1987 College Football Recap

Updated August 5, 2020 | Infoplease Staff

For the second year in a row it was No.1 vs No.2 in a bowl game, this time the Orange Bowl.

Miami, the upset loser to Penn State in the championship game a year ago, returned as the underdog. Oklahoma was the favorite and had a 17–7 victory over former No.1 Nebraska to merit such support. But this was also the third meeting between the Hurricanes and Sooners in three years and the Canes had won the first two.

In a driving rain New Year's Night, Miami made it three in a row, surprising the Sooners 20–14 for their second national title in five years.

But the game of the year was the Miami-Florida State thriller in Tallahassee Oct.3. In that one, the Canes rallied from a 19–3 deficit late in the third quarter to overtake the Seminoles, 26–19, then held on as FSU scored in the last minute and missed a two-point conversion try.

It was the only game Florida State lost all year and when the final polls came out Miami and FSU were ranked 1–2, a first for two teams from the same state.

In February, the NCAA cancelled Southern Methodist's football season citing repeated rules violations. Other sanctions led SMU to forgo its '88 season as well as saying it couldn't be competitive.

And Columbia set a new NCAA Division 1 record for futility as its five-year losing streak reached 41 and counting. The old losing streak low water mark had been 34, set by Northwestern (1979–82).