BREAKING: Penn State football jumped in latest AP Poll rankings

Off its second idle Saturday of the season, Penn State football enters Sunday the same way it went into the off week seven days ago: ranked as the No. 3 team in the nation in the latest AP Poll.

There was an opportunity for advancement with a notable shakeup at the top of the rankings following Georgia’s 30-15 victory at top-ranked Texas on Saturday night. As expected, Oregon, a fellow undefeated Big Ten program, took the Longhorns’ place at the top of the AP Poll rankings.

Had Penn State football elevated to No. 2 this week, it would have been the program’s highest ranking since October 2017. Instead, the AP Poll voters rewarded the Bulldogs, who were ranked No. 5 last week, above the Nittany Lions. Penn State was also jumped by Georgia in the Week 9 Coaches Poll.

The entire top 25 is as follows:

1. Oregon
2. Georgia
3. Penn State
4. Ohio State
5. Texas
6. Miami
7. Tennessee
8. LSU
9. Clemson
10. Iowa State
11. BYU
12. Notre Dame
13. Indiana
14. Texas A&M
15. Alabama
16. Kansas State
17. Boise State
18. Ole Miss
19. Pitt
20. Illinois
21. Missouri
22. SMU
23. Army
24. Navy
25. Vanderbilt

Franklin: Penn State not talking about the rankings

© Grace Carella / Basic Blues Nation, 2024.

James Franklin and the Nittany Lions rose to No. 3 from No. 4 a week ago after defeating USC 33-30 in Los Angeles. However, you won’t hear any talk about the rankings inside the Lasch Building.

“We just don’t really talk about it,” James Franklin said on Tuesday. “We were 1-0 last week, and we’re appreciative of that. I don’t think we’ve talked about it one time in our building. We talked about another team’s ranking today, showing a clip from a game this past weekend and just talking about the effort that the young man played with.

“But we don’t talk about that. Those things are out of our control. We really do not talk about it. We don’t spend any time talking about those things. We just focus on trying to get better. And you know, I think so far, our guys have done a pretty good job of that.

“We’re going to have to do that again this week coming up. We’re going to be going on the road [to Wisconsin], night game, and another tough environment, ‘Jump Around,’ all that good stuff. Really good program. Well coached. So we’re going to need to take another step this week because these road games are challenging.”

Penn State football returns to action Saturday with a primetime 7:30 matchup at Wisconsin, which will be broadcast on NBC.

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