How high did Penn State football rise in the top-25 rankings after the win over Wisconsin?

Saturday featured a crucial matchup for Penn State. A loss likely would’ve knocked the Nittany Lions out of the top-25 rankings for the first time in 748 days.

Instead, with the 22-10 win over Wisconsin, James Franklin’s squad received a generous bump.

Penn State moved up five spots to No. 16 in the most recent Associated Press Top 25 Poll, which was released Sunday afternoon. It leap-frogged five squads, four of of whom lost Saturday, including Mississippi State, Boston College, Fresno State and Kentucky. PSU also jumped past idle Washington.

Right now, Sports Illustrated projects the Nittany Lions in the Outback Bowl on Jan. 1 — with an intriguing matchup. SI has Penn State set to square off against Joe Moorhead’s Bulldogs.

Other current possibilities include the Citrus Bowl and Holiday Bowl.

But, 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. 21 — and the College Football Playoff committee had it at No. 20. The week before, both rankings were the same. 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. The Wolverines remained at No. 4, followed by three other Big Ten teams in No. 9 Ohio State, No. 16 Penn State and No. 24 Northwestern. Michigan State fell out of the rankings after the 26-6 loss to the Buckeyes.

Other Big Ten teams receiving votes in the poll included Michigan State and Iowa.

The full top-25 rankings are listed below:

1. Alabama (61 first-place votes)

2. Clemson

3. Notre Dame

4. Michigan

5. Georgia

6. Oklahoma

7. West Virginia

8. Washington State

9. Ohio State

10. LSU

11. UCF

12. Syracuse

13. Texas

14. Utah State

15. Florida

16. Penn State

17. Washington

18. Iowa State

19. Cincinnati

20. Kentucky

21. Utah

22. Boston College

23. Boise State

24. Northwestern

25. Mississippi State

Others receiving votes: Army 128, UAB 78, Fresno St. 61, Michigan St. 31, NC State 30, Buffalo 29, Pittsburgh 28, Duke 20, Texas A&M 16, Iowa 8, Arizona St. 6, Stanford 3, Auburn 3, Troy 1.

This story was originally published November 11, 2018 at 2:09 PM.