The Associated Press

The Seminoles (8-0) hung on to the No.

Monday, October 25, 1999

The Seminoles (8-0) hung on to the No. 1 spot in The Associated Press’ Top 25 college football poll, but their lead over No. 2 Penn State (8-0) slipped even though both teams pulled out narrow victories.

And new challenger Virginia Tech (6-0), up a notch to No. 3 this week, is generating support even though it had the weekend off.

Florida State, which beat Clemson 17-14 and gave Bobby Bowden career win No. 300 in the first father vs. son coaching matchup, had 55 first-place votes and 1,733 points in Sunday’s balloting by the 70 sports writers and broadcasters on the AP panel.

Penn State, who had a tough time before beating Purdue 31-25, had 10 first-place votes and 1,684 points.

The Hokies moved up after Nebraska (6-1) was beaten by Texas 24-20 and tumbled five places and into a tie at 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 Seminoles and Virginia Tech receiving the other five first-place votes. Also, Florida State’s point margin was reduced from 64 to 49 over Penn State.

With five of last week’s top 13 teams losing, there was significant shuffling in poll.

Tennessee, which beat Alabama 21-7, moved up 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 win over Kentucky.

Wisconsin, a 40-10 winner over Michigan State, jumped six spots to No. 11, followed by No. 12 Texas – also up six places – No. 13 Marshall, No. 14 Alabama, No. 15 Michigan, No. 16 BYU, No. 17 East Carolina, No. 18 Purdue, No. 19 Michigan State and No. 20 Southern Mississippi.

Ohio State, a 20-17 winner over Minnesota, was up a spot to No. 21, followed by No. 22 Texas A&M, No. 23 Miami, No. 24 Oklahoma and No. 25 Mississippi.

Alabama fell four spots to No. 14 after losing to the defending national champion Vols, Michigan tumbled six slots to No. 15 after a 35-29 loss to Illinois, and Michigan State fell eight places to No. 19 with its loss to Wisconsin.

The Sooners (4-2) beat Texas A&M 51-6 and returned to the Top 25 after a one-week stay in the fifth regular-season poll. The Aggies tumbled nine spots to No. 22 after their worst loss in 98 years.

Minnesota dropped out of the poll.

In the USA Today/ESPN coaches’ poll, the top five were: Florida State, Penn State, Virginia Tech, Tennessee and Florida.