College Football is getting closer with each passing day, and on Monday, fans were hit with the Preseason AP Top 25 poll, and Penn State Football found itself in an exciting spot.
The Nittany Lions ranked eighth, a spot ahead of where they were ranked in the coaches poll last week.
Penn State is the third highest-ranked Big Ten team, with Ohio State at number two and newcomer Oregon coming in at three.
Michigan, the defending champion, was ranked one spot below the Nittany Lions, and they will not meet this season unless it’s in the Big Ten title game or the playoffs.
The other two Big Ten teams ranked are USC, at 23, and Iowa, at 25, the last spot in the poll.
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What Penn State Football’s Ranking Means for 2024 Outlook
Ohio State and USC are the only teams ranked in the current AP Top 25 that Penn State will have to meet in the regular season. Still, West Virginia, Wisconsin, and Washington, opponents on the Nittany Lions schedule, received votes but finished right outside the Top 25.
Penn State’s regular season is going to be tough. Two teams they have to play are already ranked, and three more are floating between teams 25 and 35. It’s going to be a lot harder than in past years.
The Nittany Lions don’t have the luxury of playing a small school Week One to figure things out before they have to play a big game; they have to get off the bus in Morgantown, West Virginia, Week One, and they are going to be getting a team who is looking for revenge after getting smacked last season in Happy Valley.
It will be an entertaining college football season, and hopefully, Penn State fans will get to watch some postseason football in mid-December.
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