PSU football is No. 5 in 247Sports’ “way-too-early” top 25 for the 2023 season.
The people who put the poll together for 247 were national analysts Brad Crawford, Bud Elliot, Chris Hummer and Brandon Marcello.
“Two of our voters were close to putting Penn State in the top four to open next season,” Crawford wrote in the article, “given what the Nittany Lions have coming back with two rising sophomore sensation running backs (Nick Singleton and Kaytron Allen) and former five-star signee Drew Allar taking the reins under center following the departure of multi-year starter Sean Clifford.”
Crawford wrote that this could be “coach James Franklin’s most talented team in Happy Valley” on paper.
247 still has Franklin’s team as the third-highest-ranked in the Big Ten East, behind No. 4 Ohio State and No. 3 Michigan.
Michigan and Ohio State were the only teams to beat Penn State in 2022.
Penn State lost its first game of the season in a 41-17 slaughter at Michigan Oct. 15. The team played much better against Ohio State two weeks later in Happy Valley but still fell 44-31. After the Ohio State loss, Penn State won its last four regular-season games, plus last week’s Rose Bowl against Utah, to finish 11-2. The final rankings aren’t out yet, but Penn State is a virtual lock to finish in the top 10. Penn State begins its 2023 season Sept. 2 against West Virginia in Beaver Stadium.
In another way-to-early top 25, Brett McMurphy of the Action Network has PSU football at No. 7.
