As season approaches, Penn State Nittany Lions move up a spot to No. 9 in Week 5 AP Poll
Even without having played a game, Penn State rose one spot to No. 9 in the AP Top 25 Poll this week.
The Nittany Lions checked in at No. 10 last week, ranking in the top 25 for the first time since the preseason AP Poll was released on Aug. 24. Penn State climbed in the poll after two top-10 teams lost this weekend. On Saturday, No. 13 Auburn (previously No. 7) fell to No. 3 Georgia, and No. 22 Texas (previously No. 9) was upset by unranked TCU.
The Nittany Lions — who open their season Oct. 24 at Indiana — received 935 voting points in this week’s rankings. They received 840 voting points last week.
As it stands, CBS Sports projects Penn State to take on No. 4 Florida in the Peach Bowl on Jan. 1 in Atlanta.
Penn State is joined by four other Big Ten teams in the AP Poll. Ohio State continues to lead the conference at No. 6, followed by Penn State, No. 16 Wisconsin, No. 20 Michigan and No. 25 Minnesota. The Buckeyes didn’t move from their No. 6 ranking last week, while the Badgers and Wolverines both jumped three spots. After receiving votes last week, the Golden Gophers now sit at No. 25.
Iowa — which was ranked in the preseason top 25 — and Indiana both received votes.
The next AP Poll will be released Oct. 11 at 2 p.m.
The full top-25 rankings are below:
1. Clemson (3-0), 1,536
2. Alabama (2-0), 1,488
3. Georgia (2-0), 1,380
4. Florida (2-0), 1,340
5. Notre Dame (2-0), 1,239
6. Ohio State (0-0), 1,165
7. Miami (3-0), 1,148
8. North Carolina (2-0), 944
9. Penn State (0-0), 935
10. Oklahoma State (3-0), 919
11. Cincinnati (3-0), 895
12. Oregon (0-0), 786
13. Auburn (1-1), 731
14. Tennessee (2-0), 717
15. Brigham Young (3-0), 661
16. Wisconsin (0-0), 619
17. LSU (1-1), 478
18. SMU (4-0), 393
19. Virginia Tech (2-0), 391
20. Michigan (0-0), 350
21. Texas A&M (1-1), 330
22. Texas (2-1), 228
23. Louisiana-Lafayette (3-0), 216
24. Iowa State (2-1), 215
25. Minnesota (0-0), 145
Others receiving votes: Kansas State 142, USC 115, Mississippi State 112, UCF 112, TCU 97, Marshall 49, Tulsa 46, Utah 30, Iowa 26, Coastal Carolina 25, Oklahoma 20, North Carolina State 18, Ole Miss 18, UAB 15, Army 14, West Virginia 13, Memphis 12, Arkansas 11, Pittsburgh 7, Virginia 5, Arizona State 5, Washington 4, Air Force 4, Indiana 1
This story was originally published October 4, 2020 at 3:45 PM.
