1990–91 NCAA football bowl games

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

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

{{Infobox College football bowl games

| season = 1990

| image = 1990 Bowls-USA-states.PNG

| image_caption = Number of bowl games per state.

| regular_season = September 1–December 1

| number_of_bowls = 19

| all_star_games =

| bowl_start = December 8, 1990

| bowl_end =
January 1, 1991

| championship_bowl = none

| championship_location = N/A

| champions = Colorado Buffaloes and
Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets

| conference1 = Independents

| conference1_teams = 8

| conference1_wins = 4

| conference1_losses = 3

| conference1_ties = 1

| conference1_ap_poll = 5

| conference2 = Big Ten

| conference2_teams = 6

| conference2_wins = 2

| conference2_losses = 4

| conference2_ap_poll = 4

| conference3 = ACC

| conference3_teams = 5

| conference3_wins = 3

| conference3_losses = 1

| conference3_ties = 1

| conference3_ap_poll = 3

| conference4 = Pac-10

| conference4_teams = 5

| conference4_wins = 2

| conference4_losses = 3

| conference4_ap_poll = 2

| conference5 = SEC

| conference5_teams = 4

| conference5_wins = 2

| conference5_losses = 2

| conference5_ap_poll = 4

| conference6 = WAC

| conference6_teams = 4

| conference6_wins = 2

| conference6_losses = 2

| conference6_ap_poll = 1

| conference7 = Big Eight

| conference7_teams = 2

| conference7_wins = 1

| conference7_losses = 1

| conference7_ap_poll = 3

| conference8 = SWC

| conference8_teams = 2

| conference8_wins = 1

| conference8_losses = 1

| conference8_ap_poll = 3

| conference9 = Big West

| conference9_teams = 1

| conference9_wins = 1

| conference9_losses = 0

| conference9_ap_poll = 0

| conference10 = MAC

| conference10_teams = 1

| conference10_wins = 0

| conference10_losses = 1

| conference10_ap_poll = 0

}}

File:1990 Bowl Teams-USA-states.png

The 1990–91 NCAA football bowl games featured 19 games, starting early in December 1990 and ending on New Year's Day 1991. They followed the 1990 regular season and ended in controversy. Going into the postseason, Colorado had a 10–1–1 record and was ranked #1 in both Coaches' and AP polls. After a relatively unimpressive (and controversial) 10–9 victory over #5 Notre Dame in the Orange Bowl and an impressive victory by the undefeated (10–0–1) #2 Georgia Tech in the Citrus Bowl, the Buffaloes lost their #1 ranking to the Yellow Jackets in the Coaches' Poll, creating a split championship. This controversial ending, along with the dual undefeated champions of the following year, led to the creation of the Bowl Coalition.