Jan. 5, 2000 SportsLine wire reports

NEW ORLEANS -- Florida State is perfectly happy now that it has a second national championship.

	Related Links: AP poll Coaches poll Complete bowl results Dodd: Sugar Bowl vindicates Bowden, Warrick -- and BCS Florida State goes undefeated despite Virginia Tech scare
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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 coaches poll, Florida State was first, Nebraska was second and Virginia Tech 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 led the way with seven teams in the Top 25, while the Southeastern Conference had six teams.

Mississippi and Illinois moved into the final poll after bowl wins, while Stanford and East Carolina dropped out after bowl losses.