 31, No. 25 Iowa 24

December bowl games

Peach Bowl: No. 10 LSU 40, No. 9 Miami (FL) 3
Houston Bowl: No. 14 TCU 27, Iowa State 24
Liberty Bowl: (C-USA Champ) Tulsa 31, Fresno State 24
MPC Computers Bowl: No. 19 Boston College 27, Boise State 21
Meineke Car Care Bowl: NC State 14, South Florida 0
Independence Bowl: Missouri 38, South Carolina 31
Sun Bowl: No. 17 UCLA 50, Northwestern 38
Music City Bowl: Virginia 34, Minnesota 31
Holiday Bowl: Oklahoma 17, No. 6 Oregon 14
Emerald Bowl: Utah 38, No. 24 Georgia Tech 10
Alamo Bowl: Nebraska 32, No. 20 Michigan 28
Insight Bowl: Arizona State 45, Rutgers 40
Champs Sports Bowl: No. 23 Clemson 19, Colorado 10
Motor City Bowl: Memphis 38, (MAC Champ) Akron 31
Hawai'i Bowl: (WAC Champ) Nevada 49, UCF 48 (OT)
Fort Worth Bowl: Kansas 42, Houston 13
Las Vegas Bowl: California 35, BYU 28
Poinsettia Bowl: Navy 51, Colorado State 30
GMAC Bowl: Toledo 45, UTEP 13
New Orleans Bowl: Southern Mississippi 31, (Sun Belt Champ) Arkansas State 19

Awards and honors

Heisman Trophy

Heisman Trophy voting was primarily for three players: Reggie Bush, Matt Leinart (who won the trophy in 2004) and Vince Young. Bush won the trophy, with Young (who helped Texas win their first national championship since 1970) second in the voting:

Player	School	Position	1st	2nd	3rd	Total
Reggie Bush	USC	RB	784	89	11	2,541
Vince Young	Texas	QB	79	613	145	1,608
Matt Leinart	USC	QB	18	147	449	797
Brady Quinn	Notre Dame	QB	7	21	128	191
Michael Robinson	Penn State	QB	2	7	29	49
A. J. Hawk	Ohio State	LB	0	3	23	29
DeAngelo Williams	Memphis	RB	1	2	19	26
Drew Olson	UCLA	QB	1	2	14	21
Jerome Harrison	Washington State	RB	0	4	12	20
Elvis Dumervil	Louisville	DE	0	0	9	9

In June 2010 the NCAA ruled that Bush had received "improper benefits", violating NCAA policy. On September 14, he announced in a statement from the New Orleans Saints that he would forfeit his 2005 Heisman Trophy. Runner-up Vince Young said that he would not accept the trophy if Bush forfeited it. On September 15, the Heisman Trust announced that the 2005 trophy would be vacated and there would be no winner for the season.^[1] Bush's Heisman win would be reinstanted on April 24, 2024, with the Heisman Trophy Trust citing "enormous" changes in college athletics, including the introduction of name, image and likeness (NIL) a few years prior.^[2]

Major award winners

Walter Camp Award (top player): Reggie Bush^[3]
Maxwell Award (top player): Vince Young, QB, Texas
AP Player Of the Year: Reggie Bush, RB, USC^[4]
Lombardi Award (top lineman/linebacker): A. J. Hawk, Ohio State
John Mackey Award (tight end): Marcedes Lewis, UCLA
Doak Walker Award (running back)^[3]
Chuck Bednarik Award (defensive player): Paul Posluszny, LB, Penn State
Outland Trophy (interior lineman): Greg Eslinger, C, Minnesota
Dave Rimington Trophy (center): Greg Eslinger, Minnesota
Davey O'Brien Award (quarterback): Vince Young, QB, Texas
Johnny Unitas Award (senior quarterback): Matt Leinart, USC
Fred Biletnikoff Award (wide receiver): Mike Hass, Oregon State
Jim Thorpe Award (defensive back): Michael Huff, Texas
Lou Groza Award (placekicker): Alexis Serna, Oregon State
Ray Guy Award (punter): Ryan Plackemeier, Wake Forest
The Home Depot Coach of the Year Award: Joe Paterno, Penn State
Paul "Bear" Bryant Award (head coach): Mack Brown, Texas
Broyles Award (assistant coach): Greg Davis, Texas

All-Americans

2005 Consensus All-America team

Offense
Position	Name	Height	Weight (lbs.)	Class	Hometown	Team
QB	Vince Young	6'5"	229	Jr.	Houston, Texas	Texas
RB	Reggie Bush	6'0"	200	Jr.	Spring Valley, California	USC
RB	Jerome Harrison	5'10"	199	Sr.	Kalamazoo, Michigan	Washington State
WR	Dwayne Jarrett	6'5"	210	So.	New Brunswick, New Jersey	USC
WR	Jeff Samardzija	6'5"	218	Jr.	Valparaiso, Indiana	Notre Dame
TE	Marcedes Lewis	6'6"	256	Sr.	Lakewood, California	UCLA
T	Jonathan Scott	6'7"	315	Sr.	Dallas, Texas	Texas
T	Marcus McNeill	6'9"	338	Sr.	Decatur, Georgia	Auburn
G	Deuce Lutui	6'6"	370	Sr.	Mesa, Arizona	USC
G	Max Jean-Gilles	6'4"	355	Sr.	North Miami Beach, Florida	Georgia
C	Greg Eslinger	6'3"	292	Sr.	Bismarck, North Dakota	Minnesota

Defense
Position	Name	Height	Weight (lbs.)	Class	Hometown	Team
DE	Tamba Hali	6'3"	275	Sr.	Teaneck, New Jersey	Penn State
DT	Haloti Ngata	6'4"	338	Sr.	Salt Lake City, Utah	Oregon
DT	Rodrique Wright	6'5"	315	Sr.	Houston, Texas	Texas
DE	Elvis Dumervil	6'0"	256	Sr.	Miami, Florida	Louisville
LB	A. J. Hawk	6'1"	248	Sr.	Centerville, Ohio	Ohio State
LB	DeMeco Ryans	6'1"	236	Sr.	Bessemer, Alabama	Alabama
LB	Paul Posluszny	6'2"	238	Jr.	Hopewell Township, Pennsylvania	Penn State
CB	Jimmy Williams	6'3"	216	Sr.	Hampton, Virginia	Virginia Tech
CB	Tye Hill	5'10"	185	Sr.	Dorchester, South Carolina	Clemson
Safety	Michael Huff	6'0"	204	Sr.	Irving, Texas	Texas
Safety	Greg Blue	6'2"	216	Sr.	Atlanta	Georgia

Special teams
Position	Name	Height	Weight (lbs.)	Class	Hometown	Team
Kicker	Mason Crosby	6'2"	215	Jr.	Georgetown, Texas	Colorado
Punter	Ryan Plackemeier	6'3"	235	Sr.	Bonsall, California	Wake Forest
RS	Maurice Drew	5'8"	205	Jr.	Antioch, California	UCLA