1982 NCAA Division I-A football season

The 1982 Division 1A football season saw Paul “Bear” Bryant retire as head coach at Alabama with 323 career victories in 38 seasons.

Penn State's won its first consensus National Championship, defeating Georgia and Heisman Trophy winner Herschel Walker in the Sugar Bowl 27-23.

UCLA moved from the LA Coliseum to the Rose Bowl and fulfilled a promise made by coach Terry Donahue by closing out their season there as well, beating Michigan in the post-season Rose Bowl game, 24-14.

It is also the year of “The Play”, a near impossible finish to the annual rivalry game between Cal and Stanford.

The Aloha Bowl premiered in Honolulu, Hawaii.

Conference Standings

"W = Wins, L = Losses, T = Ties, PCT = Winning Percentage, Conf. = Conference Record"

Classic Games

* #8 Penn St 27, #2 Nebraska 24
* Cal 25, Stanford 20 (The Play)
* UCLA 20 USC 19
* Auburn 23, Alabama 22
* Tulane 31, #7 LSU 28 (Tulane's first win at Tiger Stadium since 1948)

#1 and #2 Progress

Bowl Games

*Sugar Bowl: #2 Penn St. 27, #1 Georgia 23
*Orange Bowl: #3 Nebraska 21, #13 LSU 20
*Cotton Bowl: #4 SMU 7, #6 Pittsburgh 3
*Rose Bowl: #5 UCLA 24, #19 Michigan 14
*Sun Bowl: North Carolina 26, #8 Texas 10
*Gator Bowl: Florida St. 31, #10 West Virginia 12
*Tangerine Bowl: #18 Auburn 33, Boston College 26
*Liberty Bowl: Alabama 21, Illinois 15
*Bluebonnet Bowl: #14 Arkansas 28, Florida 24
*Peach Bowl: Iowa 28, Tennessee 22
*Fiesta Bowl: #11 Arizona State 32, #12 Oklahoma 21
*Independence Bowl: Wisconsin 14, Kansas St. 3
*Hall of Fame Classic: Air Force 36, Vanderbilt 28
*Holiday Bowl: #17 Ohio State 47, Brigham Young 17
*Aloha Bowl: #9 Washington 21, Maryland 20
*California Bowl: Fresno State 28, Bowling Green 28

Final AP Poll

# Penn St.
# Southern Methodist (TX)
# Nebraska
# Georgia
# UCLA
# Arizona St.
# Washington
# Clemson (SC)
# Arkansas
# Pittsburgh (PA)
# Louisiana St.
# Ohio St.
#Florida St.
# Auburn (AL)
# Southern California
# Oklahoma
# Texas
#North Carolina
# West Virginia
# Maryland

Final Coaches Poll

# Penn St.
# Southern Methodist (TX)
# Nebraska
# Georgia
# UCLA
# Arizona St.
# Washington
# Arkansas
# Pittsburgh (PA)
# Florida St.
# Louisiana St.
# Ohio St.
# North Carolina
# Auburn (AL)
# Michigan
# Oklahoma
# Alabama
# Texas
# West Virginia
# Maryland

Heisman Trophy Voting

Other Major Awards