JUST IN: Penn State football makes top 10 in preseason coaches poll

Penn State football has been one of the most hyped teams all offseason. The Nittany Lions have been called everything from Big Ten title contenders to College Football Playoff darkhorse candidates. The expectations surrounding this team have been reflected in the preseason rankings that have been released by various media outlets to date, with Penn State consistently falling within the top 10. But Nittany Lions fans should be excited to hear that these expectations have been sustained in the first “official” ranking of the season, as Penn State has landed inside the top 10 of the preseason AFCA coaches poll released on Monday.

Penn State football lands inside preseason top 10 of coaches poll

On Monday morning, the AFCA released its preseason poll to begin the 2023 season. Penn State football comes in at No. 7, where it finished last season in the same poll. The complete top 10 is as follows:

1. Georgia (61 first place votes received)
2. Michigan
3. Alabama (4)
4. Ohio State (1)
5. LSU
6. USC
7. Penn State
8. Florida State
9. Clemson
10. Tennessee

Penn State’s ranking is typical of where the Nittany Lions have found themselves across preseason polls this summer. James Franklin’s squad came in at No. 8 of Athlon Sports’s preseason top 10, one of the first rankings released in early June. Last week, Penn State came in at No. 7 on the CBS Sports preseason poll as well.

The Nittany Lions landed just outside the top 5 in the Phil Steele preview magazine top 25, coming in at No. 6. However, Penn State did make the top 5 of preseason modeling produced by Austin Mock of The Athletic in late June.

“Are we excited about it? Yes,” James Franklin said yesterday during Penn State football media day when asked about the potential of this year’s team. “Do we still have a lot of work to do and a lot of questions to answer? Yes. Do I think we are arguably in the best conference in college football and specifically the best division? I think we are part of that argument. I think it’s hard to say that we’re not.”

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