1987–88 NCAA football bowl games

The 1987–88 NCAA football bowl games concluded the 1987 NCAA Division I-A football season, featuring 18 games. Twenty ranked teams participated, and seven of the eighteen matchups were between two ranked teams.[1] The Miami Hurricanes were declared the national champions, after upsetting #1 Oklahoma in the Orange Bowl.[2][3]

1987–88 NCAA football bowl games
President Ronald Reagan holds up a University of Miami jersey presented to him by Miami Hurricanes head coach Jimmy Johnson and the 1987 Miami Hurricanes football team after winning the 1987 national championship
Season	1987
Number of bowls	18
Bowl games	December 13, 1987 – January 2, 1988
National Championship	Orange Bowl
Location of Championship	Miami, Florida
Champions	Miami Hurricanes
Bowl record by conference Conference Bowls Record Final AP Poll Independent 9 2–6–1 (0.278) 5 SEC 6 3–2–1 (0.583) 4 Big Ten 4 3–1 (0.750) 3 Pac-10 4 3–1 (0.750) 3 Big 8 3 1–2 (0.333) 3 SWC 3 2–1 (0.667) 1 WAC 3 0–3 (0.000) 0 ACC 2 2–0 (1.000) 1 MAC 1 1–0 (1.000) 0 PCAA 1 0–1 (0.000) 0

Seventeen of the bowl games ended with a winner, while there was a lone tie (Auburn vs Syracuse in the Sugar Bowl).

Nine independent teams competed, along with six SEC teams, four Big Ten, four Pac-10, three WAC, three Big 8, three SWC, two ACC, one MAC, and one PCAA.

The largest margin of victory occurred twice; Clemson beat Penn State and Texas A&M beat Notre Dame, both 35-10.

The "bowl week" started on December 13 with the California Bowl, and concluded on January 2, 1988 with the Hall of Fame Bowl and the Peach Bowl.