Maurice Clarett’s five-yard scamper into the end zone and Ohio State’s goal-line stand in the second overtime did more than just secure the Buckeyes’ improbable upset over the heavily favored Miami Hurricanes in the national championship.
It gave the Big Ten its first consensus national champion since 1986 and capped off a week of bowl games dominated by a conference whose national respect has dwindled over the last five seasons of play.
Ohio State’s Fiesta Bowl win gave the Big Ten five victories in the 2002-03 bowl season, the most of any conference in college football. The only two losses by Big Ten teams came at the Orange Bowl when Iowa was clobbered by USC 38-17 and in the Capital One Bowl when Auburn squeaked by Penn State 13-9.
Wisconsin set the tone for the Big Ten when they came from behind to upset Colorado 31-28 in overtime in the Alamo Bowl.
Brooks Bollinger’s fourth-quarter poise and leadership paved the way for Mike Allen’s 37-yard game-winning field goal in the session.
The Badgers, who many believed had no business even playing in a bowl game, knocked off a Buffalos team that had three weeks earlier played in the Big 12 championship and finished the season one win short of the Rose Bowl.
Minnesota carried the torch for the Big Ten just two days later when it handily dismantled Arkansas in the Music City Bowl.
The Gophers, whose regular season mirrored that of Wisconsin’s in many ways, also beat up on a team that had previously played in the SEC championship and was one game short the BCS.
Purdue snapped its three-year losing streak in bowl games when the team rallied from a 17-0 deficit to beat Washington 34-24 in the Sun Bowl.
The Huskies, who beat Purdue in the Rose Bowl jus two years earlier, had previously won three straight games (including wins over Oregon and seventh-ranked Washington State) before falling to the Boilermakers.
Michigan’s 38-30 circus win over Florida in the much-anticipated Outback Bowl silenced the critics who contended that a smash-mouth Big Ten team couldn’t keep up with the flashy offense of a team from the south.
Chris Perry rushed for four touchdowns on the day, and Florida’s fate was sealed when their quarterback throw-back pass was intercepted by Victor Hobson deep in Michigan territory with under a minute to play.
The Big Ten finished the season with four teams ranked in the top 25, which was tied for the most ranked teams by any conference when the final polls were tallied.
In addition to the team success accumulated throughout the 2002-03 season, a number of individual accolades were garnered by athletes and coaches within the Big Ten.
Iowa quarterback Brad Banks and Penn State running back Larry Johnson finished second and third, respectively, in the Heisman voting and Johnson was also awarded college football’s offensive player of the year.
Iowa’s Kirk Ferentz and Ohio State’s Jim Tressel each took home national coach of the year honors from different organizations, and Michigan State’s Charles Rogers hauled in the Biletnikoff Award, given the nation’s best wide receiver.
The Big Ten conference also set the national attendance record this season, eclipsing more than five million fans on the year with an average of 70,505 spectators per contest.
