Penn State football moves into top 4 of new College Football Playoff rankings

Penn State football is climbing the College Football Playoff rankings, coming in at No. 4 in the second iteration of the bracket released Tuesday night.

The Nittany Lions move up from No. 6 in last week’s initial rankings following losses by No. 3 Georgia and No. 4 Miami on Saturday. Penn State dominated Washington 35-6, throwing for 220 yards on the nation’s No. 2 pass defense and holding the Huskies to 74 yards on the ground.

Under the new 12-team College Football Playoff format, the four highest-ranked conference champions receive a first-round bye. Teams seeded No. 5-8 host home playoff games on December 20-21. Despite being ranked No. 4, Penn State would be seeded No. 6 and host No. 11 Ole Miss if the playoff began today based on the current state of the conference title races.

The full CFP top 25 for Week 11 is as follows:

1. Oregon
2. Ohio State (seeded No. 5)
3. Texas (seeded No. 2 if conference champion)
4. Penn State (seeded No. 6)
5. Indiana (seeded No. 7)
6. BYU (seeded No. 3 if conference champion)
7. Tennessee (seeded No. 8)
8. Notre Dame (seeded No. 9)
9. Miami (seeded No. 4 if conference champion)
10. Alabama
11. Ole Miss
12. Georgia (would miss CFP)
13. Boise State (seeded No. 12 if conference champion)
14. SMU
15. Texas A&M
16. Kansas State
17. Colorado
18. Washington State
19. Louisville
20. Clemson
21. South Carolina
22. LSU
23. Missouri
24. Army
25. Tulane

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“Well, Penn State lost to the No. 2 Ohio State Buckeyes, and it was a game that went back and forth, and obviously a game that could have gone the other way,” CFP Selection Committee Chair and Michigan Athletic Director Warde Manuel said of the Nittany Lions last week. “It was back and forth. In that, they have wins over Illinois and Southern Cal in overtime, an opening win at West Virginia, which is difficult to play. So we looked at their body of work.”

Penn State football rose to No. 4 and No. 5 in the AP and Coaches Poll, respectively, on Sunday. James Franklin and the Nittany Lions travel to West Lafayette, Indiana, to face 1-8 Purdue Saturday at 3:30 p.m. on CBS.

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