The second batch of College Football Playoff rankings are in, and like with the first batch, Penn State football’s ranking is in a good place.
Following losses by No. 3 Georgia, which fell at then-No. 16 Ole Miss, and No. 4 Miami, which lost at un-ranked Georgia Tech, most expected Penn State to move up.
That’s exactly what happened.
As it did in the AP and US LBM Coaches Polls, Penn State moved up two spots, going from No. 6 to No. 4.
Penn State isn’t the No. 4 seed in the Playoff due to not being projected to win a conference title. Therefore, Penn State is seeded sixth and slated to host No. 11 Ole Miss at Beaver Stadium.
This is the highest Penn State has been in the Playoff ranking since 2019, when it debuted at No. 4 in the first batch of rankings. It’s not the latest in the season Penn State has ever been ranked in the top four for the College Football Playoff.
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EUGENE, OR – OCTOBER 12: Oregon Ducks quarterback Dillon Gabriel (8) runs for a 27-yard touchdown in the fourth quarter during a college football game between the Ohio State Buckeyes and Oregon Ducks on October 12, 2024, at Autzen Stadium in Eugene, Oregon.(Photo by Brian Murphy/Icon Sportswire)
Penn State has three teams ranked ahead of it, which one probably could have guessed by it being ranked No. 4. Anyway, those teams are No. 1 Oregon, No. 2 Ohio State— which beat Penn State 20-13 two Saturdays ago— and No. 3 Texas. Penn State has a slim chance of playing Oregon should chaos happen and Penn State make the Big Ten title game. It has no chance of playing Texas until the Playoff. But all three teams are in play for Penn State to see at some point in the postseason.
BEFORE THE PLAYOFF…
Photo by Matt Lynch, Nittany Sports Now: Penn State HC James Franklin
Of course, the most important thing for Penn State is that it wins all of its remaining regular-season games. Penn State will be heavily favored to win all three of them— at Purdue Saturday, at Minnesota Nov. 23 and against Maryland at Beaver Stadium Nov. 30.
Penn State hasn’t made the College Football Playoff yet, and we’ll see where it is in next week’s rankings, assuming it can beat 1-8 Purdue. Kickoff for that one in West Lafayette is scheduled for 3:30 on CBS.
