1997–98 NCAA football bowl games

The 1997–98 NCAA football bowl games concluded the 1997 NCAA Division I-A football season. In the third and final year of the Bowl Alliance era, Nebraska defeated Tennessee in the 1998 Orange Bowl, designated as the Bowl Alliance national championship for the 1997 season. AP-No. 1 ranked Michigan defeated Washington State in the 1998 Rose Bowl, which was not a part of the Bowl Alliance. Michigan was awarded the national championship by the AP Poll and Nebraska by the Coaches Poll.

1997–98 NCAA football bowl games
Season	1997
Number of bowls	20
Bowl games	December 20, 1997 – January 2, 1998
National Championship	Orange Bowl
Location of Championship	Pro Player Stadium Miami Gardens, FL
Champions	Michigan (AP) Nebraska (Coaches)
Bowl record by conference Conference Bowls Record Final AP Poll Big Ten 7 2–5 (0.286) 4 SEC 6 5–1 (0.833) 6 Pac-10 6 5–1 (0.833) 4 Big 12 5 2–3 (0.400) 5 ACC 4 3–1 (0.750) 3 Big East 4 0–4 (0.000) 1 WAC 3 1–2 (0.333) 1 CUSA 2 2–0 (1.000) 1 Big West 1 0–1 (0.000) 0 MAC 1 0–1 (0.000) 0

A total of 20 bowl games were played between December 20, 1997 and January 2, 1998 by 40 bowl-eligible teams. Two new bowl games were added this year: the Motor City Bowl (now known as the Little Caesars Pizza Bowl), and the Humanitarian Bowl (now known as the Famous Idaho Potato Bowl).

Non-Bowl Alliance bowls

Date	Time	Game	Site	Result	Ref.
Dec 20	6:00 PM	Las Vegas Bowl	Sam Boyd Stadium Las Vegas, NV	Oregon 41, No. 23 Air Force 13
Dec 25	3:30 PM	Aloha Bowl	Aloha Stadium Honolulu, HI	No. 21 Washington 51, No. 25 Michigan State 23
Dec 26	8:00 PM	Motor City Bowl	Pontiac Silverdome Pontiac, MI	Ole Miss 34, Marshall 31
Dec 27	2:30 PM	Insight.com Bowl	Arizona Stadium Tucson, AZ	Arizona 20, New Mexico 14
Dec 28	8:00 PM	Independence Bowl	Independence Stadium Shreveport, LA	No. 15 LSU 27, Notre Dame 9
Dec 29	3:30 PM	Humanitarian Bowl	Bronco Stadium Boise, ID	Cincinnati 35, Utah State 19
	7:30 PM	Carquest Bowl	Pro Player Stadium Miami Gardens, FL	Georgia Tech 35, West Virginia 30
	8:00 PM	Holiday Bowl	Qualcomm Stadium San Diego, CA	No. 18 Colorado State 35, No. 19 Missouri 24
Dec 30	8:00 PM	Alamo Bowl	Alamodome San Antonio, TX	No. 17 Purdue 33, No. 24 Oklahoma State 20
Dec 31	2:00 PM	Sun Bowl	Sun Bowl El Paso, TX	No. 16 Arizona State 17, Iowa 7
	3:30 PM	Liberty Bowl	Liberty Bowl Memorial Stadium Memphis, TN	No. 22 Southern Miss 41, Pittsburgh 7
Jan 1	11:00 AM	Outback Bowl	Raymond James Stadium Tampa, FL	No. 12 Georgia 33, Wisconsin 6
	12:30 PM	Gator Bowl	Alltel Stadium Jacksonville, FL	No. 7 North Carolina 42, Virginia Tech 3
	1:00 PM	Florida Citrus Bowl	Florida Citrus Bowl Orlando, FL	No. 6 Florida 21, No. 11 Penn State 6
	1:30 PM	Cotton Bowl Classic	Cotton Bowl Dallas, TX	No. 5 UCLA 29, No. 20 Texas A&M 23
	5:00 PM	Rose Bowl	Rose Bowl Pasadena, CA	No. 1 Michigan 21, No. 8 Washington State 16
Jan 2	3:00 PM	Peach Bowl	Georgia Dome Atlanta, GA	No. 13 Auburn 21, Clemson 17
Rankings from AP Poll released prior to the game. All times are in Eastern Time.

Bowl Alliance bowls

Date	Time	Game	Site	Result	Ref.
Dec 31	7:00 PM	Fiesta Bowl	Sun Devil Stadium Tempe, AZ	No. 10 Kansas State 35, No. 14 Syracuse 18
Jan 1	8:00 PM	Sugar Bowl	Louisiana Superdome New Orleans, LA	No. 4 Florida State 31, No. 9 Ohio State 14
Jan 2	8:00 PM	Orange Bowl (championship game)	Pro Player Stadium Miami Gardens, FL	No. 2 Nebraska 42, No. 3 Tennessee 17
Rankings from AP Poll released prior to the game. All times are in Eastern Time.