1987–88 NCAA football bowl games

{{short description|College football postseason game series}}

{{Use mdy dates|date=August 2023}}

{{more citations needed|date=November 2016}}

{{Infobox College football bowl games

| season = 1987

| image = Reagan with Miami Hurricanes football team 1988.jpg

| image_caption = 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

| regular_season =

| number_of_bowls = 18

| all_star_games =

| bowl_start = December 13, 1987

| bowl_end =
January 2, 1988

| championship_bowl = Orange Bowl

| championship_location = Miami, Florida

| champions = Miami Hurricanes

| conference1 = Independent

| conference1_teams = 9

| conference1_wins = 2

| conference1_losses = 6

| conference1_ties = 1

| conference1_ap_poll = 5

| conference2 = SEC

| conference2_teams = 6

| conference2_wins = 3

| conference2_losses = 2

| conference2_ties = 1

| conference2_ap_poll = 4

| conference3 = Big Ten

| conference3_teams = 4

| conference3_wins = 3

| conference3_losses = 1

| conference3_ap_poll = 3

| conference4 = Pac-10

| conference4_teams = 4

| conference4_wins = 3

| conference4_losses = 1

| conference4_ap_poll = 3

| conference5 = Big 8

| conference5_teams = 3

| conference5_wins = 1

| conference5_losses = 2

| conference5_ap_poll = 3

| conference6 = SWC

| conference6_teams = 3

| conference6_wins = 2

| conference6_losses = 1

| conference6_ap_poll = 1

| conference7 = WAC

| conference7_teams = 3

| conference7_wins = 0

| conference7_losses = 3

| conference7_ap_poll = 0

| conference8 = ACC

| conference8_teams = 2

| conference8_wins = 2

| conference8_losses = 0

| conference8_ap_poll = 1

| conference9 = MAC

| conference9_teams = 1

| conference9_wins = 1

| conference9_losses = 0

| conference9_ap_poll = 0

| conference10 = PCAA

| conference10_teams = 1

| conference10_wins = 0

| conference10_losses = 1

| conference10_ap_poll = 0

}}

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.{{cite web|url=http://www.cfbdatawarehouse.com/data/national_championships/poll_results.php?year=1985|publisher=cfbdatawarehouse.com|title=AP and Coaches Yearly Final Polls|accessdate=2016-11-19|archive-date=2017-03-19|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170319042020/http://cfbdatawarehouse.com/data/national_championships/poll_results.php?year=1985|url-status=dead}} The Miami Hurricanes were declared the national champions, after upsetting #1 Oklahoma in the Orange Bowl.{{cite web|url=http://www.cfbdatawarehouse.com/data/national_championships/nchamps_year.php|publisher=cfbdatawarehouse.com|title=Recognized National Championships by Year|accessdate=2016-11-19|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161015173918/http://www.cfbdatawarehouse.com/data/national_championships/nchamps_year.php|archive-date=2016-10-15|url-status=dead}}{{cite web|url=http://soonerstats.com/football/games/recap.cfm?GameID=882#.WDCyc4WcHIU|author=Keith Meador|publisher=soonerstats.com|title=1987 Oklahoma at Miami (FL) Game Recap - SoonerStats - Oklahoma Sooners Football, Basketball, Baseball, and Softball Scores, Records, and Stats|accessdate=2016-11-19}}

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.