How far did Penn State football drop in the top-25 rankings after the loss to Michigan?

Penn State’s College Football Playoff hopes are gone. Its aspirations for a Rose Bowl have ended. And the only hope left now is finishing in the top 25 and earning its way to a second-tier bowl.

After Saturday’s 42-7 loss to Michigan, remaining in the top 25 after one more loss is no guarantee. James Franklin’s crew dropped seven spots to No. 21 in the most recent Associated Press Top 25 Poll, which was released Sunday afternoon.

The Nittany Lions have been ranked for the last 742 days. A loss to Wisconsin next Saturday could put that streak to an end.

Right now, Sports Illustrated projects Penn State in the Citrus Bowl — which isn’t a terrible consolation, considering how it’s failed to beat any of the Big Ten’s Big Three this season in Michigan, Michigan State and Ohio State. Actually, the Citrus Bowl might be the best-case scenario at this point as it’s the best conference-affiliated bowl that’s not in the New Year’s Six. And the NY6 is now essentially out of reach for the blue-and-white — barring the Nittany Lions winning out and getting a lot of help.

Other possible destinations include the Outback Bowl and Holiday Bowl.

At any rate, as we tend to remind readers every week, the AP Poll in and of itself doesn’t mean a whole lot. It doesn’t count toward the playoff rankings, but it does act as a sneak preview for how the playoff committee ranks the teams.

Last week, for example, the AP Poll had Penn State ranked No. 14 — as did the College Football Playoff committee. Those CFP rankings, which directly impact the bowls, will be released again Tuesday evening.

Based on the AP Poll, Michigan remains the team to beat in the conference. They moved up one spot to No. 4, leap-frogging LSU, followed by three other Big Ten teams in No. 8 Ohio State, No. 21 Penn State and No. 24 Michigan State. Iowa fell out of the rankings after losing to Purdue.

Other Big Ten teams receiving votes in the poll included Iowa, Northwestern, Purdue and Wisconsin.

The full top-25 rankings are listed below:

1. Alabama (60 first-place votes)

2. Clemson

3. Notre Dame

4. Michigan

5. Georgia

6. Oklahoma

7. West Virginia

8. Ohio State

9. LSU

10. Washington State

11. UCF

12. Kentucky

13. Syracuse

14. Utah State

15. Texas

16. Fresno State

17. Boston College

18. Mississippi State

19. Florida

20. Washington

21. Penn State

22. N.C. State

23. Iowa State

24. Michigan State

25. Cincinnati

Others receiving votes: Utah 110, Auburn 93, Wisconsin 37, Army 32, UAB 31, Northwestern 28, Iowa 17, Boise St. 15, Purdue 14, Buffalo 11, Oregon 9, San Diego St. 5, Duke 4, Texas A&M 3, Houston 3, Texas Tech 2.

This story was originally published November 4, 2018 at 2:11 PM.