Tennessee's on top -- and it's unanimous.
The Volunteers, the only unbeaten team to survive a wild weekend of upsets, finished the regular-season ranked No. 1 in The Associated Press' Top 25 college football poll.And now it's on to the Fiesta Bowl on Jan. 4 and a chance for the Vols to win their first national championship since 1951.
Tennessee (12-0) capped off a perfect regular season Saturday night with a 24-14 victory over Mississippi State in the Southeastern Conference title game. The Vols received all 70 first-place votes and 1,750 points from the sports writers and broadcasters on the AP panel.
It was the first time this season that one team collected every first-place vote.
Florida State (11-1) was the biggest winner after losses by Kansas State and UCLA, ranked 2-3 last week, even though the Seminoles didn't play. Florida State moved up two spots to No. 2 in the AP's final regular-season poll -- the same place they were ranked in the preseason poll.
The Seminoles will play the Vols in the Fiesta Bowl, where a win could propel Florida State to its second national title.
Ohio State (10-1) didn't play, either, but moved up to No. 3 after the balloting, while Kansas State (11-1) fell to No. 4, Arizona (11-1) moved up to No. 5 and UCLA (10-1) dropped to No. 6.
In the USA Today/ESPN coaches' poll, Tennessee moved up to No. 1, followed by Florida State, Ohio State, Kansas State and Arizona.
Kansas State was beaten 36-33 in double overtime by Texas A&M in the Big 12 Conference title game and UCLA was stunned by Miami 49-45 at the Orange Bowl.
Since 1965, when The AP began a poll after the bowl games, every No. 1 team winning a postseason game has won the national title.
Top-ranked teams are 15-15 in bowl games since '65. In 1974, Oklahoma did not play in a bowl game, and in 1966 and '67, The AP did not have a poll after the bowls.
Florida (9-2) remained No. 7, followed by No. 8 Texas A&M (11-2), No. 9 Wisconsin (10-1) and No. 10 Tulane, at 11-0 the only other major college unbeaten team.
Tennessee, ranked 10th in the preseason poll, took over the No. 1 spot from Ohio State on Nov. 8, a day after the Buckeyes lost to Michigan State 28-24.
Arkansas (9-2), was No. 11, followed by No. 12 Georgia Tech (9-2), No. 13 Virginia (9--2), No. 14 Nebraska (9-3), No. 15 Michigan (9-3), No. 16 Air Force (11-1), No. 17 Notre Dame (9-2), No. 18 Syracuse (8-3), No. 19 Georgia (8-3) and No. 20 Texas (8-3).
Air Force beat Brigham Young 20-13 on Saturday in the Western Athletic Conference title game.
Oregon (8-3) was No. 21, followed by No. 22 Penn State (8-3), No. 23 Missouri (7-4), No. 24 Miami (8-3) and No. 25 Mississippi State (8-4).
The AP will announce its national champion on Tuesday, Jan. 5, the day after the Fiesta Bowl. The Fiesta Bowl winner automatically becomes the national champion in the coaches' poll.