BYU defends the belt, 19–15, at a neutral site over Kansas State.
AP poll, week 17: Kansas State No. 14 at BYU No. 5 · No. 1 that week: Army. The belt vs. the polls →
Where this game sits in the lineage
BYU came in 74 days into reign #246, which began with a win over Tulsa, with 6 defenses already behind it; this was its 7th defense. It was the last defense: Washington took the belt in the very next belt game, on September 6, 1997.
For Kansas State this was its first shot at the belt; it had never held the belt.
This is the only time BYU and Kansas State have met with the belt on the line.
About this game
On January 1, 1997, BYU defeated Kansas State 19-15 at a neutral site in a postseason matchup. As the belt's defending holder, BYU retained the championship with the victory.
Written by Claude, strictly from this site’s own record of the game — the score and what it meant for the belt. CFBD doesn’t have a box score for games this old, so nothing here is invented beyond what’s verifiably on file.
Sources Game record: College Football Data (id 61036) · This game in the downloadable dataset