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Thursday, September 15, 2011
Nickel Package: FSU tries to end ACC streak

Reid Compton/Icon SMI
The ACC has lost 32 straight non-conference games against AP Top-5 foes. FSU has 10 of those losses.

1. The Oklahoma Sooners-Florida State Seminoles game is not only the marquee matchup of the week, but also a huge game for the status of the ACC. In fact, the conference has lost 32 straight games against non-conference AP Top-5 foes. The ACC’s last such win came in 2000, when Florida State knocked off 4th-ranked Florida Gators. Florida State has accounted for 10 of those losses. No other ACC team has had more than six.

2. The Penn State Nittany Lions are no longer ranked in the AP Top 25, and are not playing a conference game on Saturday, but there's still something on the line when the Nittany Lions face the Temple Owls in Philadelphia. PSU has beaten the Owls 28 consecutive times, dating back to a tie in 1950 -- Joe Paterno's first season as a Penn State assistant coach. That's the longest active winning streak in a current FBS series, edging Tennessee's 26 straight wins over Kentucky.

Overall, Penn State's unbeaten streak against Temple stands at 36 games (last loss in 1941). A win on Saturday would move the Nittany Lions into sole possession of second place on the list of longest unbeaten streaks in a major series, trailing only Notre Dame's 43 straight over Navy (1964-2006). They are currently tied with the Nebraska Cornhuskers 36 in a row over the Kansas Jayhawks (1969-04).

3. This year's Michigan State-Notre Dame game has a different feel to it. The last time the Michigan State Spartans were ranked heading into a game against the Notre Dame Fighting Irish was 2000. Notre Dame was ranked 16th in that game and the Spartans were 23rd. However, the last matchup between these two teams that involved a ranked Michigan State team against an unranked Notre Dame team came in 1997, a 23-7 win by the 17th-ranked Spartans in South Bend.

4. This marked the 100th week in which Oklahoma was voted No. 1 in the AP Poll. The Sooners are the only program to reach triple digits in that category (Notre Dame is next with 95). Since the poll began in 1936, there have been 43 different schools ranked No. 1. Can you name the school with the most No. 1 appearances without ever winning an AP or Coaches Poll national championship? That would be Bob Stoops’ alma mater, the Iowa Hawkeyes (11).

5. The Miami Hurricanes are trying to avoid its first 0-2 start since 1978, the year before Howard Schnellenberger took over and began building a perennial powerhouse. Only three current FBS schools have gone longer without suffering an 0-2 start. Nebraska hasn’t begun a season with two straight losses since 1957, while Florida (1971) and the Clemson Tigers (1975) are the others.