Penn State falls one spot in AP college football rankings as Pac-12 champ Utah makes jump
Penn State dropped one spot in the AP college football rankings Sunday after the weekend’s conference championship games.
The Nittany Lions, who were idle this week, head into bowl season ranked No. 9. Their bowl opponent, Utah, jumped five places — the largest rise in the poll this week — to No. 7 after defeating USC for the Pac-12 title, while the Trojans fell four spots to No. 8 after the loss.
Georgia and Michigan remained in the top two sports after winning their conference championships. TCU held the third spot after an overtime loss in the Big 12 championship game. Ohio State, Alabama and Tennessee each moved up a spot.
LSU fell five spots — the biggest drop in the rankings — to No. 16 after losing the SEC championship game.
Penn State received 1,063 points in the poll, 21 ahead of Clemson and five behind USC.
The Big Ten had three ranked teams: No. 2 Michigan, No. 4 Ohio State and No. 9 Penn State. Purdue, Illinois and Minnesota all received votes.
The AP poll was released before the final College Football Playoff rankings. Penn State will play Utah in the Rose Bowl on Jan. 2.
The full AP rankings are below.
AP Top 25
(Dec. 4, 2022)
1. Georgia (13-0), 1,574 (62 1st-place votes)
2. Michigan (13-0), 1,513 (1)
3. TCU (12-1), 1,430
4. Ohio State (11-1), 1,398
5. Alabama (10-2), 1,285
6. Tennessee (10-2), 1,233
7. Utah (10-3), 1,110
8. USC (11-2), 1,068
9. Penn State (10-2), 1,063
10. Clemson (11-2), 1,042
11. Kansas State (10-3), 1,032
12. Washington (10-2), 933
13. Florida State (9-3), 708
14. Tulane (11-2), 681
15. Oregon (9-3), 670
16. LSU (9-4), 660
17. Oregon State (9-3), 644
18. UCLA (9-3), 570
19. Notre Dame (8-4), 394
20. South Carolina (8-4), 382
21. Texas (8-4), 305
22. UTSA (11-2), 227
23. Troy (11-2), 158
24. Mississippi State (8-4), 119
25. North Carolina State (8-4), 59
Others receiving votes: North Carolina 39, UCF 36, Cincinnati 32, Ole Miss 27, Fresno State 25, Purdue 17, South Alabama 17, Illinois 11, Boise State 6, Pittsburgh 4, Minnesota 2, James Madison 1
This story was originally published December 4, 2022 at 12:59 PM.