After months of bickering over who's No. 1, one wild, woolly and wacky weekend turned college football's cry into "Who's No. 2?"
On Sunday, the final Bowl Championship Series standings provided the answer, and the Seminoles' cheers can be heard loud and clear in Tempe, Ariz. That's where Florida State will play No. 1 Tennessee in the Fiesta Bowl on Jan. 4. with the national title on the line."It looks like a situation where Tennessee came in through the front door and we kind of feel like we came in through the back door," Florida State coach Bobby Bowden said. "But now we're going to face off in the middle of the room and it's going to be a heck of a shootout."
Until Saturday, when all the talk centered on decimal points, computer chips and which of three unbeatens -- Tennessee, Kansas State, or UCLA -- would be left out of a title game, everything was cleared up on the playing field.
-- Miami upset UCLA 49-45 and knocked the Bruins (10-1) out of the Fiesta and into the Rose Bowl, where the Pac-10 champions will play No. 9 Wisconsin (10-1). Not a bad cushion for No. 6 UCLA to fall back on.
-- Texas A&M upset Kansas State 36-33 in double overtime to win the Big 12 title and gain an automatic spot in the Sugar Bowl, where the No. 8 Aggies (11-2) will be matched against No. 3 Ohio State (10-1). That left the Wildcats outraged and apparently speechless after falling all the way to the Alamo Bowl against unranked Purdue (8-4).
When K-State learned it would be going to San Antonio -- and not to the more lucrative Cotton or Holiday bowls -- the school canceled a scheduled news conference and said coach Bill Snyder would not comment the Wildats' bowl situation.
-- Tennessee, though, came through with a 24-14 win over Mississippi State in the SEC title game and clinched its bid in the Fiesta.
In The Associated Press' final regular-season poll, Tennessee was the unanimous No. 1 choice with Florida State a solid No. 2; in the USA Today/ESPN coaches' poll, the Vols were a near-unanimous No. 1 pick and the Seminoles a strong No. 2.
After cementing the No. 1 vs. No. 2 game and overseeing the selection of its other bowls - Rose, Sugar and Orange - the BCS officially went out of business for this season.
With the Bruins' loss, the Rose was easy -- Pac-10 champs vs. Big Ten champs. Just like old times, even though it doesn't have to be that way anymore.
The Sugar invited Ohio State back for the second straight year, overlooking Kansas State. The Orange went for the big local draw in No. 7 Florida to match against Big East champ No. 18 Syracuse (8-3). It's the Gators' first trip to the Orange Bowl game since Jan. 1, 1967, when coach Steve Spurrier was the quarterback and had just won the Heisman Trophy.
Each of the teams in the four BCS games will be paid $12 million, which is then split among other conference teams.
In the final BCS standings, which use a complicated formula of polls, computers and strength-of-schedule, the Volunteers and Seminoles came out a clear 1-2
Tennessee finished with 3.47 points -- 1 point for poll average, 1.67 points for computer ranking, 0.80 for the 20th-toughest schedule and zero points for losses.
Florida State, in fourth place last week, jumped ahead of UCLA and Kansas State with 4.91 points -- 2 points for poll average, 1.75 for computer ranking, 0.16 for the fourth-toughest schedule and 1 for a loss.
Kansas State was a distant third, with 9.96 points -- 4 for poll average, 3.00 for computer ranking, 1.96 for the 49th-toughest schedule and 1 for a loss.
Ohio State was fourth with 10.37 points and UCLA was fifth with 10.90 points.
"I feel we arrived at two tremendously qualified teams to be ranked 1-2," BCS chairman Roy Kramer said. "They deserved to be there based on all the criteria. We want to create 1 vs. 2 The others are up to the individual bowls."
The Fiesta Bowl in Tempe, Ariz., was the site of the last 1-2 matchup in a postseason game. In the '96 Fiesta, a No. 1 Nebraska won the national title with a 62-24 rout of a No. 2 Florida.
It will also marks the 12th time No. 1 played No. 2 in a bowl game. Top-ranked teams have won six times.
"We have been a resilient team all season and we've found a way to get it done," Vols coach Phillip Fulmer said. "We've been on the edge of playing in a national championship game, and now we have a chance to do it."
Ohio State coach John Cooper, whose Buckeyes were ranked No. 1 until losing to Michigan State 28-24 on Nov. 7, said his team was just as qualified as Florida State to play in the Fiesta.
"We're happy to be in the Sugar Bowl, but I think we can make an argument that we're one of the top two," Cooper said. "We were No. 1 for nine straight weeks. It's difficult to run the table to go undefeated. The day we got beat, we did not play our best game.
"You stub your toe one time you've got to be a great team to get a chance to come back."
In other bowl matchups:
-- Las Vegas -- North Carolina (6-5) vs. San Diego State (7-4), Dec. 19
-- Motor City -- Louisville (7-4) vs. Marshall (11-1), Dec. 23
-- Micron PC -- North Carolina State (7-4) vs. Miami (8-3), Dec. 29
-- Humanitarian -- Idaho (8-3) vs. Southern Mississippi (7-4), Dec. 30
-- Liberty -- Tulane (11-0) vs. Brigham Young (9-4), Dec. 31
-- Peach -- Georgia (8-3) vs. Virginia (9-2), Dec. 31
-- Outback -- Kentucky (7-4) vs. Penn State (8-3), Jan. 1
-- Citrus Bowl -- Arkansas (9-2) vs. Michigan (9-3), Jan. 1.
-- Gator -- Georgia Tech (9-2) vs. Notre Dame (9-2), Jan. 1
Still to be announced are the Aloha, Oahu, Insight.com, Music City, Holiday, Sun and Cotton bowls.