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It's unanimous: Sooners are champions
Associated Press
MIAMI -- As if there was any doubt.
The Oklahoma Sooners won their first national championship in 15 years in unanimous fashion Wednesday night, receiving all 71 first-place votes in the final Associated Press poll and all 59 in the ESPN/USA Today coaches' poll.
Oklahoma (13-0) finished the season as the only undefeated team in the country with a dominating 13-2 victory over Florida State in the FedEx Orange Bowl.
"Our players recognize that the history of Oklahoma is winning
championships," Sooners coach Bob Stoops said. "We already had
six, now we have seven. We have a great history in the Orange
Bowl."
In the final tally of the AP poll, the No. 1 votes from the
sports writers and broadcasters gave the Sooners 1,775 points. They got 1,475 total votes in the ESPN/USA Today coaches' poll.
Miami (11-1), which had hopes of gaining a share of the AP title
if Florida State had beaten Oklahoma, finished No. 2 with 1,690
points. The Hurricanes beat Florida 37-20 in the Sugar Bowl, also finishing No. 2 in the coaches' poll with 1,404 points.
Washington (11-1), a 34-24 winner over Purdue in the Rose Bowl,
was No. 3 in both polls, but the rest of the top five varied.
In the coaches' poll, Florida State (11-2) was No. 4, followed by Oregon State (11-1) at No. 5. Those teams were flopped in the AP poll.
This was the Seminoles lowest finish in the AP poll since being
unranked in the final poll in 1986.
In Oklahoma's glory days of the 1970s and '80s, the Sooners won three national titles under Barry Switzer (1974, '75 and '85) to go with three under Bud Wilkinson (1950, '55 and '56).
But after Switzer left in 1989, Gary Gibbs, Howard Schnellenberger and John Blake combined for a 61-50-3 record and three minor bowls.
In the AP poll, Virginia Tech (11-1), a 41-20 winner over Clemson in the Gator Bowl, was No. 6, followed by No. 7 Oregon (10-2), No. 8 Nebraska (10-2), No. 9 Kansas State (11-3) and No. 10 Florida (10-3).
The rest of the top ten in the coaches' poll went like this: 6, Virginia Tech; 7, Nebraska; 8, Kansas State; 9, Oregon; 10, Michigan.
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Unbeaten Sooners end No. 1 debate at Orange Bowl
Final ESPN/USA Today coaches' poll
Final AP poll
Bob Stoops and the Sooners were not intimidated and have a national championship to prove it.: wav 855 k
Real 14.4 | 28.8 | 56.6
Mel Kiper Jr. analyses the challenges Oklahoma had to overcome to finish undefeated.: wav 793 k
Real 14.4 | 28.8 | 56.6
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