1999-2000 NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP
#1 Florida State (13-0) vs #2 Virginia Tech (13-0)
Florida State 28 Virginia Tech 24 (FSU wins 50.5%, avg. score = VT 25.0 FSU 24.1)
Chris Weinke hit Peter Warrick on a 6 yard touchdown pass with 28 seconds left in the game to rally Florida State to a 28-24 victory over the Virginia Tech Hokies in the national championship game, capping off a perfect 14-0 season. Florida State has now won both of the national championship games under the new 12-team playoff format, having defeated Florida last season. FSU running back Travis Minor was named the game’s MVP after rushing for 209 yards on 17 carries, including a 60 yard burst on the Seminoles’ winning drive that set up the go ahead touchdown. Quarterback Chris Weinke had 269 passing yards and two touchdowns. Virginia Tech, the Big East champions, finished the season with a 13-1 record. Running back Shyrone Stith had a fine performance in a losing effort, rushing for 165 yards and a touchdown on 28 carries. The game was not decided until late in the fourth quarter, and here’s how the final four minutes played out:
Comparison of the Actual 2000 BCS Championship to the Simulated 12-team playoff
The actual 2000 BCS Championship game was played between the #1 Florida State Seminoles and the #2 Virginia Tech Hokies, with Florida State winning 46-29. Virginia Tech was leading the game 29-28 at the end of the third quarter, but Florida State dominated the fourth quarter and pulled away for the win.
There was no controversy with the selection of Florida State and Virginia Tech because they were the only two undefeated teams from the six major conferences. MAC champion Marshall was also undefeated and finished #12 in the final BCS rankings.
As for our 12-team playoff simulation, Florida State and Virginia Tech also made it to the championship game, with the Seminoles winning a razor thin 50.5% of the simulations.
As for Marshall, they acquitted themselves well in our playoff, winning an impressive 58.4% of the simulations against Tennessee in the first round. That seems a bit generous to me, but Marshall had an excellent team, even though the majority of their statistics were generated against MAC competition. They did go on the road in the season opener and beat Clemson 10-7. The Tigers were not the juggernaut they are now, but they had a pretty good team and went to a bowl game that year. So, I don’t think it’s a long shot that Marshall could have beaten Tennessee in a first round playoff game.