After narrowly beating heavy underdog Bowling Green Saturday, Penn State is now ahead of Oregon in the AP Poll.
Penn State stayed at No. 8 in the AP Poll and some thought it might have moved down after Bowling Green.
But it didn’t, and this thanks in large part to the Fighting Irish of Notre Dame.
No. 5 ND hosted Northern Illinois as 28.5-point favorites and needed up losing, 16-14, in South Bend.
By comparison, Penn State beating -34.5 point underdog Bowling Green by seven doesn’t seem so bad. In fact, Penn State is no ahead of Oregon, which it was one spot behind after last week’s rankings.
Elsewhere in the Big 10, Ohio State moved from No. 2 to No. 3 despite its 56-0 win over Western Michigan. A narrow 34-31 win over three-touchdown underdog Boise State led to Oregon moving from No. 7 to No. 9. Michigan moved down much further. UM came into its showdown with No. 3 Texas ranked No. 10, but fell seven spots to No. 17. Texas’ dominance also moved it from No. 3 to No. 2, now ahead of Ohio State. Debuting in the rankings is No. 23 Nebraska, which moved to 2-0 by pounding Colorado, 28-10 (it was 28-0 at one point) in Lincoln. Iowa, which had been No. 21, is out of the rankings after losing to in-state rival Iowa State at noon.
Illinois, which upset No. 19 Kansas, was the highest among “others receiving votes” with 101. Washington was also there with 27. Iowa still got 23 votes, and Wisconsin got nine.
Penn State still controls its College Football Playoff destiny. This week, it has a bye. The next game is against Kent State Sept. 21 in Beaver Stadium at a time to be determined.
