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

One of the best seasons of the decade, 1997 saw several big games and a handful of teams taking undefeated seasons to at least the halfway mark. But one year before the Bowl Championship Series was to (supposedly) do away with split championships (I never promised to supposedly do away with split infinitives), the season ended with two teams without a loss. Even still, going into the bowl weekend, it looked like one of them, Michigan, would come away with the #1 slot in both polls. That did not come to pass.

No one could have predicted it at the time, but the first week saw one of the most important games of the season: UCLA against Washington State. With a high-powered offense led by Ryan Leaf, the Cougars won that one, 37-34. Further doubt about the importance of that contest would come the following week when the Bruins fell 30-24 to Tennessee. But the Bruins would go on to win their next 10 games, including a Cotton Bowl victory over Texas A&M. In retrospect, the Cougars were lucky to get that one out of the way early. It enabled the surprising Washington State team to get all the way to 7-0 before finally losing 44-31 to Arizona State. A 41-35 horse race with in-state rival Washington put them at 10-1 and sent them to the Rose Bowl.

As for Tennessee, they were able to run with their early season success about as far as usual: to week 3, when they faced the Florida Gators. Unlike in seasons past, however, the 33-20 loss to Florida in 1997 did not put them out of the hunt. The Vols beat 4-0 Georgia 38-13 and nemesis Alabama 38-21, waiting patiently for the Gators to stumble. Florida did so in Death Valley, where 4-1 Lousiana State beat them, 28-21. The win was huge for the Tigers, who had earlier lost to Auburn in a 31-28 heartbreaker, and a second SEC loss might have eliminated them from winning the Western Division. Indeed, Florida beat Auburn 24-10, but Louisiana State would lose 36-21 to Mississippi.

The win over Auburn seemed to have the Gators back on track, when they were stunned 37-17 by Georgia. It was their only loss to the Bulldogs in the decade, and it effectively ended Florida's hopes to repeat as national champion. Georgia, however, was ill-equipped to handle the SEC hot potato, getting blindsided 45-34 by Auburn in their next game. That sequence put Tennessee in charge in the SEC East. The West was a little more muddled, especially when 7-1 Auburn dropped the hot potato with a 20-0 loss at the hands of Mississippi State. But Auburn edged Alabama 18-17 to claim the Western Division. After years of wonderful Florida-Alabama SEC Championships, the Vols and Tigers "treated" fans to a mistake-filled, ugly game that Tennessee managed to win 30-29 against all odds.

The Big Ten was a three-team race, and for once, the best teams in the Big Ten were scheduled to play one another. The honorary fourth team was Joe Tiller's Purdue club, but the Boilermakers dodged both Ohio State and Michigan, and lost to Penn State 42-17. A loss to Iowa put them out of the Rose Bowl hunt. Michigan State started off 5-0, but then lost four straight in-conference. The first clash among the big three came when 5-0 Ohio State lost 31-27 to 4-0 Penn State. That set up a huge game when the Nittany Lions, now 7-0, took on a surprising Michigan team. The Wolverines were incredible that day, destroying the Nittany Lions, 34-8. Penn State's big win over Purdue followed, but the team would inexplicably be destroyed 49-14 by Michigan State in their season finale. That put all attention on game between 10-1 Ohio State and 10-0 Michigan. Considering that the Wolverines had ruined the Buckeyes' season in 1993, 1995, and 1996, the situation seemed ripe for payback. But it was not to be, as Michigan came through with a 20-14 win.

Even as Michigan was taking care of business, pollsters were starting to take notice of Nebraska. After monster years in 1994 and 1995, the Cornhuskers found themselves fighting for respect in 1997. They beat Kansas State 56-26 early in the year; the Wildcats would go on to beat 5-0 Texas A&M 36-17 en route to a tremendous 10-1 regular season. One concern was a 45-38 overtime win over Missouri, especially since the final, furious drive in regulation had ended on a disputed TD: a Scott Frost pass was kicked by one Cornhusker receiver to another, and intentionally kicking a ball is illegal. But the referees were not convinced the kick was intentional, and the Cornhuskers won it in the overtime. And when Nebraska absolutely annihalated 9-2 Texas A&M in the Big Twelve Championship, 54-15, sentiment for the Cornhuskers arose.

The other story was in the ACC. Not surprisingly, the Florida State Seminoles cruised to 8-0 with victories like 47-0 over Miami and 38-0 over Georgia Tech. The surprise was 8-0 North Carolina, featuring a defense averaging just over 12 points allowed. It looked to be the year the Tar Heels could really challenge the Seminoles, but Florida State completely dominated them in a 20-3 contest. The Seminoles easily made it to 10-0 with their toughest test ahead: beating Florida (8-2) in Gainesville. The teams played a highly entertaining game, but in the end it was the home-standing Gators who emerged with a 32-29 win. The field goal loss narrowly edged the Seminoles out of a national championship game; pollsters tabbed SEC Champion Tennessee (11-1) to play Nebraska in the Orange Bowl. The other national championship game saw 10-1 Washington State in the Rose Bowl against Michigan.