Penn State’s place in AP college football rankings is unchanged after Rutgers victory

Penn State held onto its place in the AP college football rankings Sunday after a 55-10 win over Rutgers as the poll’s top teams remained the same.

The Nittany Lions remained in the No. 11 spot, while the top four teams in the rankings were unchanged after close wins.

Tennessee and Utah were the only AP top 10 teams to lose. The Volunteers dropped four spots to No. 9 after a 63-38 loss to South Carolina. Utah fell four spots to No. 14 after a close loss to Oregon, while the Ducks leapfrogged Penn State to reach No. 10 on the strength of their win.

USC moved up two places to fifth after topping UCLA, while Clemson moved up two spots to seventh after defeating Miami.

The week’s biggest drop among ranked teams was UCF, which fell eight spots to No. 25 after losing to Navy. Notre Dame made the biggest leap up, climbing five spots to No. 13 after a 44-0 shutout of Boston College.

Penn State (9-2, 6-2) has gone 3-0 this month, defeating Indiana, Maryland and Rutgers by a combined score of 130-24.

The final test of the regular season comes at home Saturday against Michigan State. The Senior Day game will kick off 4 p.m. and be televised on FS1. The Spartans (5-6, 3-5) need a win to be bowl eligible after blowing a 17-point lead and losing to Indiana in two overtimes this week.

The Nittany Lions received 994 points in this week’s poll, 115 ahead of No. 12 Washington (which moved up three places after defeating Colorado) and just 15 behind No. 10 Oregon.

The Big Ten again had three ranked teams: No. 2 Ohio State, No. 3 Michigan and No. 11 Penn State. Illinois, Iowa and Purdue all received votes.

The full AP rankings are below.

AP Top 25

(Nov. 20, 2022)

1. Georgia (11-0), 1,574 (62 1st-place votes)

2. Ohio State (11-0), 1,507 (1)

3. Michigan (11-0), 1,446

4. TCU (11-0), 1,395

5. USC (10-1), 1,293

6. LSU (9-2), 1,241

7. Clemson (10-1), 1,152

8. Alabama (9-2), 1,131

9. Tennessee (9-2), 1,058

10. Oregon (9-2), 1,009

11. Penn State (9-2), 994

12. Washington (9-2), 879

13. Notre Dame (8-3), 710

14. Utah (8-3), 709

15. Kansas State (8-3), 697

16. Florida State (8-3), 579

17. UCLA (8-3), 562

18. North Carolina (9-2), 464

19. Tulane (9-2), 441

20. Ole Miss (8-3), 395

21. Cincinnati (9-2), 353

22. Oregon State (8-3), 271

23. Coastal Carolina (9-1), 186

24. Texas (7-4), 128

25. UCF (8-3), 87

Others receiving votes: UTSA 85, South Carolina 44, Troy 34, Boise State 16, Illinois 12, Iowa 5, Louisville 5, South Alabama 3, Mississippi State 3, Oklahoma State 2, Arkansas 2, Purdue 2, Fresno State 1

This story was originally published November 20, 2022 at 2:37 PM.