Two college football powerhouses from two football hotbeds through the last two decades are the top two teams in the nation. Welcome to flavor country.
Although there was little doubt about who would be selected, No. 1 Oklahoma and No. 3 Florida State were officially invited to the Orange Bowl Sunday to play for college football’s national championship.
Oklahoma, a unanimous No. 1 choice, remained the nation’s only undefeated Division I team after a 27-24 victory over Kansas State.
There was more controversy in Florida State’s selection. The Seminoles finished the season ranked No. 3 in both the Associated Press and ESPN coaches’ polls. Their lone loss of the season came to in-state rival Miami — which defeated Florida State on Oct. 7 and incidentally finished the season ranked second.
The decision came down to the Bowl Championship Series, the NCAA’s answer to controversies surrounding the national championship game and the national polls. Florida State narrowly edged Miami in the BCS by 0.32 points, based mostly on the computer polls and strength of schedules.
“Everything was run through the computer,” Florida State head coach Bobby Bowden said. “We had nothing to do with it. The facts were fed in during the season and it came out ranking us second. We will accept that. I’m not turning it down.”
Head to head, the Sooners and Seminoles are matched to the tooth.
At quarterback, Florida State’s Chris Weinke and Oklahoma’s Josh Heupel both have thrown for over 3,000 yards with less than 14 interceptions.
Each team has a strong receiving corps, each with three receivers who average more than 14 yards per reception. The Seminoles’ Marvin Minnis recorded 1,340 yards on 63 catches this season for 11 touchdowns while the Sooners’ Curtis Fagan scored seven touchdowns this season while receiving 14.8 yards per game.
Both teams prefer the pass but both have rushers who have ran for more than 800 yards this season and are deep in the backfield.
On the other side of the field, both teams have at least two players with more than 100 tackles and three with more than two interceptions.
There is nothing lost on special teams, where Oklahoma and Florida State both have excellent kicking and returning teams.
Both teams cruised through their non-conference schedules, and recorded convincing double-digit wins against top-10 rivals Florida, Nebraska and Kansas State.
The comparisons go beyond the 2000 season as well. Florida State, which is considered by many as the team of the ’90s, never finished lower than fourth in the national polls through the past decade and never won fewer than 10 games in a season.
Likewise, Oklahoma dominated the ’80s and won a national championship to go along with 100-plus victories in the decade.
While this year’s national championship game shapes up to be a close, evenly matched one, it may not decide the 2001 champion. If the Sooners triumph, they are the national champs. If Florida State wins and Miami beats Florida in the Sugar Bowl, then the Hurricanes would have a legitimate case for the No. 1 spot. In any case, the BCS will find a national champion.