Are AP Top 25 Voters Sleeping on Penn State Football?

Preseason rankings are always taken with a grain of salt since no one has seen how teams will perform yet. But after the first week of college football, the new AP Top 25 dropped on Tuesday afternoon.

Penn State Football started the preseason ranked No. 8 in the AP Poll, and despite their impressive win against West Virginia on Saturday, they remain in the same spot.

#PennState holds steady in the AP Poll after blasting West Virginia in Week 1. pic.twitter.com/g2W7Qwsdhl

— Nittany Central (@NittanyCentral) September 3, 2024

While the Nittany Lions had one of the better wins of the weekend, it wasn’t enough to move them up in the rankings.

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The AP voters didn’t seem particularly impressed with Penn State’s road victory, even though it was a strong win that could boost their College Football Playoff chances.

Big Ten newcomer Oregon experienced the biggest drop among winning teams, falling from third to seventh after barely beating Idaho by ten points.

Penn State still has some work to do to earn more love from the AP voters.

If they continue winning, they should be able to climb the rankings, even though they likely won’t face a ranked team until they play USC on October 12th.

Some teams ahead of the Nittany Lions will inevitably lose ground, as Georgia and Alabama are set to face each other at the end of the month. The loser of that game could potentially drop below Penn State.

For now, Penn State just needs to handle business against Bowling Green, Kent State, Illinois, and UCLA to stay in the Top Ten.

Six Big Ten teams are currently in the Top 25: Ohio State is ranked second, Oregon seventh, Penn State eighth, Michigan tenth, USC 13th after their big win against LSU, and Iowa 21st.

MORE: Key Areas Penn State Must Clean Up Before Playing Bowling Green

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Daniel Fisher

Penn State Football Reporter at NittanyCentral

Fisher covers Penn State Football for NittanyCentral. In addition to his work for NittanyCentral, Fisher also writes for a few other sports outlets: Gridiron Heroics, where he covers college football and the NFL, and Stadium Rant, where he is a head editor and covers all major and college sports.

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