Where does Penn State football land on the first AP Top 25 poll?
For the third consecutive year, Penn State football will start the season ranked in the AP Top 25.
The Nittany Lions come in at No. 15 in the national poll, released Monday, five spots below where they started last season, and two spots above where they ended last season after the Citrus Bowl loss to Kentucky.
Defending national champ Clemson earned the top preseason spot for the first time in program history, breaking the streak of three straight years in which Alabama started the season at No. 1. Clemson earned 52 first-place votes, and No. 2 Alabama received the other 10 from the media.
Rounding out the top 10 are Georgia at No. 3, followed by Oklahoma, Ohio State, LSU, Michigan, Florida, Notre Dame and Texas. After Penn State, the other Big Ten schools that made the Top 25 are Michigan State at No. 18, Wisconsin at No. 19, Iowa at No. 20 and Nebraska at No. 24. The Big Ten leads all other conferences with seven ranked teams.
Of the ranked Big Ten teams, Penn State is set to take on Iowa, Michigan State and Ohio State on the road, and Michigan at home.
Penn State owns the record for most consecutive preseason rankings with a streak of 34 from 1968-2002. Ohio State’s active streak isn’t far behind, now at 31.
The season starts on Aug. 31 when the Nittany Lions take on Idaho at Beaver Stadium.
AP preseason Top 25
The Top 25 teams in The Associated Press preseason college football poll, with first-place votes in parentheses, 2018 records, total points based on 25 points for a first-place vote through one point for a 25th-place vote, and 2018 final ranking:
| Team | Record | Pts | Pvs |
1. Clemson (52) | 15-0 | 1,540 | 1 |
2. Alabama (10) | 14-1 | 1,496 | 2 |
3. Georgia | 11-3 | 1,403 | 7 |
4. Oklahoma | 12-2 | 1,331 | 4 |
5. Ohio St. | 13-1 | 1,261 | 3 |
6. LSU | 10-3 | 1,199 | 6 |
7. Michigan | 10-3 | 1,164 | 14 |
8. Florida | 10-3 | 1,054 | 7 |
9. Notre Dame | 12-1 | 1,044 | 5 |
10. Texas | 10-4 | 1,005 | 9 |
11. Oregon | 9-4 | 860 | - |
12. Texas A&M | 9-4 | 852 | 16 |
13. Washington | 10-4 | 786 | 13 |
14. Utah | 9-5 | 772 | - |
15. Penn St. | 9-4 | 651 | 17 |
16. Auburn | 8-5 | 578 | - |
17. UCF | 12-1 | 410 | 11 |
18. Michigan St. | 7-6 | 377 | - |
19. Wisconsin | 8-5 | 370 | - |
20. Iowa | 9-4 | 330 | 25 |
21. Iowa St. | 8-5 | 302 | - |
22. Syracuse | 10-3 | 209 | 15 |
23. Washington St. | 11-2 | 200 | 10 |
24. Nebraska | 4-8 | 154 | - |
25. Stanford | 9-4 | 141 | - |
Others receiving votes: Missouri 117, Army 94, Mississippi St. 87, Miami 70, Northwestern 63, TCU 57, Virginia 44, Boise St. 38, Cincinnati 16, South Carolina 15, Virginia Tech 12, Fresno St. 8, Utah St. 8, Minnesota 7, Memphis 6, Appalachian St. 5, UAB 3, West Virginia 3, Oklahoma St. 3, Arizona St. 3, Arizona 1, Southern Cal 1.
This story was originally published August 19, 2019 at 1:24 PM.