FSU Ends Year As AP's No. 1

Florida State finds itself in a familiar position entering its Sugar Bowl matchup against Virginia Tech No. 1 in the AP's final regular-season poll.

For the third time in the 1990s, the Seminoles (11-0) finished first in The Associated Press' Top 25 college football poll heading into the bowls.

The final AP poll will be released on Jan. 5.

And if they beat the No. 2 Hokies (11-0) in New Orleans on Jan. 4, the Seminoles will become the first team to be No. 1 wire-to-wire since the AP began a preseason poll in 1950. Before the preseason poll, two teams Army in 1945 and Notre Dame in 1943 were No. 1 all season.

Florida State finished the 1993 and 1996 regular seasons No. 1, winning the '93 national title with a victory over Nebraska in the Orange Bowl and losing the '96 title to Florida in the Sugar Bowl.

Since 1950, eight teams were ranked No. 1 in the preseason and went on to win the national title: Tennessee (1951); Michigan State (1952); Oklahoma (1956, 1974, 1975, 1985); Alabama (1978); and Florida State (1993).

Florida State, champions of the Atlantic Coast Conference, received 64 first-place votes and 1,744 points Sunday from the 70 sports writers and broadcasters on the AP panel. Big East champ Virginia Tech had the other six first-place votes and 1, 685 points.

Nebraska(11-1), a 22-6 winner over Texas in the Big 12 title game, was No. 3, followed by No. 4 Wisconsin, No. 5 Alabama, No. 6 Tennessee, No. 7 Kansas State, No. 8 Michigan, No. 9 Michigan Stateand No. 10 Florida.

Alabama (10-2) won the Southeastern Conference title with a 34-7 win over Florida on Saturday and moved up two spots, while the Gators (9-3) slipped five places.

In the USA Today/ESPN coaches' poll, the top five were Florida State, Virginia Tech, Nebraska, Wisconsin and Tennessee. The top three in the final Bowl Championship Series standings, which determine the two teams who play in the national title game, Florida Sate was first, Virginia second and Nebraska third.

Marshall(12-0) remained No. 11 in the AP poll after its 34-30 win over Western Michigan in the Mid-American Conference title game. The Thundering Herd, which joined Florida State and Virginia Tech as the only unbeaten major college teams, will play BYU in the Motor City Bowl.

Minnesota was No. 12, followed by No. 13 Penn State, No. 14 Texas, No. 15Mississippi State, No. 16 Southern Mississippi, No. 17 Georgia Tech, No. 18 Texas A&M, No. 19 Purdue and No. 20 East Carolina.

Georgia was No. 21, followed by No. 22 Stanford, No. 23 Miami, No. 24 Arkansas and No. 25 Boston College.

No teams dropped out of the Top 25 from last week.

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