The 1989 Florida State football team just took a bit too long to get started. By season’s end they were one of the best teams in the nation—in fact, a lot of observers felt they were the best. But a slow start meant that no one was arguing their case for a national championship.
2000 was the year of Bush v. Gore, the Supreme Court case that settled the controversy over how to count presidential votes in the state of Florida, and ultimately decided the election itself. Miami and Florida State didn’t have quite the same stakes, but their own debate came right on the heels of the presidential battle.
Two electric college football players came to the Sugar Bowl to play for the national championship following the 1999 season. Peter Warrick, a wide receiver at Florida State, might have been in consideration for the Heisman Trophy if not for a two-game suspension earlier in the year. Michael Vick had burst onto the scene with Virginia Tech and the freshman quarterback took what was a good, competitive program and lifted it to new heights.
1991 was a year when people that had gotten close to a championship, but not yet sealed the deal, finally broke through. Duke basketball coach Mike Krzyzewski won his first ring, as did Chicago Bulls’ star Michael Jordan. Through much of the 1991 college football season, it seemed certain that Florida State football coach Bobby Bowden would join them.