Finally, a Perfect Ending

No mystery, no intrigue, just this simple fact: No. 1 Florida State will play No. 2 Virginia Tech for the national championship in the Sugar Bowl on Jan. 4.

In the second season of the bowl championship series, the system of rating teams using polls, computers, strength of schedule and losses worked perfectly.

As expected, the Seminoles (11-0) and Hokies (11-0) finished first and second in the final BCS rankings released Sunday, matching their finish in the Associated Press media poll’s final regular-season rankings. The USA Today/ESPN coaches’ poll also had the teams ranked 1-2, as did seven of the eight computers used by the BCS.

In the final BCS rankings, Florida State had 2.24 points, Virginia Tech 6.12 points and Nebraska 7.42 points. Last week, the Hokies had a 1.54-point lead over the Huskers.

Florida State, national champion in 1993, will be playing in its third national title game in the past four years. Coach Bobby Bowden said he’s just happy for another shot, but “I’d just as soon be No. 2 going in. There’s a little more incentive. But the idea is to get there and whoever wins the game is going to be No. 1.”

Even No. 3 Nebraska (11-1), which dominated Texas, 22-6, on Saturday to win the Big 12 title, conceded the Florida State-Virginia Tech matchup was the right one. The Cornhuskers, who lost their title chance two weeks ago with a shaky overtime win over Colorado, will play No. 6 Tennessee (9-2) in the Fiesta Bowl on Jan 2.

“We’ll live with the system,” Nebraska Coach Frank Solich said after his team avenged its only loss of the season.

Meanwhile, Michigan State, which will play No. 10 Florida in the Citrus Bowl, will have a new coach--Bobby Williams--for the game. Williams, an assistant under former coach Nick Saban, was promoted from interim to permanent coach Sunday.