1998 Florida State Seminoles football team

The 1998 Florida State Seminoles football team represented the Florida State University as a member of the Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) during the 1998 NCAA Division I-A football season. Led by 23rd-year head coach Bobby Bowden, the Seminoles compiled an overall record of 11–2 with a mark of 7–1 in conference play, sharing he ACC title with Georgia Tech. Florida State was invited to the Fiesta Bowl, the BCS National Championship Game, where the Seminoles lost to Tennessee.^[1] The team played home games at Doak Campbell Stadium in Tallahassee, Florida.

1998 Florida State Seminoles football
ACC co-champion
Fiesta Bowl (BCS NCG), L 16–23 vs. Tennessee
Conference	Atlantic Coast Conference
Ranking
Coaches	No. 3
AP	No. 3
Record	11–2 (7–1 ACC)
Head coach	Bobby Bowden (23rd season)
Offensive coordinator	Mark Richt (5th season)
Offensive scheme	Pro-style
Defensive coordinator	Mickey Andrews (15th season)
Base defense	4–3
Home stadium	Doak Campbell Stadium
Seasons ← 1997 1999 →

1998 Atlantic Coast Conference football standings

v t e	Conf.							Overall
Team		W		L					W		L
No. 3 Florida State $+		7	–	1					11	–	2
No. 9 Georgia Tech +		7	–	1					10	–	2
No. 18 Virginia		6	–	2					9	–	3
North Carolina		5	–	3					7	–	5
NC State		5	–	3					7	–	5
Duke		2	–	6					4	–	7
Wake Forest		2	–	6					3	–	8
Clemson		1	–	7					3	–	8
Maryland		1	–	7					3	–	8
$ – BCS representative as conference champion + – Conference co-champions Rankings from AP Poll

Schedule

Date	Time	Opponent	Rank	Site	TV	Result	Attendance	Source
August 31	8:00 p.m.	vs. No. 14 Texas A&M*	No. 2	Giants Stadium East Rutherford, NJ (Kickoff Classic)	ABC	W 23–14	59,232	[2]
September 12	3:30 p.m.	at NC State	No. 2	Carter–Finley Stadium Raleigh, NC	ABC	L 7–24	50,800	[3]
September 19	7:00 p.m.	Duke	No. 11	Doak Campbell Stadium Tallahassee, FL	PPV	W 62–13	80,032	[4]
September 26	3:30 p.m.	No. 18 USC*	No. 10	Doak Campbell Stadium Tallahassee, FL	ABC	W 30–10	79,815	[5]
October 3	1:00 p.m.	at Maryland	No. 9	Byrd Stadium College Park, MD	PPV	W 24–10	33,134	[6]
October 10	3:30 p.m.	at Miami (FL)*	No. 8	Miami Orange Bowl Miami, FL (rivalry)	CBS	W 26–14	63,617	[7]
October 17	6:00 p.m.	Clemson	No. 6	Doak Campbell Stadium Tallahassee, FL (rivalry)	ESPN2	W 48–0	80,310	[8]
October 24	7:00 p.m.	at No. 20 Georgia Tech	No. 6	Bobby Dodd Stadium Atlanta, GA (College GameDay)	ESPN	W 34–7	46,362	[9]
October 31	7:45 p.m.	North Carolina	No. 5	Doak Campbell Stadium Tallahassee, FL	ESPN	W 39–13	80,050	[10]
November 7	3:30 p.m.	No. 12 Virginia	No. 6	Doak Campbell Stadium Tallahassee, FL (Jefferson–Eppes Trophy)	ABC	W 45–14	81,120	[11]
November 14	5:00 p.m.	at Wake Forest	No. 5	Groves Stadium Winston-Salem, NC	ESPN2	W 24–7	19,193	[12]
November 21	3:30 p.m.	No. 4 Florida*	No. 5	Doak Campbell Stadium Tallahassee, FL (rivalry)	ABC	W 23–12	81,614	[13]
January 4	8:00 p.m.	vs. No. 1 Tennessee*	No. 2	Sun Devil Stadium Tempe, AZ (Fiesta Bowl, College GameDay)	ABC	L 16–23	80,470	[14]
*Non-conference game Homecoming Rankings from AP Poll released prior to the game All times are in Eastern time

^[15]

Rankings

See also: 1998 NCAA Division I-A football rankings

Ranking movements
Legend: ██ Increase in ranking ██ Decrease in ranking
( ) = First-place votes

	Week
Poll	Pre	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	Final
AP	2 (22)	2 (22)	11	10	9	8	6	6	5	6	5 (1)	5	4	4	2	3
Coaches Poll	2 (10)	2 (12)	11	11	10	9	7	6	6	6	5	5	4	4	2 (1)	3
BCS	Not released								5	6	4	4	4	4	2	Not released