Penn State in College Football Playoff field after first rankings release. Here’s where they rank
The first College Football Playoff rankings have been released and Penn State is in prime position to make its first playoff appearance.
The Nittany Lions were ranked as the No. 6 team in the country in the rankings, which were released Tuesday night.
If the season were to end today, they would play Notre Dame in the first round of the playoff with the game being held in Beaver Stadium. The Fighting Irish are the No. 10 seed and the Nittany Lions are the No. 7 seed because BYU, the Big 12’s current leader, is ranked behind them and are one of the four highest ranked conference champions. The top four ranked conference champions get the top four seeds in the playoff, and the fifth-highest ranked conference champion gets an automatic bid into the playoff.
This comes after Penn State suffered its first defeat of the season Saturday, falling to Ohio State 20-13 in Beaver Stadium. The Buckeyes came in four spots ahead of the Nittany Lions at No. 2.
Those two teams are joined by two other Big Ten teams in the first CFP rankings — Indiana at No. 8 and Oregon at No. 1.
Penn State will have a chance to improve its standing with the College Football Playoff selection committee on Saturday when it takes on the Washington Huskies in the White Out in Beaver Stadium.
The full projected matchups and rankings are below.
First round
No. 5 seed Ohio State vs. No. 12 seed Boise State
No. 6 seed Texas vs. No. 11 seed Alabama
No. 7 seed Penn State vs. No. 10 seed Notre Dame
No. 8 seed Tennessee vs. No. 9 seed Indiana
Byes: No. 1 seed Oregon, No. 2 seed Georgia, No. 3 seed Miami, No. 4 seed BYU
College Football Playoff rankings
1. Oregon
2. Ohio State
3. Georgia
4. Miami
5. Texas
6. Penn State
7. Tennessee
8. Indiana
9. BYU
10. Notre Dame
11. Alabama
12. Boise State
13. SMU
14. Texas A&M
15. LSU
16. Ole Miss
17. Iowa State
18. Pittsburgh
19. Kansas State
20. Colorado
21. Washington State
22. Louisville
23. Clemson
24. Missouri
25. Army
