Where is Penn State in the first USA Today Coaches Poll of 2024?
Penn State has a home inside the top 10 in the first USA Today Coaches Poll ahead of the 2024 season. Head coach James Franklin, who votes in the rankings, sees his team slotted at No. 9. That is consistent with where media outlets have placed the Nittany Lions ahead of his 11th season in State College.
“The first two days have been good,” Franklin said back on Saturday at the team’s local media day. The Nittany Lions are now through four practices.
“Specifically, day two was better than day one, and today, obviously, is the first day for pads for us, and some hitting so that obviously changes some things. Having the three new coordinators been really good, been a ton of work put in from the time that they got on board with the staff, getting everybody on the same page and with the players. But that’s been good, that’s been good, ton of carryover for things that we’ve done in the past, but also a lot of new wrinkles and things like that.”
See the full USA Today preseason coaches poll
Unsurprisingly, it is Big Ten heavy. Six of the program’s 18 teams have a home in the top 25. Penn State will play two of them this year: No. 2 Ohio State and No. 23 USC. Here’s the full rankings, which are led by Georgia:
- Georgia Bulldogs
- Ohio State Buckeyes
- Oregon Ducks
- Texas Longhorns
- Alabama Crimson Tide
- Ole Miss Rebels
- Notre Dame Fighting Irish
- Michigan Wolverines.
- Penn State Nittany Lions
- Florida State Seminoles
- Missouri Tigers
- LSU Tigers
- Utah Utes
- Clemson Tigers
- Tennessee Volunteers
- Oklahoma Sooners
- Kansas State Wildcats
- Oklahoma State Cowboys
- Miami Hurricanes
- Texas A&M Aggies
- Arizona Wildcats
- NC State Wolfpack
- USC Trojans
- Kansas Jayhawks
- Iowa Hawkeyes
More Penn State football thoughts
With media day in the books, the program is now full steam ahead on the path to West Virginia. The opener is set for Aug. 31 at Noon in Morgantown. FOX will televise the game. And, the players and coaches are excited to get ready for it.
“I have probably more respect for West Virginia than anybody just because I’ve played there so many times and I know what Mountaineer Football means to the state of West Virginia and I know what the environment is going to be like,” Franklin said. “Played there a ton of times. In some ways, there’s a geographic component to this, as well. There’s some historical factors there, as well, in terms of being a bordering state or whatever, however you want to describe it.
“So I think it’s going to be a great game. I think it’s going to be a great environment and then on top of that, the way they ended their season, right. You know, I think they ended up winning nine games and the quarterback ended up playing really well and finished the season on a real high note. So they got a ton of confidence coming into this year because of that.”
