This Fiesta Packs a One-Two Punch

No. 1 Tennessee (12-0) and No. 2 Florida State (11-1) meet for the national title in tonight’s Fiesta Bowl.

Don’t let those Woody Hayes lovers tell you otherwise.

Short of a playoff, this is the best anyone can offer, and it isn’t half bad.

Are these the best two teams in the country?

Maybe. Maybe not.

Ohio State thinks it has a dog in this hunt after an impressive Sugar Bowl win over Texas A&M;, but the Buckeyes knew the non-playoff ground rules: If you’re going to lose in college football, lose early.

Yes, Florida State’s 24-7 loss to North Carolina State in September ranks a more significant drubbing than Ohio State’s four-point, collapse-from-ahead November loss to Michigan State.

In this sport, though, the calendar counts.

At No. 3 in the Associated Press poll, Ohio State is looking for a miracle back-door entrance pass to a split title. The voting coaches have already decided the Fiesta Bowl winner will be their poll champion.

A Florida State win would leave Tennessee’s 70 first-place AP votes up for grabs. So what if the Seminoles win a 10-7 game on a fluke play?

Sorry, Buckeyes. Word on the AP street is that Florida State wins the title if it beats Tennessee.

Chris Weinke, the 26-year-old injured Florida State quarterback, has had plenty of down time to consider the logic.

“I think that Ohio State has a great football team,” Weinke said. “But you can’t win a national championship unless you play in the national championship game.”

Meanwhile, back in Tempe. . .

Do Tennessee and Florida State have flaws?

Answer: Does Bill Clinton?

Listen, as title fights go, this is not Ali vs. Frazier.

Tennessee won all its games, three by the skin of its teeth.

The Volunteers needed an “iffy” fourth-down pass interference call to beat Syracuse, escaped with an overtime home win against Florida despite being outplayed, and stared down the barrel of defeat against Arkansas until getting rescued by Razorback quarterback Clint Stoerner’s gift fumble.

Florida State played flat-out lousy in defeat against North Carolina State, but actually was shaping into the nation’s best team until Weinke suffered a season-ending neck injury Nov. 7 against Virginia.

Now, the Seminoles’ title hopes rest with sophomore Marcus Outzen, making his third career start.

“He’s the least experienced I’ve ever gone into it with,” Florida State Coach Bobby Bowden said.

The last sophomore to lead his team to a national title was Alabama’s Jay Barker in 1992.

Will tonight’s game be an exciting offensive matchup?

No, that was the Humanitarian Bowl.

The Fiesta figures to be a meat grinder.

It’s hard to imagine Tennessee making much of a dent against Florida State, the No. 1-ranked defense in the country. The Seminoles have given up an average of 214.8 yards a game, ranking No. 1 versus the pass and No. 2 against the run.

Tennessee also picked a bad time to break in a new offensive coordinator. With David Cutcliffe leaving last month to become coach at Mississippi, former running backs coach Randy Sanders assumes the daunting task of play-calling.

“Some people have told me, ‘Call what you want,’ ” Sanders said, “but just call good ones.”

Yet, Florida State might not have any better luck against Tennessee, the nation’s 17th-ranked defense.

To protect the inexperienced Outzen, Florida State may have to slug it out on the ground with tailback Travis Minor and hope for a big play from star receiver Peter Warrick, a former high school quarterback who most recently burned Florida for a touchdown pass.

The man Outzen needs to watch?

Al Wilson.

Tennessee’s middle linebacker is a terror who will be looking to make Outzen wish he had taken up tennis.

“Al plays like a madman,” Tennessee cornerback Steve Johnson said. “He’s very emotional.”

Bowden has dealt with these kinds of menaces before.

“We call them cockroaches,” he said of Wilson-types. “It’s not so much what they eat, it’s what they get in there and mess up.”

Final score?

Florida State: 17.

Tennessee: 14.

Ohio State: 0.