The day is finally here.
Everyone has had November 5, 2024, circled on their calendar for months.
After months of meaningless ballots and polling, we will finally get an official ranking from the College Football Playoff committee.
We can again throw out the meaningless and biased AP poll this season and focus on the ranking that truly will matter for the inaugural 12-team College Football Playoff. With the expanded playoff, more teams are in the playoff hunt in the inaugural ranking than ever before, and Penn State Football is certainly in the mix for an at-large bid once the dust settles at the end of the season.
But where will the Nittany Lions find themselves ranked in the inaugural college football playoff rankings for the 2024 season?
Where does Penn State Football rank in other now meaningless polls?
AP Poll
After Penn State‘s first loss of the season against Ohio State Saturday, Penn State sits at 7-1 on the season, firmly sitting near the top teams in the nation in the 2024 season.
On Sunday’s final AP Poll before the release of the college football playoff rankings, Penn State found themselves falling from three to six after the loss to the Buckeyes. Penn State fell behind Ohio State, Miami, and Texas in this week’s poll.
Coaches Poll
Penn State Football also fell a few spots in the Coaches Poll, falling from three to seven after the week 11 loss to Ohio State. Penn State fell behind Ohio State, Texas, and Miami in the coaches poll like the AP Poll, but also fell behind Tennessee in the Coaches Poll.
BCS Rankings
The BCS ranking system has not been used since the college football playoff burst onto the stage in 2014. However, the computer-based ranking system is still updated weekly to give yet another metric for ranking teams still today. In the BCS ranking system, Penn State would rank sixth in the nation, behind Oregon, Ohio State, Georgia, Miami, and Texas.
Predicting Penn State’s College Football Playoff Ranking
Penn State Football fans should be looking for the Nittany Lions to fall among the top eight teams in the initial college football playoff ranking.
Despite picking up the Nittany Lions’ first loss on the resume this past weekend, Penn State still sits sixth in ESPN’s strength of record metric, matching the Nittany Lions’ AP ranking this week.
The Nittany Lions also have a higher strength of schedule (28th) than BYU, Miami, Texas, Indiana, and Tennessee (all who will be ranked near the Nittany Lions Tuesday night).
I will project Penn State to be ranked sixth in the inaugural college football playoff rankings Tuesday night, behind Oregon, Ohio State, Georgia, Miami, and Texas. I am projecting Penn State to be ranked ahead of Tennessee, Indiana, and BYU Tuesday night.
Penn State’s upcoming strength of schedule remaining ranks 56th (behind Ohio State (23rd), BYU (43rd), Miami (49th), Indiana (14th), Tennessee (13th), and Texas (16th)).
If the Nittany Lions want to remain in the top twelve moving forward, Penn State will need to continue to stack up wins and win the last four matchups of the season to remain in contention for the 12-team College Football Playoff.
Penn State Football has another chance to impress the committee this weekend when Penn State tries to get back on a winning streak against Washington in the Whiteout Saturday.
MORE: What James Franklin and Penn State Must Fix After Falling to Ohio State
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- Where Will Penn State Land in the Initial College Football Playoff Rankings? - November 5, 2024
- “Still Work to Do” James Franklin Names Key Areas Penn State Football Must Fix to Make College Football Playoff - November 4, 2024
- No. 3 Penn State Football’s Must-Win Key Matchups vs. No. 4 Ohio State - November 1, 2024