Florida State football: 5 best seasons in program history
By John Buhler
Ranking the five best Florida State football seasons in program history. Which FSU football team is the best in Seminoles’ history?
Florida State football as we know came about because of the GI Bill after World War II. With an influx of men who fought for our country wanting a college education, Florida State College for Women became a co-educational institution, becoming Florida State University as we know it. In the last 70-plus years, Florida State has yielded one of the best programs in college football.
For much of Florida State’s early history, the Seminoles were an independent program, coming to national prominence under the iconic Bobby Bowden in the 1980s and early 1990s. Then in 1992, Florida State became a full-time member of the ACC, and that’s when things really started to take off for the ‘Noles.
Florida State has won 15 conference titles since joining the ACC nearly 30 years ago. From 1992 to 2000, the Seminoles won the ACC every year. They have won three national titles, finished as a national runner-up three times and had three different quarterbacks win the Heisman Trophy. While the last five years have been tough, the Seminoles are never down for very long.
Ranking the 5 best Florida State football seasons
Scouting Report. 804. Pick Analysis. ACC Co-Champions, National Runner-Up. No. 3 Coaches/No. 3 AP. 1998 (11-2). 5. player
Florida State was in the midst of its heyday under Bowden in 1998. The Seminoles had won their first national championship five years earlier and nearly added another only two years prior. Though Florida State was a fixture in the top four for the better part of a decade, the 1998 season doesn’t get as much love as it should.
The Seminoles went 11-2 overall and 7-1 in ACC play. Their only loss came in a bad early-season performance to the unranked North Carolina State Wolfpack in Raleigh. Despite losing by 21 points at Carter-Finley, the Seminoles rallied off 10 straight wins to play in the first BCS National Championship game. They would meet the Tennessee Volunteers at Sun Devil Stadium in Tempe.
En route to the Fiesta Bowl, Florida State beat five ranked teams, including No. 4 Florida at home and No. 12 Virginia for the Jefferson-Eppes Trophy in Tallahassee. Every time the Seminoles scored 20 points that season, they won. However, their two losses came when they could put a score on the scoreboard.
Though Florida State’s effort vs. Tennessee was better than the one vs. North Carolina State, the Seminoles still lost by a touchdown in the Valley of the Sun, 23-16. Tennessee would win its only national title under head coach Phillip Fulmer. Despite it being another title bout that slipped through their fingers, Florida State rebounded marvelously the next year to win it all.