Thursday, January 6 Hokies remain No. 2 ahead of 'Huskers
Associated Press
NEW ORLEANS -- Florida State is perfectly happy now that it
has a second national championship.
The Seminoles even made history in finishing No. 1 in The Associated Press' final Top 25 college football poll Tuesday night: They are the first team to go wire-to-wire since the preseason ratings began in 1950.
Florida State (12-0) gave Bobby Bowden his first perfect season
in 40 years as a head coach with a 46-29 victory over Virginia Tech
in the Sugar Bowl on Tuesday night.
The win also made the Seminoles the unanimous national champion
in balloting by the 70 sports writers and broadcasters on the AP
panel.
Florida State had all 70 first-place votes and 1,750 points,
while the Hokies (11-1) finished No. 2 -- the school's best finish
ever. Tech finished No. 10 in 1995.
Virginia Tech collected 1,647 points to edge No. 3 Nebraska
(12-1), which had 1,634 points after its 31-21 win over Tennessee
in the Fiesta Bowl.
In the final USA Today/ESPN coaches' poll, Florida State was
first, Nebraska was second and Virginia Tech was third.
Since 1950, eight teams were ranked No. 1 in the AP preseason
poll and went on to win the national title: Tennessee (1951);
Michigan State (1952); Oklahoma (1956, 1974, 1975, 1985); Alabama
(1978); and Florida State (1993).
Before 1950, there were two wire-to-wire champions -- Notre Dame
in 1943 and Army in 1945.
Wisconsin (10-2), a 17-9 winner over Stanford in the Rose Bowl,
finished No. 4, followed by No. 5 Michigan (10-2), No. 6 Kansas
State (11-1), No. 7 Michigan State (10-2), No. 8 Alabama (10-3),
No. 9 Tennessee (9-3) and No. 10 Marshall (13-0).
The Thundering Herd were the only other major college team with
a perfect record, closing out their season with a 21-3 win over BYU
in the Motor City Bowl.
Penn State, a 24-0 winner over Texas A&M in the Alamo Bowl, was
No. 11, followed by No. 12 Florida, No. 13 Mississippi State, No.
14 Southern Mississippi, No. 15 Miami, No. 16 Georgia, No. 17
Arkansas, No. 18 Minnesota, No. 19 Oregon and No. 20 Georgia Tech.
Texas was No. 21, followed by No. 22 Mississippi, No. 23 Texas
A&M, No. 24 Illinois and No. 25 Purdue.
The Big Ten Conference and Southeastern Conference each had
seven teams in the Top 25.
Mississippi and Illinois moved into the final poll after bowl
wins, while Stanford and East Carolina dropped out after bowl
losses.
