Where is Penn State in the top-25 rankings after holding on against Indiana?

Penn State may not have played perfect football Saturday — but voters still rewarded the Nittany Lions on a topsy-turvy weekend for Big Ten football.

After holding onto a 33-28 victory over Indiana, James Franklin’s squad moved up one spot to No. 17 in the most recent Associated Press Top 25 Poll, which was released Sunday afternoon.

They leap-frogged Oregon, which dropped seven spots to No. 19, and N.C. State, which fell six spots to No. 22. Washington State was the lone team to jump PSU by moving up 11 spots to No. 14 after the 34-20 upset win over the Ducks.

But the Nittany Lions’ struggles were hardly the talk of the conference this weekend. Previously unbeaten Ohio State tumbled nine spots to No. 11 after the upset of the season in a 49-20 loss to Purdue.

The Boilermakers haven’t been ranked in the AP Poll since they were No. 23 on Sept. 30, 2007. They’re still not ranked but are receiving votes now and are the equivalent of the nation’s No. 33 team.

That upset has a huge impact on Penn State’s bowl projections. Michigan is now the favorite to win the conference, and multiple outlets — such as CBS Sports — now have the Buckeyes replacing the Nittany Lions in the Rose Bowl.

Granted, those way-too-early projections would’ve eventually changed, regardless. But the fact is Penn State’s in a tougher spot now than it was a week ago. It clearly doesn’t look like one of the best two teams in the conference.

Again, there’s still time. And, as we remind readers every week, the AP rankings don’t actually figure into the playoff rankings — although they do tend to offer a sneak peek at where the selection committee may rank the teams. The first edition of the playoff rankings will be released Oct. 30.

Based on the AP Poll, the Wolverines are now the team to beat in the conference. They were ranked No. 5 on Sunday, followed by four other Big Ten teams in No. 11 Ohio State, No. 17 Penn State, No. 18 Iowa and No. 20 Wisconsin. Purdue and Michigan State also received votes.

The full top-25 rankings are listed below:

1. Alabama

2. Clemson

3. Notre Dame

4. LSU

5. Michigan

6. Texas

7. Georgia

8. Oklahoma

9. Florida

10. UCF

11. Ohio State

12. Kentucky

13. West Virginia

14. Washington State

15. Washington

16. Texas A&M

17. Penn State

18. Iowa

19. Oregon

20. Wisconsin

21. South Florida

22. N.C. State

23. Utah

24. Stanford

25. Appalachian State

Others receiving votes: Texas Tech 54, Utah St. 50, San Diego St. 48, Fresno St. 35, Miami 34, Virginia 25, Houston 19, Purdue 17, Michigan St. 8, Cincinnati 7, Auburn 5, Mississippi St. 2, Boston College 2, UAB 1.

This story was originally published October 21, 2018 at 2:19 PM.