1996–97 NCAA football bowl games
Number of bowl games per state.
Season	1996
Regular season	August 24–December 7
Number of bowls	18
Bowl games	December 19, 1996 – January 2, 1997
National Championship	1997 Sugar Bowl
Location of Championship	Louisiana Superdome, New Orleans, Louisiana
Champions	Florida Gators
Bowl record by conference Conference Bowls Record Final AP poll Big Ten 7 4–3 (0.571) 5 SEC 5 5–0 (1.000) 5 Big 12 5 2–3 (0.400) 4 Big East 4 2–2 (0.500) 3 ACC 4 1–3 (0.250) 2 Pac-10 4 1–3 (0.250) 2 Independents 2 1–1 (0.500) 2 WAC 2 1–1 (0.500) 2 Big West 1 1–0 (1.000) 0 Conference USA 1 0–1 (0.000) 0 MAC 1 0–1 (0.000) 0
←1995–96 Bowl game 1997–98→

The 1996-97 NCAA College Football Bowl Games post-season schedule followed the 1996 NCAA Division I-A regular football season in college football and contained 18 bowl games. This started with the 4th annual Las Vegas Bowl and ended with the 1997 Sugar Bowl. The Sugar Bowl served as the Bowl Alliance national championship game^{[citation needed]} for the 1996 season and occurred in the Louisiana Superdome in New Orleans. Featuring a rematch between the #1 Florida State Seminoles and the #3 Florida Gators, the Gators reversed the outcome of their regular season game with the Seminoles to capture both the AP and Bowl Alliance championships.