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Fiesta Countdown National title games here haven't all lived up to hype
Posted: Monday January 04, 1999 05:38 PM
CNN/SI senior writer John Donovan will file reports every half- hour until the Fiesta Bowl kickoff at 8 p.m. ET. And log on to CNNSI.com immediately after the game for up-to-the-minute news, stats and analysis of the game. TEMPE, Ariz. (CNN/SI) -- The anticipation for the matchup between No. 1 Tennessee and No. 2 Florida State has been building slowly all week, with most analysts figuring two solid defenses will produce a close, low-scoring game. That would be nice. It would also go against the Fiesta national championship game tide. This is the third time the national champion will be determined at the Fiesta Bowl, and only the first game could be considered close or low scoring. No. 2 Penn State upset No. 1 Miami, 14-10, in 1987 -- Vinny Testaverde in fatigues, remember? -- in the most closely staged national title game here yet. No. 1 Notre Dame stomped No. 3 West Virginia, 34-21, in 1989. And top-ranked Nebraska really stomped No. 2 Florida in 1996, 62-24. There has been some talk that the national champion might not come out of this game -- well, at least that's what Ohio State coach John Cooper has been spouting -- but the chances of that are so far-fetched, it's almost not worthy of taking up cyberspace. Coaches are compelled, by a vote they took at the beginning of the season, to pick the winner of this game as the top team in the country in their poll. And the writers, who vote in the other major poll, almost certainly will vote the winner of the Fiesta as national champs. Ohio State's win in the Sugar Bowl, the reasoning goes, was hardly convincing enough to dump the winner of this game off the throne. Coach Bobby Bowden of Florida State knows exactly what this game is worth. "If we were to win," he said this week, "then there's no doubt in my mind we would be national champions. And if Tennessee were to win it, there's no doubt in my mind either."
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