For the third time in six years, Florida State is the preseason pick to win college football's national championship.
The Seminoles, who have never won the national title despite six consecutive finishes in the top four, are a clear-cut No. 1 in The Associated Press preseason poll.Florida State, which also started out No. 1 in 1988 and 1991, received 42 of 62 first-place votes and 1,522 of a possible 1,550 points in the nationwide survey of sports writers and broadcasters. The Seminoles also are No. 1 in the USA Today-CNN coaches' poll.
"Why me?" coach Bobby Bowden said. "It definitely puts more pressure on you when you're No. 1. It means everybody's out to get you."
Defending national champion Alabama is second in the AP poll, getting 14 first-place votes and 1,472 points. Michigan is third with three first-place votes and 1,413 points, while Texas A&M is fourth with 1,261 points.
Miami, whose bid for a fifth national title was halted by Alabama in the 1993 Sugar Bowl, begins this season at No. 5. Rounding out the Top 10 are Syracuse, Notre Dame, Nebraska, Florida and Tennessee.
Syracuse received two first-place votes. The other first-place vote went to No. 15 Stanford.
Although Florida State has an explosive offense featuring versatile quarterback Charlie Ward, the Seminoles won't have an easy path to the national title. Their schedule includes three Top 10 teams (Miami, Notre Dame and Florida) and three other ranked schools (No. 20 North Carolina, No. 23 Clemson and No. 25 North Carolina State).
And that doesn't count Kansas, which plays Florida State in the Kickoff Classic on Aug. 28. The Jayhawks received the most votes of any team not in the Top 25.
"We may be No. 1, but we don't have a national championship schedule," Bowden said. "When you have to play six nationally ranked teams, you better have a great team or you're in big trouble."
Still, Bowden's team is excited by its No. 1 status.
"It feels good," defensive lineman Toddrick McIntosh said. "All we've got to do is go 13-0 and we'll stay No. 1. It's no surprise, no pressure."
It's the fifth time in the last six years that a team from Florida has topped the preseason poll. Miami did it in 1990 and 1992. Michigan was No. 1 in 1989.
The last preseason No. 1 to win the national championship was Oklahoma in 1985. Since the preseason poll began in 1950, seven teams have started and finished No. 1.
Colorado is 11th, followed by Washington, Georgia, Arizona, Stanford, Penn State, Ohio State, Southern Cal, BYU, North Carolina, Boston College, Oklahoma, Clemson, Mississippi State and North Carolina State.
All teams in the preseason Top 25 were ranked at the end of last season except Arizona, Penn State, Southern Cal, BYU, Oklahoma and Clemson.
Alabama has its highest preseason ranking since 1980, when the Tide also were second. Syracuse hasn't started this high since 1960, when the defending national champions were No. 1.
AP Poll Voters
John Adams, Knoxville (Tenn.), News-Sentinel; Elton Alexander, The Plain Dealer, Cleveland; David Alfonso, Tampa (Fla.) Tribune; Tony Barnhart, Atlanta Journal Constitution; Harold Bechard, Salina (Kan.) Journal; Mark Blaudschun, Boston Globe; Kirk Bohls, Austin (Texas) American Statesman; Greg Bortolin, Las Vegas Review Journal; B.G. Brooks, Rocky Mountain News, Denver; Bruce Brown, The Lafayette (La.) Advertiser; Jimmy Burch, Fort Worth (Texas) Star Telegram; Steve Caldwell, Arkansas Democrat-Gazette; Ron Christ, Harrisburg (Pa.) Patriot News; Bob Clark, Eugene (Ore.) Register Guard.
John Clay, Lexington (Ky.) Herald-Leader; Jim Cnockaert, Ann Arbor (Mich.) News; Beano Cook, ESPN; Frank Dascenzo, The Herald-Sun, Durham, N.C.; Barrie Dawson, Bridgewater (N.J.) Courier-News; Tim Doherty, Hattiesburg (Miss.) American; Jeff Faraudo, Alameda Newspaper Group, Pleasanton, Calif.; John Fay, The Cincinnati Enquirer; Randy Ford, WBNS-AM, Westerville, Ohio; Brett Friedlander, Annapolis (Md.) Capital; David Goren, WXII-TV, Winston-Salem, N.C.; Bob Griese, ABC-TV; Dave Hackenberg, The Toledo (Ohio) Blade; Ken Hambleton, Lincoln (Neb.) Journal-Star; Bob Hammel, Bloomington (Ind.) Herald-Times;
Bob Hammond, Laramie (Wyo.) Boomerang; Bob Hersom, The Daily Oklahoman, Oklahoma City; Mike Hlas, Cedar Rapids (Iowa) Gazette; Joey Holliman, The Columbia (S.C.) State; Bob Hudson, The Daily Herald, Provo, Utah; Michael Hunt, Milwaukee Sentinel; Ed Johnson, Albuquerque Journal; Blair Kerkhoff, Kansas City Star; Bill Kwon, Honolulu Star-Bulletin; Ron Lemasters, Muncie (Ind.) Star; Chris Long, South Bay (Calif.) Daily Breeze; Ivan Maisel, Dallas Morning News; Bob Moran, Mesa (Ariz.) Tribune; Jack Moss, Kalamazoo (Mich.) Gazette;
Gary Nelson, Everett (Wash.) Herald; John Perrotto, Beaver County (Pa.) Times; Steve Phillips, WKRN-TV, Nashville, Tenn.; Dave Poe, Parkersburg (W.Va.) News; Scott Rabalais, The Advocate, Baton Rouge, La.; John Robinson, Deseret News, Salt Lake City; Jon Roe, Minneapolis Star Tribune; Ralph Routon, Colorado Springs Gazette Telegraph; Doug Segrest, Birmingham (Ala.) News; Ed Sherman, Chicago Tribune; Charlie Smith, Tulsa (Okla.) World; Mark Soltau, San Francisco Examiner; Tom Spousta, Sarasota (Fla.) Herald-Tribune; Jim Steinmiller, The News and Advance, Lynchburg, Va.; Loren Tate, Champaign (Ill.), News-Gazette; Donnie Webb, Syracuse (N.Y.) Post-Standard; Don Whitten, Oxford (Miss.) Eagle; Jerry Wizig, Houston Chronicle; Gene Wojciechowski, Los Angeles Times.