Where is Penn State in the first College Football Playoff rankings of 2024?
The initial College Football Playoff rankings are out. Penn State found a home in both the top 25 and, most importantly, the top 11, on Nov. 5. It sits at No. 6. Where it stands when the final version comes out on Sun., Dec. 8 is much more important, of course. But, at least for now, the Lions are being recognized as one of the nation’s top teams even after coming off a 20-13 loss to Ohio State. Penn State now moves onto Washington. It hosts the Huskies at 8 p.m. ET on Peacock Saturday in its annual White Out game.
“We’ve got to make sure that one loss doesn’t turn into two, and that’s controlling the things we can in our building and flushing it,” Lions coach James Franklin said Monday. “Although whether it’s on campus or in the community or social media, that makes it more challenging specifically for our players to do that. We’ve got to make sure we moved on.
“We’ve got to find a way to get a win against a really good Washington team coming into our place. I’ve known Jedd Fisch for a long time. Respect Jedd and what he’s done over his career. Got a ton of experience at a ton of different places. Obviously, did a really good job at Arizona. Left and took the Washington job and is doing a nice job there.”
Full first CFP top 25
1. Oregon
2. Ohio State
3. Georgia
4. Miami
5. Texas
6. Penn State
7. Tennessee
8. Indiana
9. BYU
10. Notre Dame
11. Alabama
12. Boise State
13. SMU
14. Texas A&M
15. LSU
16. Ole Miss
17. Iowa State
18. Pitt
19. Kansas State
20. Colorado
21. Washington State
22. Louisville
23. Clemson
24. Missouri
25. Army
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Who would Penn State play in the College Football Playoff if the season ended today?
It’s a good time to remind everyone that the ranking and the bracket seeding are two different things. While a team may be in the top four now, it goes without saying that those spots will be reserved for conference champions when the committee’s final top 25 come out. And, if a Group of Five team is not No. 12 or better, it means that the first 11 teams will be in with the 12th spot going to the highest-ranked Group of Five team.
With all that said, if the season ended today, without any conference champions, of course, Penn State would face No. 11 Alabama. When using the top 25 as a guide for possible conference champs, the Lions would end up as the seven seed and face No. 10 Notre Dame.
