12-0 under Lloyd Carr, beat Washington State 21-16 in the Rose Bowl; No. 1 in the final AP poll, FWAA Grantland Rice Trophy winner, and sole NFF MacArthur Bowl recipient.
Michigan’s 1997 schedule1997: 2 Champions, Zero Agreement
SPLITMULTIPLEMichigan takes the AP, FWAA, and NFF titles after a 12-0 Rose Bowl season while the coaches vault 13-0 Nebraska to No. 1 in the USA Today/ESPN poll in Tom Osborne's farewell game, the split that pushes the sport into the BCS the next season.
The case for each side
13-0 under Tom Osborne, beat Tennessee 42-17 in the Orange Bowl; jumped Michigan for No. 1 in the final USA Today/ESPN coaches poll as Osborne retired.
Nebraska’s 1997 scheduleNo national title game was played after the 1997 season: before 1998 there was no mechanism to play one, which is why so many of these seasons were settled by vote instead.