College football
Rivals nip at Seminoles' heels
FSU is voted preseason No.1 in ACC for 12th year, but three other teams receive first-place votes.
By BRIAN LANDMAN, Times Staff Writer
© St. Petersburg Times
published July 22, 2003
GREENSBORO, Ga. - Some things don't seem to change.
Florida State is the preseason pick of the Atlantic Coast Conference media to win the league title, a position it's held every year since joining the league in 1992.
But some things do change.
The perceived and predicted separation between the Seminoles and Nos.2, 3 and 4 - North Carolina State, Maryland and Virginia, respectively - is by far the narrowest. FSU received 35 of the 84 first-place votes to nip the Wolfpack (26). Maryland followed closely in third (18) and then Virginia (5), marking the first time since 1990 that four teams garnered first-place votes.
Only once in the past dozen years, 1997, did FSU fail to garner at least 85 percent of the first-place votes. That year, FSU outpolled North Carolina 45-20 (69 percent).
Wolfpack coach Chuck Amato, the former longtime Seminoles assistant, hardly was shocked though his team has beaten FSU in back-to-back seasons and is the lone ACC team to win a game in Tallahassee.
"It's just my opinion, but I still think the team (to beat) is Florida State," he said during Monday's ACC Football Kickoff media session, pointing out that the Seminoles have won at least a share of the championship every year except 2001, when Maryland finished first.
But FSU coach Bobby Bowden is not so sure. In the past, the Seminoles could point to one team at the most that posed a realistic threat of unseating them.
Now it appears to be three.
"You'd have to be blind to think this conference is not better than it was 10 years ago," he said. "It now is not only tougher, but it's beginning to assert itself. ... I thought the bowls emphasized it; the bowls made it stand out more than anything I've seen."
N.C. State manhandled Notre Dame 28-6 in the Gator Bowl, Maryland humbled Tennessee 30-3 in the Peach and Virginia beat West Virginia 48-22 in the Continental Tire. Those three ACC teams return 14, 16 and 19 of their starters, respectively.
"Everyone (once) looked at you kind of like you won the conference championship, so what?" Bowden said. "It ain't that way anymore."
He said his players need to realize this is no longer the Seminoles and the Eight Dwarfs. Their rivals believe that.
"I think we have a legitimate shot (at the league title)," N.C. State senior quarterback Philip Rivers said. "And I bet a lot of other teams besides Florida State are saying the same thing."
"Florida State has taken a few (ACC) losses, and I think a lot of guys have the confidence now that they can go out and beat Florida State," Virginia senior cornerback Almondo Curry said. "They're not this invincible team."
Nine losses in two years will do that to a team's aura.
A swagger can turn to a stagger fast.
"Back in the day, teams were fearful, they just wanted to come out alive against Florida State," FSU senior linebacker Michael Boulware said. "Now people respect us and know we're a great team, but they have that sense of hope they might have a chance if they give it all they have."
They willbecause they believe they have the talent.
"Right now, they're the big guys. They're the guys with the big house on the block and somebody has to knock them off to take it from them," Maryland senior tailback Bruce Perry said. "But there are other people living in good houses, too. ... You've got guys who are coming around. The ACC is becoming a strong conference that people can respect."
Team (first-place votes)/Pts
1. Florida State (35)/672
2. North Carolina State (26)/664
3. Maryland (18)/607
4. Virginia (5)/570
5. Clemson /379
6. North Carolina /269
7. Wake Forest /259
8. Georgia Tech /223
9. Duke /137
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