The first AP Poll of the 2026 college football season is in, and Penn State landed with a top 20 ranking.
Specifically, Penn State is No. 18, which is sixth amongst Big Ten schools.
Penn State has the good fortune of avoiding No. 1 Ohio State, No. 2 Oregon and No. 6 Indiana on its schedule.
But PSU also has the misfortune of having to play No. 14 USC, No. 16 Michigan and No. 17 Washington all within a four-game window, with the Michigan and Washington games each being on the road in two of the country’s most hostile environments. Also representing the Big Ten is No. 22 Iowa, who Penn State doesn’t play.
Minnesota, which comes to Happy Valley Nov. 14, got five top 25 votes.
No. 18 is different than where Penn State had been in recent years to start the season.
Add Nittany Sports Now as a preferred source in Google! Click here to add us.Last year, PSU started the year ranked No. 2 in the AP Poll and only got two fewer first place votes (23) than No. 1 Texas.
The year didn’t go as expected, and as a result, Penn State fired James Franklin and hired Matt Campbell, who is entering his first season in Happy Valley after 10 seasons at Iowa State.
Expectations are high for Campbell in Year 1, with a veteran team that features the winningest returning quarterback in the country in Rocco Becht. It also helps that every ranked team Penn State plays is similar to where PSU is in the polls.
But at the end of the day, last year should be an example that preseason rankings, at the end of the day, aren’t always a good indicator of how things are going to turn out.
