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Seminoles headed for Sugar Bowl

© Chuck Bednar

The bowl picture is starting to become a little clearer following Saturday's games.

Florida State has wrapped up an 11-0 regular season and a trip to the Sugar Bowl, the site of the Bowl Championship Series' national title game, following a 30-23 win over the Florida Gators. Peter Warrick caught nine passes for 90 yards and ran for a touchdown to lead the top-ranked Seminoles, and Chris Weinke completed 24-of-36 passes for 263 yards and a touchdown. Sebastian Janikowski added three field goals as Florida State won in the Swamp for the first time since 1993.

Just who the Seminoles will wind up playing is still in the air. But the Hokies of Virginia Tech took another step toward ensuring their ticket to the Sugar Bowl with a huge 62-7 victory over Temple. Michael Vick led the second-ranked Hokies with a season-high 134 yards rushing and a total of four touchdowns (two rushing and two passing), and Andre Kendrick added two rushing scores as Tech improved to 10-0 and clinched at least a share of the Big East title. Next up for the Hokies is No. 25 Boston College, who beat Notre Dame 31-29 over the weekend.

As for the Gators, they must now turn their attention to the SEC Championship and a rematch against No. 8 Alabama. The Tide clinched the SEC West title Saturday with a 28-17 win over rival Auburn. Shaun Alexander led the way with 182 yards rushing and three fourth-quarter touchdowns as Alabama improved to 9-2 on the season. It's the first trip to the SEC title game in three seasons for the Crimson Tide, who beat the Gators 40-39 in overtime earlier in the season. The winner of the Dec. 4 should receive a bid to either the Orange or Fiesta bowls.

One postseason match-up that is set is the Rose Bowl, which will pit the Wisconsin Badgers against the Stanford Cardinals. That after Stanford got a pair of rushing touchdowns from Casey Moore, including a 94-yarder, in a 31-13 win over California. Despite having the second-worst defense in the country this season, the Cardinals, who are coming off a 3-8 season in 1998, are the sixth different Pac-10 team to make the trip to Pasadena in six seasons.

As much action as this weekend gave college fans following the national scene, it's easy to overlook the fact that it was technically rivalry weekend (and yet many of the NCAA's top battles are yet to come...go figure?). And while the matchups may not have impacted the BCS standings, there were some great rivalry games this weekend. Michigan kept their hopes for a BCS bowl bid alive with a 24-17 win over Ohio State. Purdue rallied past Indiana to capture a 30-24 win and the Old Oaken Bucket. Washington downed Washington State 24-14 to earn a Holiday Bowl invitation, and USC beat UCLA 17-7 behind two John Fox touchdowns.

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