Yesterday was great, but not the tops IMHO...
Most memorable open date to me was Sat, Dec 5, 1998.
We started that season ranked #2, beating Texas A & M in the Kick-Off Classic at the Meadowlands.
We lost the next Sat at NCState, but then rolled off 10 straight Ws...
In our final regular season game, #5 FSU moved to 11 - 1 by beating #4 UF 23 - 12 at Doak... we moved up to #4.
But it didn't look like we had any legit chance of playing for the national title since our regular season was over, we had no conference champ game to play in, and only #1 and #2 would go to the first BCS Nat'l Championship game at the Fiesta Bowl in Tempe.
We needed 2 of 3 ahead of us to lose in their final games... #1 Tennessee, #2 Kansas State, and/or #3 UCLA, all undefeated to that point and favored to win their final games.
#1 Tenn beat Miss State in the SEC champ game. as expected.
But...
#2 KState lost to Texas A & M in a double OT thriller in the Big 12 champ game.
#3 UCLA lost at Miami, in an improbable UM 4th qtr comeback (49-45)... UM had just gotten blown out 66 - 13 by Syracuse the previous week. (I can't remember why they played this game on Dec 5.)
That was an awesome Saturday to be a Nole!
Unfortunately, it was a beat-up FSU team that got propelled into the BCS title game, and Rooster Outzen and squad couldn't overcome Tee Martin's Vols.
FSU did go wire-to-wire the next season for our 2nd football National Title, so there's that.
Most memorable open date to me was Sat, Dec 5, 1998.
We started that season ranked #2, beating Texas A & M in the Kick-Off Classic at the Meadowlands.
We lost the next Sat at NCState, but then rolled off 10 straight Ws...
In our final regular season game, #5 FSU moved to 11 - 1 by beating #4 UF 23 - 12 at Doak... we moved up to #4.
But it didn't look like we had any legit chance of playing for the national title since our regular season was over, we had no conference champ game to play in, and only #1 and #2 would go to the first BCS Nat'l Championship game at the Fiesta Bowl in Tempe.
We needed 2 of 3 ahead of us to lose in their final games... #1 Tennessee, #2 Kansas State, and/or #3 UCLA, all undefeated to that point and favored to win their final games.
#1 Tenn beat Miss State in the SEC champ game. as expected.
But...
#2 KState lost to Texas A & M in a double OT thriller in the Big 12 champ game.
#3 UCLA lost at Miami, in an improbable UM 4th qtr comeback (49-45)... UM had just gotten blown out 66 - 13 by Syracuse the previous week. (I can't remember why they played this game on Dec 5.)
That was an awesome Saturday to be a Nole!
Unfortunately, it was a beat-up FSU team that got propelled into the BCS title game, and Rooster Outzen and squad couldn't overcome Tee Martin's Vols.
FSU did go wire-to-wire the next season for our 2nd football National Title, so there's that.
