Penn State lands No. 2 spot in the AP Top 25 preseason poll. See full rankings

For the first time since 2017, Penn State is the No. 2 team in the AP top 25 poll.

The Nittany Lions came in at No. 2 in the 2025 preseason poll, which was released Monday at noon, missing the No. 1 spot by just five votes.

The last time they reached No. 2, they were coming off a win at Michigan in 2017, but fell the following week to then-No. 6 Ohio State in Columbus, 39-38. They were ranked No. 2 for two weeks that season, marking the only times this century they were ranked that high.

They will face plenty of other competition in the Big Ten as they look to rise to No. 1 this season in pursuit of a national title.

There were five other Big Ten schools ranked in the first iteration of the poll — Ohio State (No. 3), Oregon (No. 7), Illinois (No. 12), Michigan (No. 14) and Indiana (No. 20).

Penn State’s 1,547 voting points put them 75 ahead of No. 3 Ohio State and only five behind No. 1 Texas.

The Nittany Lions’ first ranked matchup this season is likely to come on Sept. 27 when they take on Oregon in the White Out at night in Beaver Stadium.

The full AP poll is below.

AP Top 25

(Aug. 11, 2025)

1. Texas 1,552 (25 first-place votes)

2. Penn State 1,547 (23 first-place votes)

3. Ohio State 1,472 (11 first-place votes)

4. Clemson 1,398 (4 first-place votes)

5. Georgia 1,331 (1 first-place vote)

6. Notre Dame 1,325

7. Oregon 1,236

8. Alabama 1,179

9. LSU 1,174

10. Miami 889

11. Arizona State 791

12. Illinois 713

13. South Carolina 667

14. Michigan 662

15. Florida 626

16. SMU 565

17. Kansas State 512

18. Oklahoma 463

19. Texas A&M 434

20. Indiana 423

21. Ole Miss 370

22. Iowa State 309

23. Texas Tech 274

24. Tennessee 192

25. Boise State 191

Others receiving votes: BYU 156, Utah 144, Baylor 132, Louisville 90, Southern Cal 64, Georgia Tech 63, Missouri 33, Tulane 23, Nebraska 23, UNLV 21, Toledo 13, Auburn 10, James Madison 9, Memphis 9, Florida St. 8, Duke 6, Liberty 5, Navy 5, Iowa 5, TCU 4, Pittsburgh 3, Army 2, Colorado 1, Louisiana-Lafayette 1

Jon Sauber

Centre Daily Times

(814) 231-6461

Jon Sauber covers Penn State football and men’s basketball for the Centre Daily Times. He earned his B.A. in digital and print journalism from Penn State and his M.A. in sports journalism from IUPUI. His previous stops include jobs at The Indianapolis Star, the NCAA, and Rivals.