Penn State football earns best AP poll ranking of the season after Michigan State win
Penn State moved up three spots to No. 8 in the AP college football poll Sunday after four top 10 teams lost to close the regular season.
The Nittany Lions landed their best ranking of the season after securing a 10-2 record with a 35-16 victory over Michigan State.
Elsewhere in the Big Ten, Michigan moved up one spot to No. 2 after defeating Ohio State and the Buckeyes fell three places to No. 5.
TCU and USC each moved up a spot after victories to third and fourth, respectively, in the rankings.
Georgia remained No. 1 after defeating Georgia Tech.
The other top 10 teams that lost were Clemson, LSU and Oregon. Clemson dropped three spots to No. 10 after a loss to South Carolina. LSU dropped five spots to No. 11 after a loss to Texas A&M. Oregon fell five spots to No. 15 after losing to Oregon State.
Oregon State took the biggest jump, climbing six spots to No. 16 after the win over Oregon. Notre Dame and North Carolina saw the largest downward movement — six places — after losses.
Penn State received 1,131 points in the poll, 83 ahead of Washington and 64 behind Tennessee.
The Big Ten has three ranked teams: No. 2 Michigan, No. 5 Ohio State and No. 8 Penn State. Purdue, Illinois and Minnesota all received votes.
The complete AP rankings are below.
AP Top 25
(Nov. 27, 2022)
1. Georgia (12-0), 1,570 (58 1st-place votes)
2. Michigan (12-0), 1,516 (5)
3. TCU (12-0), 1,449
4. USC (11-1), 1,382
5. Ohio State (11-1), 1,313
6. Alabama (10-2), 1,243
7. Tennessee (10-2), 1,195
8. Penn State (10-2), 1,131
9. Washington (10-2), 1,048
10. Clemson (10-2), 928
11. LSU (9-3), 874
12. Utah (9-3), 849
13. Kansas State (9-3), 815
14. Florida State (9-3), 730
15. Oregon (9-3), 701
16. Oregon State (9-3), 662
17. UCLA (9-3), 618
18. Tulane (10-2), 551
19. Notre Dame (8-4), 384
20. South Carolina (8-4), 358
21. Texas (8-4), 316
22. UCF (9-3), 170
23. UTSA (10-2), 145
24. North Carolina (9-3), 114
25. Mississippi State (8-4), 99
Others receiving votes: Troy 80, North Carolina State 62, Cincinnati 43, Boise State 39, Purdue 24, Ole Miss 22, South Alabama 12, Illinois 10, Coastal Carolina 6, Pittsburgh 5, Fresno State 4, James Madison 4, Ohio 2, Minnesota 1