FSU Football BCS title games ranked among best by Sports Illustrated

FSU football has appeared in one quarter of the 16 BCS title games during that system, with all of them listed among the best games in its history.

Four times in the last 20 seasons, the FSU football team has had the luxury of playing for the national title in college football – well, five times if you count making it to the inaugural edition of the College Football Playoff during the 2014 season – with those title game appearances all coming during the era of the Bowl Championship Series.

For all the hell that the BCS caught during its tenure that spanned from the 1998 season – with the Seminoles losing the inaugural game – to the final one after the 2013 season (which the Seminoles won), it got things right for the most part and usually placed the best and most deserving teams in the title game.

Including games in which FSU football played in, there were certainly memorable moments that ended with one team hoisting the crystal football in either the Phoenix area, New Orleans, Miami Gardens or Pasadena – ironically, with the Seminoles playing in a title game in each of the four cities during the BCS era.

Last week, Sports Illustrated ranked the top 10 title games during the BCS era and all four of the games involving the Noles made the list, with the most recent one being near the top.

"No. 3 – 2014 BCS Title Game in Pasadena, CA (FSU 34 Auburn 31)No. 5 – 2001 Orange Bowl (Oklahoma 13 FSU 2)No. 9 – 1999 Fiesta Bowl (Tennessee 23 FSU 16)No. 10 – 2000 Sugar Bowl (FSU 46 Virginia Tech 29)"

Now, I have a couple points of beef with the rankings despite being happy that FSU football had all four games among the best out of the 16 options.

First off, I think that the Sugar Bowl win over the Hokies is getting nowhere near the respect it deserves considering that it was a back and forth battle between the teams and featured two of the best individual performances (Peter Warrick and Michael Vick) in recent title game history.

Second, the 2001 Orange Bowl is ranked entirely too high (and I’m not just saying it since we lost) considering just how boring the game actually was – heck, I would even rank the Tennessee loss ahead of that one.

Now, the win over Auburn by FSU football found itself ranked behind the 2006 Rose Bowl between Texas and USC, which was ranked No. 1, and the 2003 Fiesta Bowl between Ohio State and Miami that came in at No. 2. While my bias toward the Noles would have it higher, I can’t hate on it being behind both that amazing Longhorns win and Hurricanes loss.

Next: Why 2000 Seminoles were best team not to win title

Now, the Seminoles can turn their attention toward getting their first national title of the College Football Playoff era.