Did Penn State football rise in the top-25 rankings after the win over Rutgers?

Penn State’s win Saturday may not have been a pretty one — but it was still a win. And it still helped move the Nittany Lions up in the polls.

After a 20-7 victory over Rutgers, Penn State moved up one spot to No. 15 in the most recent Associated Press Top 25 Poll, which was released Sunday afternoon. It leap-frogged one squad in Syracuse, a 36-3 loser against Notre Dame on Saturday.

As it currently stands, Sports Illustrated now projects Penn State in a better bowl but against the same opponent it predicted last week. And that’s Joe Moorhead’s Mississippi State in the Citrus Bowl on Jan. 1. (Last week, it felt the Outback Bowl was more likely.)

A spot in one of the New Year’s Six bowls also remains possible.

Once again, however, as we reiterate 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 with how the playoff committee ranks the teams.

Last week, for example, the AP Poll had Penn State ranked No. 16 — and the College Football Playoff committee had it at No. 14. The week before, both rankings were different by just one spot and, the week before, the rankings were identical.

Those CFP rankings, which directly impact the bowls, will be released again Tuesday evening.

Based on Sunday’s 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. 10 Ohio State, No. 15 Penn State and No. 20 Northwestern.

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

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. Washington State

T-8. LSU

T-8. UCF

10. Ohio State

11. Texas

12. West Virginia

13. Florida

14. Utah State

15. Penn State

16. Washington

17. Kentucky

18. Utah

19. Syracuse

20. Northwestern

21. Boise State

22. Mississippi State

23. Army

24. Pittsburgh

25. Iowa State

Others receiving votes: Fresno St. 100, NC State 45, Cincinnati 43, Missouri 34, Texas A&M 29, Auburn 11, Stanford 8, Iowa 8, UAB 5, Houston 3, Wisconsin 2, Buffalo 1, Troy 1

This story was originally published November 18, 2018 at 2:10 PM.