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ACC Media Again Tabs Seminoles To Win League Football Championship

Jul 27, 2004

GREENSBORO, N.C. — Score a small victory for the Florida State football team over Miami.

The Seminoles, who are expected to have their Atlantic Coast Conference dominance challenged this season by the arrival of the Hurricanes, were picked Monday to win the league yet again.

Florida State earned 49 first-place votes from an 88-member media panel at the ACC Football Kickoff, edging the Hurricanes by just 12 points.

The Seminoles have been voted the preseason favorite every year since beginning ACC play in 1992. The Seminoles have gone on to win the league title in 11 of 12 seasons since, including two national championships.

But Florida State coach Bobby Bowden did not seem to take any additional significance for being picked over the Hurricanes.

"Nobody does the preseason better than me," joked Bowden, the winningest coach in Div. I.A. history with 342 victories. "I am the preseason champ. I haven't got a trophy to show for it yet."

Florida State and Miami -- which earned 36 first-place votes -- will not have to wait long for their first conference scrap. The teams meet in a Labor Day opener, a game that will give the winner an early start in the race for the league title and a berth in the Bowl Championship Series.

"We're going to find out early what we're all about," Miami coach Larry Coker said.

Miami has won five straight games against Florida State, including two last season.

Virginia and Clemson earned the remaining first-place votes, finishing third and fourth in the balloting, respectively. Maryland was fifth, followed by Virginia Tech, who left the Big East Conference with Miami to join the ACC.

North Carolina State was picked seventh, with Georgia Tech, Wake Forest, North Carolina and Duke rounding out the field.