| 2003 NCAA Division I-A season | |
|---|---|
 Gameplay during the BCS National Championship Sugar Bowl for the 2003 season | |
| Number of teams | 117 |
| Preseason AP No. 1 | Oklahoma |
| Postseason | |
| Duration | December 16, 2003 – January 4, 2004 |
| Bowl games | 28 |
| AP Poll No. 1 | USC |
| Heisman Trophy | Jason White (quarterback, Oklahoma) |
| Bowl Championship Series | |
| 2004 Sugar Bowl | |
| Site | Louisiana Superdome, New Orleans, Louisiana |
| Champion(s) | LSU |
| Division I-A football seasons | |
← 2002 2004 → | |
The 2003 NCAA Division I-A football season ended with an abundance of controversy, resulting in the claim of a split national championship. This was the first claimed split title since the inception of the BCS, something the BCS intended to eliminate. Due to on-field circumstances, the BCS becoming a means of having a single champion going forward, and finally the four-team title playoff system's institution in 2014, as of 2024 this is the most recent Division 1-A season to end with split national champions.
At season's end, three BCS Automatic Qualifying (AQ) conference teams finished the regular season with one loss, with only two spots available in the BCS National Championship Game. Three BCS Non-Automatic Qualifying (Non-AQ) conference teams also finished with one loss, TCU, Boise State and Miami (OH), stirring the debate of the BCS being unfair to BCS Non-AQ conference teams.
LSU defeated Oklahoma in the 2004 Sugar Bowl, securing the BCS National Championship, as the ESPN/USA Today Coaches' Poll was contractually obligated to vote the winner of the BCS National Championship Game No. 1, although three coaches violated this agreement by keeping USC atop their ballots. Meanwhile, when AP No. 1 USC beat (number 4) Michigan in the 2004 Rose Bowl, the AP voters kept USC in the top spot.
Army became the first team in NCAA Division I-A football modern history to finish the season 0–13.
The Home Depot Coach of the Year Award sponsored by ESPN chose USC coach Pete Carroll as their award recipient, while the Paul "Bear" Bryant Award, voted on by an association of sportswriters, chose LSU coach Nick Saban.
The Orange Bowl game was noteworthy in that Miami and Florida State previously had scheduled to play each other on Labor Day in 2004 in Miami's first game as a member of the Atlantic Coast Conference. Playing in the Orange Bowl ensured that their next meeting would be each of their very next games and their first of the 2004 season.