I think people remember that FSU-ND game as being more competitive than it really was. ND really controlled that game throughout.
The fact that FSU had a shot at the end zone to tie or win it had a “How the hell did we get here?” feel to it. ND had a two score lead most of the game. I’ve often wondered if the ND DB picks off that 4th and 20 pass with the score 31-17 if FSU falls further than just one spot in the polls and WVU gets to play Nebraska in the Orange.
But it bounces off his hands, FSU gets a gift TD, ND goes 3 and out, and we get an ending that makes the game feel closer than it was.
I'm not sure that it would have worked out that way. Backing up to the November 2, 1993 poll (the only big change from 10/26 was that previous #7 Arizona took their first loss (badly at UCLA) and dropped out of the top-10:
- 8-0 FSU
- 9-0 ND
- 8-0 tOSU
- 6-1 Miami (lost 28-10 at FSU on 10/9)
- 7-0-1 Bama (tied 17-17 with TN in Birmingham on 10/16)
- 8-0 Nebraska
- 6-1-1 Tennessee (lost 41-34 at UF on 9/18, tied Bama 17-17 in Birmingham on 10/16)
- 8-0 Auburn
- 6-1 Florida (lost 38-35 at Auburn on 10/16, I think Auburn was on suspension)
- 7-1 aTm (lost 44-14 at OU on 9/11(
- 7-0 WVU
That week:
- #3 tOSU tied #15 Wisconsin in Madison
- #5 Bama lost at home to a bad LSU team
- FSU, Miami, UNL, TN, Auburn, UF, and WVU all won while ND didn't play so the new poll on 11/9 was:
- 9-0 FSU
- 9-0 ND
- 7-1 Miami
- 9-0 Nebraska - I remember being REALLY ticked about this. @FearlessF will have a different view, but Nebraska barely survived a horrible Kansas team while Ohio State tied a solid Wisconsin squad so I thought it was ludicrous that the Cornhuskers passed the Buckeyes.
- 8-0-1 tOSU
- 7-1-1 Tennessee
- 9-0 Auburn
- 7-1 Florida
- 8-0 WVU
That week:
- #2 ND beat #1 FSU at home so they switched places
- UNL, Miami, tOSU, Auburn, UF, and WVU all won while TN didn't play so the new poll on 11/16 was:
- 10-0 ND
- 9-1 FSU
- 10-0 Nebraska
- 8-1 Miami
- 9-0-1 tOSU
- 10-0 Auburn
- 7-1-1 Tennessee
- 8-1 Florida
- 9-0 WVU
That week:
- #1 ND lost at home to #17 BC
- #4 Miami lost at #9 WVU
- #5 tOSU lost at nr Michigan
- FSU, Auburn, TN, UF, and aTm won while UNL didn't play so the new poll on 11/23 was:
- 10-1 FSU
- 10-0 Nebraska
- 11-0 Auburn
- 10-1 ND
- 10-0 WVU
- 8-1-1 Tennessee
- 9-1 Florida
- 9-1 aTm
That week:
- #1 FSU won 33-21 at #7 UF
- #2 UNL beat #16 OU 21-7 at home
- #5 WVU won 17-14 at #11 BC (the same BC which had just won in South Bend)
- #6 TN beat Vandy
- #8 aTm beat a bad Texas team 18-9 at home
- Auburn and ND didn't play. The new poll on 11/30 was:
- 11-1 FSU
- 11-0 Nebraska
- 11-0 WVU
- 11-0 Auburn
- 10-1 ND
- 9-1-1 Tennessee
- 10-1 aTm
That week:
- None of the top-7 played although #5 ND did leap-frog #4 Auburn. #9 UF beat #16 Bama in the SECCG. I think that ND jumped Auburn for two reasons: First, their loss to BC was a week older, and second Auburn's suspension really started to drag them down when they sat out the SECCG in favor of #16 Bama. If Auburn had been eligible it would have given them a chance to beat a top-10 opponent and move up.
And that was how we headed to the bowls.
For the younger among us who may not remember this, this was during the "BCA" era. The BCA was a precursor to the BCS, the main difference between the two being that the Big11Ten and PAC10 were not a part of the BCA. Thus, the BCA had an agreement to match the two highest ranked teams available. In 1993 the Big11Ten (co-champions #10 Wisconsin and #11 tOSU) and the PAC10 (Champion #14 UCLA) were not really relevant to the NC anyway so the BCA matched #1 FSU against #2 Nebraska in the Orange Bowl. In the bowls:
- 11-1 FSU beat #2 UNL 18-16 in the Orange Bowl
- 11-0 Nebraska lost 18-16 to #1 FSU in the Orange Bowl
- 11-0 WVU lost 41-7 to UF in the Sugar Bowl
- 10-1 ND beat #7 aTm 24-21 in the Cotton Bowl (this would be ND's last Bowl win until beating Hawaii in the Hawaii Bowl in 2008)
- 11-0 Auburn was on suspension and did not bowl.
- 9-1-1 Tennessee lost 31-13 to #13 PSU in the Citrus Bowl
- 10-1 aTm lost 24-21 to ND in the Cotton Bowl
Thus, the final poll was:
- 12-1 FSU (loss was at #2 ND)
- 11-1 ND (loss was at home to #13 BC)
- 11-1 Nebraska (loss was in the Orange Bowl to #1 FSU)
- 11-0 Auburn (suspended)
- 11-2 UF (losses were at #4 Auburn and vs #1 FSU)
- 10-1-1 Wisconsin (loss was at a bad MN team, tie was at home to #11 tOSU)
- 11-1 WVU (loss was to #5 UF in the Sugar Bowl)
- 10-2 PSU (losses were at home to #21 M and at #11 tOSU)
- 10-2 aTm (losses were at #17 OU and to #2 ND in the Cotton Bowl)
- 10-2 Zona (losses were at #18 UCLA and at #25 Cal)
- 10-1-1 tOSU (loss was at #21 M, tie was at #6 Wisconsin)
I've always felt that Ohio State got hosed a bit in those final rankings. The Buckeyes' loss was a lot better than Wisconsin's and the Badgers ended up #6. I think the Buckeyes should have at least been closer to Wisconsin if not ahead of them. Note that the Badgers didn't play PSU and beat M at home while Ohio State beat PSU and lost to M on the road. The Badgers did play a better bowl opponent (#14 UCLA instead of nr BYU).
To
@Kris60 's point:
If ND had beaten FSU a bit more convincingly, it might have been possible for FSU to fall further and for WVU to end up #2 behind #1 Nebraska but I doubt it. FSU losing bigger would have hurt FSU down the road, but it would also have helped ND down the road. In the penultimate poll the Mountaineers were 87 points behind #1 FSU and only 67 points ahead of #4 ND. If you simply flip votes between FSU and ND, WVU has to be behind one of the two and could end up behind both. That said, I think that the 1993 Cornhuskers would have defeated either the Irish or the Mountaineers so making that switch would make Nebraska's pinnacle even higher . . . maybe.
What if Nebraska had won the NC in 1993. Would they have given it to PSU in 1994 since Osborne already had an NC? Also, would Osobrne have retired after 1994 if he had won back-to-back NC's in 1993 and 1994? Probably not, he didn't retire after back-to-back NC's in 1994 and 1995 but would he have retired after 1995 if that had been his third straight NC? Maybe . . . Then what? Would Solich have lasted longer if he had built up some goodwill with good performances with the 1996 and 1997 Nebraska teams?
