Tennessee, Florida State to play for national title
Posted: Monday December 07, 1998 01:22 AM
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So, we finally meet again: Peerless Price (left) and Travis Minor weren't even born the last time Florida State and Tennessee played 40 years ago AP |
NEW YORK (AP) -- After months of bickering over who's No. 1, one wild, woolly and wacky weekend turned college football's cry into "Who's No. 2?"
On Sunday, the final Bowl Championship Series standings provided
the answer, and the Seminoles' cheers can be heard loud and clear
in Tempe, Ariz. That's where Florida State will play No. 1
Tennessee in the Fiesta Bowl on January 4 with the national title on
the line.
"It looks like a situation where Tennessee came in through the
front door and we kind of feel like we came in through the back
door," Florida State coach Bobby Bowden said. "But now we're
going to face off in the middle of the room and it's going to be a
heck of a shootout."
Until Saturday, when all the talk centered on decimal points,
computer chips and which of three unbeatens -- Tennessee, Kansas
State, or UCLA -- would be left out of a title game, everything was
cleared up on the playing field.
Miami upset UCLA 49-45 and knocked the Bruins (10-1) out of
the Fiesta and into the Rose Bowl, where the Pac-10 champions will
play No. 9 Wisconsin (10-1). Not a bad cushion for No. 6 UCLA to
fall back on.
Texas A&M upset Kansas State 36-33 in double overtime to win
the Big 12 title and gain an automatic spot in the Sugar Bowl,
where the No. 8 Aggies (11-2) will be matched against No. 3 Ohio
State (10-1). That left the Wildcats outraged and apparently
speechless after falling all the way to the Alamo Bowl against
unranked Purdue (8-4).
When K-State learned it would be going to San Antonio -- and not
to the more lucrative Cotton or Holiday bowls -- the school canceled
a scheduled news conference and said coach Bill Snyder would not
comment the Wildats' bowl situation.
Tennessee, though, came through with a 24-14 win over
Mississippi State in the SEC title game and clinched its bid in the
Fiesta.
In The Associated Press' final regular-season poll, Tennessee
was the unanimous No. 1 choice with Florida State a solid No. 2; in
the USA Today/ESPN coaches' poll, the Vols were a near-unanimous
No. 1 pick and the Seminoles a strong No. 2.
After cementing the No. 1 vs. No. 2 game and overseeing the
selection of its other bowls -- Rose, Sugar and Orange -- the BCS
officially went out of business for this season.
With the Bruins' loss, the Rose was easy -- Pac-10 champs vs. Big
Ten champs. Just like old times, even though it doesn't have to be
that way anymore.
The Sugar invited Ohio State back for the second straight year. The Orange went for the big local draw in
No. 7 Florida to match against Big East champ No. 18 Syracuse
(8-3) and overlooking Kansas State. It's the Gators' first trip to the Orange Bowl game since
January 1, 1967, when coach Steve Spurrier was the quarterback and had
just won the Heisman Trophy.
Each of the teams in the four BCS games will be paid $12
million, which is then split among other conference teams.
In the final BCS standings, which use a complicated formula of
polls, computers and strength-of-schedule, the Volunteers and
Seminoles came out a clear 1-2
Tennessee finished with 3.47 points -- 1 point for poll average,
1.67 points for computer ranking, 0.80 for the 20th-toughest
schedule and zero points for losses.
Florida State, in fourth place last week, jumped ahead of UCLA
and Kansas State with 4.91 points 2 points for poll average, 1.75
for computer ranking, 0.16 for the fourth-toughest schedule and 1
for a loss.
Kansas State was a distant third, with 9.96 points -- 4 for poll
average, 3.00 for computer ranking, 1.96 for the 49th-toughest
schedule and 1 for a loss.
Ohio State was fourth with 10.37 points and UCLA was fifth with
10.90 points.
"I feel we arrived at two tremendously qualified teams to be
ranked 1-2," BCS chairman Roy Kramer said. "They deserved to be
there based on all the criteria. We want to create 1 vs. 2 The
others are up to the individual bowls."
The Fiesta Bowl in Tempe, Ariz., was the site of the last 1-2
matchup in a postseason game. In the '96 Fiesta, a No. 1 Nebraska
won the national title with a 62-24 rout of a No. 2 Florida.
It will also marks the 12th time No. 1 played No. 2 in a bowl
game. Top-ranked teams have won six times.
"We have been a resilient team all season and we've found a way
to get it done," Vols coach Phillip Fulmer said. "We've been on
the edge of playing in a national championship game, and now we
have a chance to do it."
Ohio State coach John Cooper, whose Buckeyes were ranked No. 1
until losing to Michigan State 28-24 on November 7, said his team was
just as qualified as Florida State to play in the Fiesta.
"We're happy to be in the Sugar Bowl, but I think we can make
an argument that we're one of the top two," Cooper said. "We were
No. 1 for nine straight weeks. It's difficult to run the table to
go undefeated. The day we got beat, we did not play our best game.
"You stub your toe one time you've got to be a great team to
get a chance to come back."
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