The 2000 Sugar Bowl was the designated Bowl Championship Series (BCS) National Championship Game for the 1999 NCAA Division I-A football season and was played on January 4, 2000, at the Louisiana Superdome in New Orleans, Louisiana, United States. The Florida State Seminoles, representing the Atlantic Coast Conference, defeated the Virginia Tech Hokies, representing the Big East Conference, by a score of 46–29. With the win, Florida State clinched the 1999 BCS national championship, the team's second national championship in its history.

An estimated total of 79,280 people attended the game in person, while approximately 18.4 million US viewers watched the game on ABC television. The resulting 17.5 television rating was the third-largest ever recorded for a BCS college football game. Tickets were in high demand for the game, with tens of thousands of fans from both teams attending, many using scalped tickets to gain entry.

The game kicked off at 8:00 p.m. EST, and Virginia Tech received the ball to begin the game. Though Tech advanced down the field, Florida State scored first and took advantage of a blocked punt for a touchdown, giving the Seminoles a 14–0 lead in the first quarter. Tech answered with a touchdown drive of its own before the end of the quarter, but Florida State scored two quick touchdowns to begin the second quarter. Virginia Tech scored a touchdown before halftime, but halfway through the game, Florida State held a 28–14 lead. In the third quarter, Virginia Tech's offense gave the Hokies a lead with a field goal and two touchdowns. Tech failed to convert two two-point conversions, but held a 29–28 lead at the end of the third quarter. Florida State answered in the fourth quarter, however, taking a 36–29 lead with a touchdown and successful two-point conversion early in the quarter. From this point, the Seminoles did not relinquish the lead, extending it to 46–29 with another touchdown and a field goal.

For his performance in the game, Florida State wide receiver Peter Warrick was named the game's most valuable player. Although Tech lost the game, several of its players won postseason awards—most notably Michael Vick, who earned an ESPY for his performance during the Sugar Bowl and the regular season. Several players from each team entered the National Football League after graduation, being selected either in the 2000 NFL draft or later editions of that selection process.

By contract, the top two teams in the BCS Poll at the conclusion of the regular season were invited to the BCS national championship game. In 2000, the BCS Poll was a combination of four different systems: media and coaches' polls (Associated Press college football poll and USA Today Coaches' Poll), team records, a collection of eight different computer ranking systems, and a strength-of-schedule component based on opponent records. Under the BCS, the site of the national championship game rotated every year. In 2000, there were four BCS bowl games: the Rose Bowl, the Sugar Bowl, the Orange Bowl, and the Fiesta Bowl. The national championship game rotated to a different location each year, and the other three games served as bowl games for lower-ranked teams. Later, in 2007, the BCS National Championship was created, adding a fifth BCS bowl. In 2000, the Sugar Bowl was scheduled to host the national championship game.

The Florida State Seminoles ended the 1998 college football season with a 23–16 loss to the Tennessee Volunteers in the 1999 Fiesta Bowl, which was the national championship game that year. The loss was only the second of the season for Florida State, which had entered the game ranked No. 2 and favored against the No. 1 ranked Volunteers. Florida State players and coaches entered the off-season hoping to improve upon their runner-up finish in the national championship game the year before, and were voted the No. 1 team in the country in the annual Associated Press preseason poll.

Florida State lived up to its No. 1 ranking in its first game of the 1999 college football season, routing unranked Louisiana Tech, 41–7. The following week, in their ACC opener, the Seminoles had a closer contest against Georgia Tech, but still earned a 41–35 victory. As the weeks went by, the wins continued to accumulate. FSU defeated North Carolina State, 42–11; North Carolina, 42–10; and Duke, 51–23. In the seventh week of the college football season, the Seminoles faced off against a traditional rival: the Miami Hurricanes. Heading into the game, the Seminoles were without star wide receiver and potential Heisman Trophy candidate Peter Warrick, who was suspended from the team after being arrested for participating in a scheme to underpay for clothes at a Tallahassee, Florida clothing store. Despite the loss of Warrick, Florida State eked out a 31–21 victory over the Hurricanes after being tied, 21–21, at halftime.

The week after the Miami game, the Seminoles had an even closer call against the Clemson Tigers—their closest, in fact, of the entire season. Despite the return of Peter Warrick, who was cleared of charges in a Florida courtroom, Florida State fell behind the Tigers in the first half. Trailing in Clemson, South Carolina, 14–3 at halftime, Florida State cut the gap to 14–6 with a field goal midway through the third quarter, then tied the game at the end of the third quarter with a touchdown and two-point conversion. The Seminoles clinched the victory after a field goal late in the fourth quarter gave them a 17–14 lead and cemented the victory when a Clemson attempt to even the score with a field goal fell short. The victory was FSU head coach Bobby Bowden's 300th win and came against his son, Tommy Bowden, coach of the Tigers.