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1996 Florida State

11–⁠1 (8–⁠0 Atlantic Coast Conference), coached by Bobby Bowden, finished No. 3 in the AP poll.

Schedule and results

Florida State in 1996, game by game: won vs. Duke 44–7; won at NC State 51–17; won vs. No. 11 North Carolina 13–0; won vs. Clemson 34–3; won at No. 6 Miami 34–16; won vs. No. 14 Virginia 31–24; won at Georgia Tech 49–3; won vs. Wake Forest 44–7; won vs. No. 25 Southern Miss 54–14; won vs. Maryland 48–10; won vs. No. 1 Florida 24–21; lost vs. No. 3 Florida 20–52+46−32Won 44–7 vs. Duke+37DukeWon 51–17 at NC State+34NC StateWon 13–0 vs. No. 11 North Carolina+13No. 11 North CarolinaWon 34–3 vs. Clemson+31ClemsonWon 34–16 at No. 6 Miami+18No. 6 MiamiWon 31–24 vs. No. 14 Virginia+7No. 14 VirginiaWon 49–3 at Georgia Tech+46Georgia TechWon 44–7 vs. Wake Forest+37Wake ForestWon 54–14 vs. No. 25 Southern Miss+40No. 25 Southern MissWon 48–10 vs. Maryland+38MarylandWon 24–21 vs. No. 1 Florida+3No. 1 FloridaLost 20–52 vs. No. 3 Florida-32No. 3 Florida
Each game’s margin, wins above the line and losses below; orange marks an upset win.
DateOpponentResultElo
Sep 7vsDukeW 44–⁠786%
Sep 19atNC StateW 51–⁠1777%
Sep 28vs11North CarolinaW 13–⁠069%
Oct 5vsClemsonW 34–⁠383%
Oct 12at6MiamiW 34–⁠1652%
Oct 26vs14VirginiaW 31–⁠2471%
Nov 2atGeorgia TechW 49–⁠374%
Nov 9vsWake ForestW 44–⁠795%
Nov 16vs25Southern MissW 54–⁠1479%
Nov 23vsMarylandW 48–⁠1089%
Nov 30vs1FloridaW 24–⁠2159%
Jan 2Bowls & playoffvs3FloridaSugar BowlL 20–⁠5251%

Elo: a pregame chance from scores alone.

How it ended: Lost to Florida 52–⁠20 in the Sugar Bowl; No. 3 in the final AP poll; Atlantic Coast Conference champions.

In program history: The 13th-best season in program history by end-of-season Elo (of 78 on file).

AP poll, week by week

  1. Wk 1: 3
  2. Wk 2: 3
  3. Wk 3: 3
  4. Wk 4: 3
  5. Wk 5: 3
  6. Wk 6: 2
  7. Wk 7: 2
  8. Wk 8: 3
  9. Wk 9: 3
  10. Wk 10: 3
  11. Wk 11: 3
  12. Wk 12: 3
  13. Wk 13: 3
  14. Wk 14: 3
  15. Wk 15: 2
  16. Wk 16: 1
  17. Wk 17: 1
  18. Final: 3

Players on this team

Before 2004 our records hold honors and the draft; these are the players whose college years here, from their Wikipedia articles or their honors, include 1996.

Atlantic Coast Conference champions8–⁠0 in the conference

Heisman voteWarrick Dunn, fifth

2 consensus All-AmericansReinard Wilson, DL; Peter Boulware, DL

Broyles AwardMickey Andrews, coach

Record
11–⁠1
Conference
8–⁠0 first in Atlantic Coast Conference
AP final
No. 3 peak No. 1
Points
446–⁠174
Coach
Bobby Bowden
Elo
1799 +106 this season
SP+ rating
30.2 No. 4 of 111; offense No. 4, defense No. 7
SRS
26.3 No. 4 of 111 in Division I-A
Recruiting class
—
Offensive coordinator
Mark Richt
Defensive coordinator
Mickey Andrews
Captains
Todd Fordham, Scott Bentley and Reinard Wilson
Offense
Pro-style
Defense
4–⁠3

Drafted in 1997

The 1997 draft
Rd 1Peter Boulware DEBaltimore Ravens
Rd 1Walter Jones OTSeattle Seahawks
Rd 1Warrick Dunn RBTampa Bay Buccaneers
Rd 1Reinard Wilson LBCincinnati Bengals
Rd 4Henri Crockett LBAtlanta Falcons
Rd 5Vernon Crawford LBNew England Patriots
Rd 7Byron Capers DBPhiladelphia Eagles

All-ACC

6 first team, 6 second team

First team

Second team

From Wikipedia’s 1996 all-conference team article, with the selectors that named each player (AP-1: the Associated Press’s first team).

1996 Atlantic Coast Conference standings

Conference page
TeamConf.OverallAP final
Florida State8–⁠011–⁠13
North Carolina6–⁠210–⁠210
Clemson6–⁠27–⁠5
Virginia5–⁠37–⁠5
Georgia Tech4–⁠45–⁠6
Maryland3–⁠55–⁠6
NC State3–⁠53–⁠8
Wake Forest1–⁠73–⁠8
Duke0–⁠80–⁠11

Ordered by conference winning percentage, then conference wins. Division splits and tiebreakers aren’t applied.