Did Penn State move up in the top-25 rankings after blowing out the Iowa Hawkeyes?
Penn State’s dominating 31-0 shutout Saturday night against Iowa clearly impressed voters in the latest Associated Press Top 25 Poll.
The Nittany Lions rose one spot to No. 6 in the poll, which was released Sunday afternoon. The small jump came despite no losses from any of the teams previously ranked ahead of Penn State.
It was difficult for voters to argue against the dominance of James Franklin’s squad. Penn State allowed the fewest yards against a Big Ten team (76) in school history, only one third-down Iowa conversion was permitted all game, and the Hawkeyes didn’t take a single snap in the red zone. Penn State leap-frogged USC — a 56-10 winner over Stanford — after the Trojans dropped three spots in the rankings to No. 8.
When it came to the top 10, the top-3 teams remained the same in Georgia, Michigan and Texas. But Nos. 4 through 10 were all different, with USC as the big loser and Ohio State as the big winner by moving up two spots to No. 4.
As it stands, two ESPN.com analysts predict Penn State to finish just short of the College Football Playoff and into a New Year’s Six bowl. Mark Schlabach projects Penn State-LSU in the Chick-fil-A Peach Bowl, while Kyle Bonagura believes the Vrbo Fiesta Bowl, against USC, is the Nittany Lions’ likely destination. (Both picked Michigan to make the playoff instead.)
Obviously, it’s incredibly early in the season and those projections might change a dozen times between now and then. But the AP Poll offers a nice barometer to how experts are currently feeling about the Nittany Lions, before the College Football Playoff committee releases its first set of rankings Oct. 31.
The committee’s rankings are the ones that really matter. But, with more than a month until then, the AP Poll has some value — although it’s worth reminding Penn State was unranked in Week 7 of the 2016 season and, a month later, was a top-10 team. A lot can happen in a short period of time.
In the AP Poll, Penn State still has some catching up to do. Michigan remains the Big Ten team to beat, as it came in as the conference’s top-ranked team at No. 2 — with Ohio State trailing behind at No. 4, followed by Penn State (No. 6). No other Big Ten team is ranked, although both Maryland and Wisconsin are receiving votes and remain just outside the top 25. Iowa was knocked off from No. 24 and did not receive a single vote Sunday.
The full top-25 rankings are below:
1. Georgia 1,562 voting points (55 first-place votes)
2. Michigan 1,445 (1)
3. Texas 1,401 (2)
4. Ohio State 1,370 (1)
5. Florida State 1,351 (3)
6. Penn State 1,244
7. Washington 1,228 (1)
8. USC 1,169
9. Oregon 1,076
10. Utah 981
11. Notre Dame 904
12. Alabama 862
13. LSU 813
14. Oklahoma 716
15. North Carolina 659
16. Washington State 652
17. Duke 648
18. Miami (Fla.) 523
19. Oregon State 366
20. Ole Miss 349
21. Tennessee 260
22. Florida 235
23. Missouri 197
24. Kansas 132
25. Fresno State 64
Others receiving votes: Kansas St. 57, Kentucky 41, Colorado 32, Louisville 32, UCLA 28, Maryland 20, TCU 17, Tulane 11, Syracuse 8, Wisconsin 6, Air Force 6, Clemson 5, Texas A&M 5.
This story was originally published September 24, 2023 at 2:21 PM.
