No. 1 Seminoles Feeling the Heat

Florida State’s grip on No. 1 is slipping.

After a 17-14 victory over Clemson on Saturday, the Seminoles remained No. 1 in the Associated Press’ top 25 college football poll, but No. 2 Penn State and No. 3 Virginia Tech are gaining.

Florida State (8-0) collected 55 first-place votes and 1,733 points in Sunday’s balloting by 70 sportswriters and broadcasters on the AP panel.

Penn State (8-0) had a tough time beating Purdue, 31-25, but the Nittany Lions had 10 first-place votes and 1,684 points.

Virginia Tech (6-0), idle on Saturday, moved up one notch to No. 3 after Nebraska (6-1) was beaten by Texas, 24-20. The Cornhuskers fell into a tie for No. 8 with Mississippi State (8-0).

Last week, Florida State led Penn State in first-place votes, 62-6, with the Hokies getting the other two votes. This week, it’s 55-10 in the Seminoles’ favor, with Virginia Tech receiving the other five first-place votes.

With five of last week’s top 13 teams losing, there was a shuffling in this week’s top 25.

Tennessee, which beat Alabama, 21-7, moved up a spot to No. 4, followed by No. 5 Florida, No. 6 Kansas State, No. 7 Georgia Tech, Nebraska and Mississippi State tied at No. 8, and No. 10 Georgia, up four places after a 49-34 victory over Kentucky.

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Field-goal efficiency and special teams play were the difference in an offensive shootout at Tucson, Ariz., Saturday night as Oregon beat the Wildcats, 44-41.

The victory left both teams 2-2 in the Pacific 10 Conference.

Josh Frankel kicked four field goals for the Ducks, including a 32-yarder for the game winner with 1:04 to play.

Oregon (4-3 overall) ended a seven-game road losing streak and entertains Rose Bowl hopes because its plays three of its remaining four games at home, where it has won 11 in a row. Oregon does not play front-runner Stanford.

Arizona (5-3) already has lost to Stanford, so the Wildcats have almost no chance of climbing back in the Pac-10 race.