Where does Penn State rank in the updated College Football Playoff Poll?
Penn State rebounded Saturday at Beaver Stadium with a 27-6 win over Rutgers to notch its ninth win. With the Nittany Lions now 21-point favorites heading into Friday night’s game against Michigan State, head coach James Franklin and his staff are in a great position to reach their second consecutive New Year’s Six Bowl and their fourth overall in the past seven years.
Those hopes were again confirmed Tuesday evening with the latest release of the updated College Football Playoff Poll. Just as we saw on Sunday following updates to the Associated Press and Coaches Polls, Penn State now sits at No. 11 in the CFP Poll. That’s up one spot from last week when Penn State was No. 12.
Elsewhere in the Big Ten, Ohio State and Michigan come into this weekend’s game ranked No. 2 and No. 3, respectively. With this year’s game taking place in Ann Arbor, the Wolverines are currently 3.5-point favorites as of Tuesday evening. The winner will face Iowa, which clinched its place in the Big Ten Championship game this past weekend. The Hawkeyes, who improved to 9-2, are now ranked No. 17 overall, down one spot from last week. PSU defeated Iowa 31-0 back in September.
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As long as Penn State gets past Michigan State, the Nittany Lions are currently projected to end up in either the Peach Bowl or the Fiesta Bowl. The Peach Bowl, which is located at Atlanta’s Mercedes-Benz Stadium, has never hosted Penn State before. The Fiesta Bowl has hosted the Lions seven times total, the most recent of which was in 2017. As of now, most projections lean toward the Peach Bowl, with both Tulane and Missouri being mentioned as potential opponents. The Fiesta Bowl would likely feature a matchup between Oregon or Washington, both of which join the Big Ten next season.
As for the rest of the poll, the Huskies made the biggest move of the week, surpassing Florida State for the No. 4 spot. The Seminoles lost their starting quarterback, Jordan Travis, this past weekend against North Alabama. Oregon State was the biggest loser this week, dropping five spots to No. 16 despite losing to Washington by just two points, 22-20, this past Saturday.
Moving forward, the College Football Playoff Selection Committee will update its rankings two more times, the first of which will come next Tuesday, Nov. 28. Once conference championship games conclude next weekend, the committee will release its final selections for both the playoff and the remaining New Year’s Six bowl games on Sunday, Dec. 3.
Below is the updated College Football Playoff Poll.
College Football Playoff Poll – November 21
1) Georgia
2) Ohio State
3) Michigan
4) Washington
5) Florida State
6) Oregon
7) Texas
8) Alabama
9) Missouri
10) Louisville
11) Penn State
12) Ole Miss
13) Oklahoma
14) LSU
15) Arizona
16) Oregon State
17) Iowa
18) Notre Dame
19) Kansas State
20) Oklahoma State
21) Tennessee
22) N.C. State
23) Tulane
24) Clemson
25) Liberty
