#TBT - Looking back at 2005

- Nicholas Eck

Every Thursday leading up to Kickoff 2015, we will look back at one of the past seasons and recall the year that was. Week 2 for this will be the 2005 season.

The 2005 NCAA Division I-A football season ended with the least amount of controversy surrounding the Bowl Championship Series (BCS) title game in many years.

The BCS lucked out as both Southern Cal and Texas ran the table as #1 and #2 respectively. It was the second season in a row that the top 2 teams stayed pat, giving the BCS one less controversy to deal with. Both the Trojans and Longhorns finished the regular season as the only two teams that were undefeated. 

This season also saw a emergence of the Central Florida program. 0-11 the previous season, the Golden Knights finished 8-5, an appearance in the C-USA Title game (44-27 loss to Tulsa), and a berth in the Hawaii Bowl. Penn State also turned a poor 2004 performance into a great 2005 season. 4-7 in 2004, the Nittany Lions finished 2005 with a 11-1 record, and a #3 ranking in the BCS.

Prior to the start of the season, Temple was "expelled" from the Big East and became an Independent program. Army also joined the ranks of Independents when they left the C-USA. 2005 saw the ACC play their first conference title game as Boston College joined from the Big East. Cincinnati, Louisville and South Florida left Conference USA to join the Big East, to bring the membership in that league back up to eight. TCU also left Conference USA to join the Mountain West Conference as its ninth member.

Conference USA responded to the mass defections by adding Central Florida and Marshall from the Mid-American Conference, knocking the MAC's membership down from 14 to 12, and Rice, Southern Methodist, UTEP, and Tulsa from the WAC to get up to 12 members. Like the ACC, C-USA split into two divisions and started a conference championship game.

In response to their losses, the WAC added Idaho, New Mexico State and Utah State from the Sun Belt Conference while the Sun Belt picked up independent Florida Atlantic and Florida International, who had just transitioned from Division I-AA. Division I-A membership is now at 119 schools.

Conference Champions - *Tie breakers went to BCS representive*

ACC - Florida State (5-3, 8-5)

Big East - West Virginia (7-0, 11-1)

Big Ten - Penn State (7-1, 11-1)

Big 12 - Texas (8-0, 13-0)

C-USA - Tulsa (6-2, 9-4)

MAC - Akron (5-3, 7-6)

MWC - TCU (8-0, 11-1)

Pac-10 - Southern Cal (8-0, 12-1)

SEC - Georgia (6-2, 10-3)
Sun Belt - Arkansas State (5-2, 6-6)

WAC - Boise State (7-1, 9-4)

Top games of 2004

1. Texas 41 - Southern Cal 38 (Rose Bowl)

The game was a back-and-forth contest; Vince Young's third rushing touchdown of the game, gave the Longhorns a one-point lead with 19 seconds left to play. Texas's Rose Bowl win was the 800th victory in school history. 

2. Penn State 26 - Florida State 23 - 3OT (Orange Bowl)

The three-overtime game took over four hours. Florida State's kicking woes continued. Gary Cismesia's 38-yard attempt hit the right upright. Kevin Kelly hit a 29-yard field goal to give Joe Paterno and the Nittany Lions the win over Bobby Bowden and the Seminoles.

3. Texas 38 - Michigan 37 (Rose Bowl)

Zac Taylor threw a 13-yard touchdown pass to Terrence Nunn with 4:29 left, and Nebraska survived Michigan's lateral-filled, game-ending play to beat the No. 20 Wolverines 32-28.

Heisman Trophy Winner

Reggie Bush (JR) Southern Cal - RB (2541 points)

2. Vince Young (JR) Texas - QB (1608)

3. Matt Leinart (SR) Southern Cal - QB (797)

4. Brady Quinn (JR) Notre Dame - QB (191)

5. Michael Robinson (SR) Penn State - QB (49)

Epilogue

In the years following USC's 2004 season BCS title, it emerged that former Trojan running back Reggie Bush, who played for the team in 2004 (and 2005), had received illegal gifts in violation of NCAA rules. The subsequent NCAA investigation confirmed this, and the Trojan football program was hit with severe sanctions in the summer of 2010. Reggie Bush vacated the 2005 Heisman Trophy, runner-up Vince Young commented that he would not accept the trophy. The Heisman Trust later announced that the 2005 trophy was vacated, and no winner will be named for the season.