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Where does Penn State rank in the updated College Football Playoff Poll?

Mug-Shot 4x4by:Ryan Snyder•11/19/24•

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College Football Playoff Trophy
Adam Cairns | The Columbus Dispatch

There are just two weeks remaining in the college football season, and just like the weeks before, Week 12 featured no shortage of drama.

While the top five schools all remained the same, that wasn’t the case for BYU and Tennessee, who came into this past weekend ranked No. 6 and No. 7, respectively. The Cougars lost to a surging Kansas squad at home, 17-13, while Tennessee had a much more difficult matchup, traveling to face a Georgia squad that had to get a win at home. Kirby Smart’s team did just that, defeating the Volunteers 31-17 after losing themselves the previous week.

Those losses dropped each of those schools outside of the playoff, although BYU still controls its own destiny as long as they win the Big 12. Tennessee has games remaining against UTEP and Vanderbilt, making its a path a bit more tricky.

The Big Ten still projects to get four teams into the playoffs, as both Oregon and Ohio State remain at No. 1 and No. 2, respectively. Indiana also remains high in the poll but will be tested for the first time this weekend when it travels to Columbus for a showdown with the Buckeyes. Penn State also received a boost, with Illinois jumping back into the poll at No. 25.

With the final playoff poll not being released until after conference championship games on Dec. 8, there’s still plenty of time for things to change, but as of now, the Nittany Lions would host Georgia in the first round of the playoffs.

The other first-round matchups, as of now, would be 12th-seed BYU at fifth-seed Ohio State, ninth-seed Alabama at eighth-seed Notre Dame and 10th-seed Ole Miss at seventh-seed Indiana. Oregon, Texas, Miami and Boise State are currently projected to be the No. 1 through No. 4 seeds, in that order.

Nittany Lion fans can check out the updated poll below.

Updated College Football Playoff Poll – Nov. 19

1) Oregon
2) Ohio State
3) Texas
4) Penn State
5) Indiana
6) Notre Dame
7) Alabama
8) Miami
9) Ole Miss
10) Georgia
11) Tennessee
12) Boise State
13) SMU

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14) BYU
15) Texas A&M
16) Colorado
17) Clemson
18) South Carolina
19) Army
20) Tulane
21) Arizona State
22) Iowa State
23) Missouri
24) UNLV
25) Illinois

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