Did Penn State actually move up in the top-25 poll after struggling to beat Indiana?
Even though Penn State’s win against Indiana on Saturday wasn’t pretty, the Nittany Lions still moved up in the latest Associated Press Top 25 poll.
Penn State narrowly beat Indiana, 33-24, after being heavily favored in the contest. That makes the team 7-1 on the season and they’re ranked No. 9 in the poll, which was released Sunday afternoon. Last week, they were No. 10, after dropping three spots following the loss to Ohio State. The Nittany Lions remain the third-highest ranked team in the Big Ten, behind No. 3 Ohio State and No. 2 Michigan.
There was no movement in the top five teams in this week’s poll, but Oregon jumped two spots to No. 6 and previously ranked No. 6 Oklahoma dropped four spots. The Sooners are now just behind Penn State after they lost Saturday to the Kansas Jayhawks.
Penn State received 1,044 votes in the poll, 34 ahead of Oklahoma and 70 behind No. 8 Alabama.
This weekend, the Nittany Lions hit the road to take on Maryland at 3:30 p.m. Saturday. The week after, they’ll host No. 2 Michigan at Beaver Stadium.
The College Football Playoff committee will release its first set of rankings Tuesday.
The full AP rankings are below.
AP Top 25
(Oct. 29, 2023)
1. Georgia 1,553 voting points
2. Michigan 1,494
3. Ohio State 1,446
4. Florida State 1,421
5. Washington 1,327
6. Oregon 1,235
7. Texas 1,189
8. Alabama 1,114
9. Penn State 1,044
10. Oklahoma 1,010
11. Ole Miss 990
12. Notre Dame 847
13. LSU 816
14. Missouri 714
15. Louisville 666
16. Oregon State 557
17. Air Force 526
18. Utah 510
19. Tennessee 473
20. UCLA 331
21. Tulane 303
22. Kansas 250
23. James Madison 192
24. USC 139
25. Kansas State 112
Other teams receiving votes: Oklahoma State 77, North Carolina 54, Liberty 47, Fresno St. 16, Miami 11, Arizona 6, Toledo 3, Rutgers 2.
