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1998 Florida State

11–⁠2 (7–⁠1 Atlantic Coast Conference), coached by Bobby Bowden, finished No. 3 in the AP poll.

Schedule and results

Florida State in 1998, game by game: won vs. Texas A&M 23–14; lost at NC State 7–24; won vs. Duke 62–13; won vs. No. 18 USC 30–10; won at Maryland 24–10; won at Miami 26–14; won vs. Clemson 48–0; won at No. 20 Georgia Tech 34–7; won vs. North Carolina 39–13; won vs. No. 12 Virginia 45–14; won at Wake Forest 24–7; won vs. No. 4 Florida 23–12; lost vs. No. 1 Tennessee 16–23+49−17Won 23–14 vs. Texas A&M+9Texas A&MLost 7–24 at NC State-17NC StateWon 62–13 vs. Duke+49DukeWon 30–10 vs. No. 18 USC+20No. 18 USCWon 24–10 at Maryland+14MarylandWon 26–14 at Miami+12MiamiWon 48–0 vs. Clemson+48ClemsonWon 34–7 at No. 20 Georgia Tech+27No. 20 Georgia TechWon 39–13 vs. North Carolina+26North CarolinaWon 45–14 vs. No. 12 Virginia+31No. 12 VirginiaWon 24–7 at Wake Forest+17Wake ForestWon 23–12 vs. No. 4 Florida+11No. 4 FloridaLost 16–23 vs. No. 1 Tennessee-7No. 1 Tennessee
Each game’s margin, wins above the line and losses below; orange marks an upset win.
DateOpponentResultElo
Aug 31vsTexas A&MW 23–⁠1470%
Sep 12atNC StateL 7–⁠2472%
Sep 19vsDukeW 62–⁠1385%
Sep 26vs18USCW 30–⁠1071%
Oct 3atMarylandW 24–⁠1083%
Oct 10atMiamiW 26–⁠1464%
Oct 17vsClemsonW 48–⁠086%
Oct 24at20Georgia TechW 34–⁠761%
Oct 31vsNorth CarolinaW 39–⁠1378%
Nov 7vs12VirginiaW 45–⁠1474%
Nov 14atWake ForestW 24–⁠787%
Nov 21vs4FloridaW 23–⁠1262%
Jan 4Bowls & playoffvs1TennesseeFiesta BowlL 16–⁠2354%

Elo: a pregame chance from scores alone.

How it ended: Lost to Tennessee 23–⁠16 in the Fiesta Bowl; No. 3 in the final AP poll; Atlantic Coast Conference champions.

In program history: The 11th-best season in program history by end-of-season Elo (of 78 on file).

AP poll, week by week

  1. Wk 1: 2
  2. Wk 2: 2
  3. Wk 3: 11
  4. Wk 4: 10
  5. Wk 5: 9
  6. Wk 6: 8
  7. Wk 7: 6
  8. Wk 8: 6
  9. Wk 9: 5
  10. Wk 10: 6
  11. Wk 11: 5
  12. Wk 12: 5
  13. Wk 13: 4
  14. Wk 14: 4
  15. Wk 15: 2
  16. 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 1998.

Atlantic Coast Conference champions7–⁠1 in the conference, shared with Georgia Tech

Lou Groza AwardSebastian Janikowski, K

2 consensus All-AmericansPeter Warrick, WR; Sebastian Janikowski, K

Record
11–⁠2
Conference
7–⁠1 shared first in Atlantic Coast Conference
AP final
No. 3 peak No. 2
Points
401–⁠161
Coach
Bobby Bowden
Elo
1812 +87 this season
SP+ rating
29.0 No. 2 of 112; offense No. 16, defense No. 1
SRS
24.7 No. 3 of 112 in Division I-A
Recruiting class
—
Offensive coordinator
Mark Richt
Defensive coordinator
Mickey Andrews
Captains
Lamarr Glenn, Lamont Green, Billy Rhodes and Demetro Stephens
Offense
Pro-style
Defense
4–⁠3

Drafted in 1999

The 1999 draft
Rd 2Tony Bryant DEOakland Raiders
Rd 2Larry Smith DTJacksonville Jaguars
Rd 4Dexter Jackson DBTampa Bay Buccaneers
Rd 6Lamarr Glenn RBTampa Bay Buccaneers

All-ACC

7 first team, 6 second team

First team

Second team

From Wikipedia’s 1998 all-conference team article, with the selectors that named each player (AP-1: the Associated Press’s first team).

1998 Atlantic Coast Conference standings

Conference page
TeamConf.OverallAP final
Florida State7–⁠111–⁠23
Georgia Tech7–⁠110–⁠29
Virginia6–⁠29–⁠318
NC State5–⁠37–⁠5
North Carolina5–⁠37–⁠5
Duke2–⁠64–⁠7
Wake Forest2–⁠63–⁠8
Maryland1–⁠73–⁠8
Clemson1–⁠73–⁠8

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