With a victory over Northern Illinois in Tuesday night's Orange Bowl, a game in which Florida State is favored by two touchdowns, the Seminoles will have won an ACC championship, a BCS bowl for the first time in 13 years and equaled the most victories in school history.
Still, some followers of the program will feel unfulfilled, looking at a watered-down schedule and the caliber of the final two opponents — Georgia Tech, which was then 6-6, in the ACC championship game and a team from the Mid-American Conference in the bowl.
"That's the way the world is now; you never satisfy everyone," Seminoles coach Jimbo Fisher said. "If you don't win a national championship, they're unhappy. I'm very pleased with our season, but I'm not satisfied and you should never be satisfied unless you win it all."
Florida State (11-2), No. 12 in the BCS standings, is not apologizing for playing the schedule it was handed, and neither is No. 15 Northern Illinois (12-1) for busting the BCS with an invitation to the Orange Bowl after meeting a series of stipulations that guarantee a school from a non-BSC conference a spot in a BCS bowl. The two will meet at 8:30 Tuesday night at Sun Life Stadium.
As much as FSU has had its detractors for not going undefeated in a weak ACC and concluding the regular season with an ugly home loss to Florida and struggling against Georgia Tech in the conference title game, Northern Illinois has irked the traditionalists who ranted against its inclusion into the BCS party.
The Huskies’ signature win was in double overtime against No. 25 Kent State in the MAC title game. They lost to Iowa, a team some deem the worst in the Big Ten.
“We worked for this, we wanted this and we earned this,” coach Rod Carey said. “Here we are. We’re not shying away from it.”
Still, FSU quarterback EJ Manuel admitted he went to a map to find out just where Northern Illinois was located after learning he would be facing the school. "I thought they were in Chicago," he said. Actually, NIU is 65 miles west of the Windy City in DeKalb, Ill.
Manuel, though, isn’t about to underestimate his opponent.
“They earned the right to be here just like we did, so we’re not going to think this is a lesser opponent,” he said.
While the game represents the biggest in the 113-year history of Northern Illinois football, Florida State had to “settle” for the Orange Bowl after some expected the Seminoles to be playing next week, in the same stadium, but for the national championship.
Those title hopes disappeared with a one-point loss at North Carolina State in early October, and the vultures really came out after FSU gave up 24 points to Florida in the fourth quarter of a 37-26 loss.
A 21-15 victory over Georgia Tech, which backed into the ACC title game when North Carolina and Miami were ineligible, didn’t do much to help the cause.
“All those fans, if their kids were on the team, would they think that season was a failure?” Fisher asked. “Did he achieve everything he could achieve? No. But he did pretty good.
“If we keep winning 11, 12 games a year, we’re going to win a championship.”
Fisher is 30-10 in his three seasons as the Seminoles' head coach, including 2-0 in bowls. With a win Tuesday night, he could finish in the top 10 for the first time. FSU, though, is in a no-win situation considering a victory over an opponent like NIU will not earn a team many style points.
"A lot of people look at the opponent that we're playing and they don't think that it will, but a BCS bowl game is a BCS bowl game," senior defensive tackle Everett Dawkins said. "I think if we go out there and handle business and do what we're supposed to do, what we know we're capable of, everything will be fine for us."
