Orange-Colored Glasses

Sporting News, The, Nov 27, 2000 by Steve Greenberg

Florida State fans see it all so clearly: Their Seminoles will play for the national championship, and Chris Weinke will win the Heisman. Florida is the latest victim left believing those fans might be right.

So many indulgences, so little time. It wasn't enough that Florida State had all but locked up a spot in the national championship game. It wasn't enough that the Seminoles had bent and stretched the will of their most hated rivals like saltwater taffy. It wasn't enough that it all had unfolded in prime time on ABC.

The home fans wanted more. They wanted everything. They always do.

So when Chris Weinke handed off to Travis Minor not once, not twice, but three times in succession from inside the Florida 20-yard line last Saturday night, Florida State fans groaned. Loudly. As Weinke trotted toward the sideline and FSU's kicker sprinted toward the huddle, thousands of people in the record crowd at Doak Campbell Stadium had it written all over their faces: Did Chris just lose the Heisman?

Maybe Weinke will win the Heisman Trophy and maybe he won't, but he lost no votes for doing his best Marcus Outzen impersonation with the Seminoles holding a 27-7 fourth-quarter lead over the Gators. Statistically, Weinke deserves the Heisman, though a case could be made for Texas Christian running back LaDainian Tomlinson. Realistically, Weinke is neck-and-neck with Oklahoma quarterback Josh Heupel. The leader of the undefeated and top-ranked Sooners, Heupel still has Heisman hopes only because of voter backlash against Weinke, a victim of age discrimination at 28. At least that's what Seminoles fans are saying. They're partly wrong. There's a backlash, all right, but it's got little to do with Weinke and everything to do with FSU.

The 30-7 victory over the Gators was FSU's 35th consecutive win in Tallahassee and its 52nd straight there without a loss. (There was a tie with the Gators in '94.) The 'Noles haven't lost more than twice in a season in 15 years, nor have they finished a season lower than fourth in the national polls. And now--even though they were beaten by Miami the first week of October--they've passed the one-loss Hurricanes in the Bowl Championship Series standings. If Oklahoma takes care of its business down the stretch, OU and FSU will play for it all, Heisman be damned. The Hurricanes will be on the outside of the Orange Bowl looking in not only on their hometown gala but on what they think is their rightful destiny.

"I'll just leave it up to the computer," says FSU coach Bobby Bowden, in reference to the complicated BCS system. "That thing better not betray me this year. I'd rather have the computer decide who plays for the championship than a person who may have some biases."

Of course, computers are incapable of betrayal. But folks in these parts are as biased as they come. How dare anyone mention Heupel in the same breath as Weinke? How foolish for anyone to believe the Hurricanes are better than we are? "We didn't play our best game against Miami," FSU star receiver Snoop Minnis explains. "They're not a better team than we are. I think we deserve to go to the Orange Bowl."

The Seminoles and their fans think some voters are biased against them, and that is absolutely true. There's bias against the New York Yankees. There's bias against Shaquille O'Neal. Believe this: If Heupel's and Weinke's passing numbers were reversed, not a single voter would cast a ballot for the old man. And if the traditional polls still settled the national championship, you can bet Miami would get to that game ahead of FSU.

Thus Bowden's ever-growing appreciation for the BCS system. What's ironic is that if a championship playoff were about to be contested, FSU would be the overwhelming favorite. When voters made Karl Malone, not Michael Jordan, the NBA's Most Valuable Player in 1996-97, they all knew Jordan truly was far above anyone else. It's no different with the Seminoles. Even this season, when they've had to fight hard just to secure the opportunity to knock off No. 1, they're clearly the scariest team in the land. Even now--when Miami has a thoroughly convincing argument for being ranked above FSU--the Seminoles clearly are too great to dismiss.

"We needed to play our best game to beat Florida State," Gators coach Steve Spurrier says. Would Spurrier, a coach with rare gifts who never has won in Tallahassee, ever make such a concession to another program?

FSU earns everything it gets. If any other program were benefiting at Miami's expense as FSU is, college football would be in a state of crisis. But the 'Noles ... well, love 'em or hate 'em, they've simply won too much and for too long to be cited as an example of what's wrong with the BCS system.

"I understand their argument," FSU cornerback Tay Cody says of Miami, "because they beat us. But we deserve to play for the national championship." It's an argument that would border on the ridiculous coming from a player on any other team. FSU exists on its own plane.

The 'Noles want to pay Miami back. Even Weinke, who's anything but a pop-off, acknowledges this. "It would be great to have another shot at Miami," he says. "I think our best football is being played right now. This is the best football team in the country right now."