Did Penn State football move up in the AP top-25 rankings after the win against Rutgers?
With bowl season right around the corner, Penn State is losing some ground in the AP Poll.
The Nittany Lions (10-2) remained steady at No. 12 in the latest Associated Press Top 25 rankings, which were released Sunday afternoon. But Penn State had just 890 voting points this week; it had 903 last week.
The 27-6 win over Rutgers wasn’t exactly the most convincing, but James Franklin’s squad didn’t drop thanks to several teams previously ranked ahead of PSU losing.
Penn State leap-frogged two Big Ten losers in Michigan and Minnesota. (The Gophers fell six spots to No. 15, while Michigan dropped seven places to No. 17.) But Wisconsin jumped the Nittany Lions, moving up three spots to No. 10, after the 38-17 win over Minnesota. And Auburn also rose five spots to No. 11 after beating Alabama 48-45.
This is the 55th straight week that Penn State has been ranked in the AP Top 25, making it the country’s fifth-longest streak behind Alabama (194), Ohio State (129), Clemson (83) and Oklahoma (58).
As it stands, both CBS Sports and 247 Sports are split on the Nittany Lions’ bowl destination — and both might end up being wrong. CBS Sports’ Jerry Palm expects an Orange Bowl against Virginia, while 247 Sports’ Brad Crawford is projecting an Outback Bowl against Texas A&M.
But the Rose Bowl is also far from a long-shot. If Ohio State wins the Big Ten championship over Wisconsin, it should make the College Football Playoff. Typically, the Rose Bowl then selects the next highest-ranked Big Ten team. And Penn State certainly has a great chance to be that team, depending on how big the Buckeyes win.
But, as we’ve reiterated all season, the New Year’s Six bowls won’t be written in stone until Dec. 8. And the AP Poll actually does not factor into the College Football Playoff rankings, the ones that really matter. But the poll does act as a sneak peek into how the committee might rank PSU in its fifth set of rankings this Tuesday.
And, according to the AP rankings, Penn State is the third-best Big Ten team. So, if Wisconsin falls to Ohio State, it sure looks good for the Nittany Lions to move up. In the current AP poll, No. 2 Ohio State remains the Big Ten team to beat — followed by No. 10 Wisconsin, No. 12 Penn State, No. 15 Minnesota, No. 17 Michigan and No. 18 Iowa.
The full top-25 rankings are below:
1. LSU 1,528
2. Ohio State 1,498
3. Clemson 1,437
4. Georgia 1,356
5. Utah 1,275
6. Oklahoma 1,257
7. Florida 1,135
8. Baylor 1,074
9. Alabama 995
10. Wisconsin 971
11. Auburn 957
12. Penn State 890
13. Oregon 799
14. Notre Dame 734
15. Minnesota 683
16. Memphis 615
17. Michigan 603
18. Iowa 537
19. Boise State 463
20. Appalachian State 288
21. Cincinnati 237
22. Virginia 231
23. Navy 216
24. USC 157
25. Air Force 65
Others receiving votes: SMU 50, Oklahoma State 36, Kansas State 36, UCF 6, Virginia Tech 6, Iowa State 5, Arizona State 4, California 3, Washington 2
This story was originally published December 1, 2019 at 2:11 PM.
