Note: in the review that follows, title-contenders are shown in bold.

The story of 1991 is simpler than that of 1990. In the first year of the decade, only Virginia and Nebraska made it to mid-season without a blemish, and those teams did not last much longer. In 1991, three teams remained undefeated until late into the season: Florida State, Miami, and Washington. There were also several contenders with just one loss, hanging around to see if those three might stumble. As it happened, only one of them did, and the remaining two had to go their own way to separate bowl games. And so, two years in a row, Division I-A college football had a split national champion.

One of the titanic early season games came when Florida State (3-0) went up to play Michigan (2-0). The battle had taken on significance since the Wolverines had already gotten by Notre Dame 24-14. The Seminoles won a memorable offensive shootout, 51-31, and emerged as one of the national championship favorites. The Wolverines would go on to beat a strong Iowa team 43-24 en route to a 10-1 regular season and a perfect conference campaign. They would be one to wait out the fortunes of the big three.

Florida State's next contest came at home against Syracuse (4-0), a team that had earlier pounded Florida 38-21 in the Carrier Dome. Perhaps not significant at the time, the Syracuse victory would prove to be an impressive one as Florida ran the table the rest of the regular season, finishing 10-1. But the Seminoles were up to the task, beating the Orangemen 46-14.

As for Florida, the Syracuse loss barely broke their stride, as the Gators became the first team in school history to run the table in the SEC. Significant wins included a 35-18 pasting of then 4-0 Tennessee, and a 35-0 blanking of Alabama. The win over the Crimson Tide looked especially good at the end of the regular season, when Alabama would finish 10-1. The Tide's best win was a 24-19 decision over the Tennessee Volunteers. Alabama, like the Gators, finished a one-loss team, hoping to see cracks in the armor of the big three.

Like Florida State, Washington had some early tests. After pummeling a Stanford team that would finish in the top 25, the Huskies beat Nebraska 36-21 in the second game of the season. Three blowout wins followed, and then Washington earned a significant, hard-fought 24-17 win over then 5-0 Cal. Though the Bears would stumble at the end of the year against rival Stanford, their 9-2 regular season record and crushing bowl victory over Clemson proved that they were one of the strongest teams in 1991.

As for the Hurricanes, they did have to get past a Tulsa team that went 10-2 in 1991, but the first significant test for Miami was at 4-0 against then 5-1 Penn State. The Nittany Lions came into that game with a win over defending national champion Georgia Tech and an inexplicable 21-10 loss to a Southern Cal team that was on the way to a 3-8 season. Miami had their hands full with Penn State, but stayed alive with a 26-20 win. The Nittany Lions would not lose another game, and would later deliver the knockout blow to Notre Dame with a 35-13 victory.

There were a number of great stories in 1991. In addition to the amazing performance of California, East Carolina had a tremendous season. After opening the season with a 38-31 loss to Illinois, the Pirates ran the table including a 23-20 win over Syracuse and a Peach Bowl victory over North Carolina State. The other great story was Tulsa, who had lost to Miami early but would have a 10-2 campaign including a 35-34 nailbiter win over Texas A&M in the Aggies' second game. The loss for A&M proved costly, as they would not lose again in the regular season.

The other noteworthy midseason confrontation was between 6-1 Nebraska and 5-2 Colorado. A 19-19 tie effectively put both schools out of contention. That set the stage for an exciting final few weeks where the three undefeated teams played their final games while a host of one-loss schools like Texas A&M, Alabama, California, Florida, Michigan, and East Carolina tried to stay in the mix.

Something had to give when #1 Florida State (10-0) played Miami (8-0). It was a sensational thriller in which the Noles could never seem to put the Canes away. In the end, Florida State missed a short field goal (the game became known as "Wide Right I") and lost 17-16. Their championship hopes were dealt a serious blow by the loss, and were destroyed completely two weeks later when they lost 14-9 against the 9-1 Florida Gators.

Enter the bowl season. Michigan with one loss had a chance to make a statement in their Rose Bowl game against Washington, but it was the Huskies who did all the talking, winning 34-14. Miami didn't let any other contender have a chance to gain ground, instead scheduling 9-1-1 Nebraska for their bowl opponent. In the friendly confines of the Orange Bowl, they won 22-0. As for the other teams, Florida State played lackidasically in a 10-2 win over Texas A&M, Florida was mowed down by Notre Dame, and Alabama bested Colorado. And Penn State put to rest any talk that Tennessee was "playing the best football at the end of the season" with a convincing 42-17 Fiesta Bowl shattering of the Volunteers.