The 2002 NCAA Division I-A football season ended the season with a double overtime national championship game. Ohio State and Miami both came into the Fiesta Bowl undefeated. The underdog Buckeyes defeated the Hurricanes 31–24, ending Miami's 34-game winning streak. Jim Tressel won the national championship in only his second year as head coach.
Rose Bowl officials were vocally upset over the loss of the Big Ten champ from the game. Former New England Patriots coach Pete Carroll returned the USC Trojans to a BCS bid in only his second season as head coach. Notre Dame also returned to prominence, as Tyrone Willingham became the first coach in Notre Dame history to win 10 games in his first season.
The only conference move during this season saw the University of Central Florida leave the Independent ranks to join the Mid-American Conference as its 14th member.
Beginning with the 2002 season, teams were allowed to schedule twelve regular season games instead of eleven leading to additional revenues for all teams and allowing players the enhanced opportunity to break various statistical records. Taken from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2002_NCAA_Division_I-A_football_season.

Final Stats:

Conference	Best Team	First player drafted from best team
Big Ten	Ohio State	Mike Doss DB picked 58th by IND
Big East	Miami (FL)	Andre Johnson WR picked 3rd by HOU
SEC	Georgia	Johnathan Sullivan DT picked 6th by NOR
Pac-10	Southern California	Carson Palmer QB picked 1st by CIN
Big 12	Oklahoma	Andre Woolfolk DB picked 28th by TEN
ACC	North Carolina State	Terrence Holt DB picked 137th by DET
WAC	Boise State	Brock Forsey RB picked 206th by CHI
Ind	South Florida	Kawika Mitchell LB picked 47th by KAN
CUSA	Texas Christian	Adrian Madise WR picked 158th by DEN
MAC	Marshall	Byron Leftwich QB picked 7th by JAX
MWC	Colorado State