Thinking of Tempe
Bowden certain Florida State is headed to Fiesta
Posted: Saturday December 05, 1998 10:23 PM
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Bowden: "I guess I don't know yet who we're going to play, but now I know where we're going to play. I love it." AP |
TALLAHASSEE, Florida (AP) -- The biggest winner on a wacky day of college football appears to be a team that didn't even play.
Fourth-ranked Florida State needed at least two of the top three undefeated teams to lose Saturday, and they did. Now, coach Bobby Bowden and the Seminoles seemed headed to the Fiesta Bowl for the national championship.
"Nobody can mess it up now, can they?" Bowden asked moments after Texas A&M's 36-33 double overtime victory over No. 2 Kansas State. "I mean nobody behind us can go ahead of us, right?"
Earlier in the day, No. 3 UCLA lost 49-45 to Miami. Top-ranked Tennessee played later against Mississippi State in the SEC title game.
But, the Seminoles are not guaranteed a spot in the Fiesta.
"I can't really tell you who will be in that game," BCS
spokesman Charles Bloom said. "You can't assume the next
highest-ranked team will be in, because we don't have all the
numbers."
"One poll could change the whole thing," he said. "We assumed
it was going to be close if we had three undefeated teams. I think
you can assume it would be close between all the one-loss teams."
Bowden, who led Florida State to its only national title five years ago, doesn't care who the Seminoles face if they go to the Fiesta on January 4. The pairings will be set Sunday.
"I guess I don't know yet who we're going to play, but now I know where we're going to play," Bowden said. "I love it."
Florida State (11-1) lost its only game of the year 24-7 at North Carolina State on September 12. Led by the nation's top-ranked defense, the Seminoles reeled off 10 straight wins to finish the season, climaxed by a 23-12 win over Florida.
Bowden's phone rang almost immediately after Texas A&M's Sirr Parker hit the pylon with the game-winning touchdown. Bowden and his wife, Ann, began fielding calls from longtime friends and son Terry, the former coach at Auburn.
"And it didn't quit ringing," laughed the 69-year-old coach, who had spent nearly all day on his white couch in the family's spacious family room watching college games beginning with Army-Navy.
Bowden, who has had his team in the national title chase virtually every season since 1986, said he felt for Kansas State coach Bill Snyder.
"I went so many years where people said I couldn't win a national championship," Bowden said. "It's been five years since we won ours and now we get another shot at it."
Florida State played for the national title two years ago in the Sugar Bowl, but was routed by Florida.
"You just want to be in the game," Bowden said. "Now it's up to the kids."
Copyright 2003 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
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