No. 1. No. 1 No. 1. James Franklin is well-aware his Nittany Lions are playing the top-ranked team in college football on Saturday in the Big Ten title game in Indianapolis. In fact, in the first 19 seconds of his Wednesday night media scrum, he referred to Oregon as “the No. 1 team in the country.” Twice.
And, in doing so, he labeled Oregon what they are, without a doubt — No. 1 and at 12-0, the only major college football team that is still undefeated in 2024. If it looks like a No. 1 Duck and walks like a No. 1 Duck, well…the Ducks are No. 1.
Oregon has been No. 1 in the Associated Press poll for seven consecutive weeks, and has been the No. 1 seed in the College Football Playoff in all five of the weekly CFP rankings, which began on Nov. 5.
“Great opportunity, playing the No. 1 team in the country,” Franklin said on Wednesday. “We’re excited about that. That’s what we control. That’s what we’re focused on, not focused on anything else. I understand the question. I appreciate the question. But we’re just focused on trying to beat the No. 1 team in the country, Oregon, in Indianapolis, in the Big Ten, and just totally focused on that, and not any of the other scenarios or discussions.”
A bit later, Franklin begrudgingly answered a question about the banality (my word, not his) of having the national signing day smack-dab in the week of preparation for a conference title game.
“I don’t think it makes a whole lot of sense to have one of the most important days of the year, which is signing day, which is very complex in today’s college football, more complex than it’s ever been,” Franklin said. “Oh, and by the way, you’re about to play the No. 1 in the country in the conference championship.”
Penn State (11-1) ain’t so shabby itself. PSU is ranked No. 3 in both the AP and CFP rankings, and in the final regular season standings of the first-ever 18-team Big Ten Conference, it’s No. 2.
No. 1 in those Big Ten standings? Well, that would be Oregon.
It has been 34 years, dating back to Penn State’s 24-21 upset of Notre Dame in South Bend, since PSU defeated a No. 1 team. The Nittany Lions have been 0-5 vs. No. 1 since then.
THE ROAD TO NO. 1
Oregon began the 2024 season ranked No. 3 in the AP poll, then dropped to No. 9, despite staying undefeated. The Ducks fought their way back to No. 6 in Week 7, after defeating Ohio State, 32-31. In Week 9, after top-ranked and undefeated Texas lost 30-15 to Georgia, the Ducks ascended to No. 1. And they have stayed there.
Penn State, meanwhile, began the season at No. 8, fell to No. 10, then moved steadily up to No. 3 by Week 9. The Nittany Lions’ 20-13 loss to Ohio State only dropped them to No. 6. Then, after three weeks at No. 4, the Nittany Lions moved up to No. 3 last week, after previous No. 3 Ohio State lost 13-10 to Michigan. In the latest AP poll, Notre Dame (11-1, with its regular season completed) is No. 4, trailing Penn State by five AP voter points, 1,368 to 1,373.
PENN STATE NO. 1
The last time the Nittany Lions were No. 1 themselves in the AP poll was Oct. 18, 1997 — they won, 16-15, vs. unranked Minnesota in Beaver Stadium, but due to the narrow victory, they dropped to No. 2. That was 9,910 days ago. Penn State, under Franklin, was No. 2 in the AP poll for two weeks back in 2017.
Overall, Penn State has been No. 1 in the AP poll 21 times, according to CollegePollArchive.com. That ranks PSU No. 17 in the history of the AP poll, dating back to 1936. Alabama is first, with 141, followed by Ohio State (105), Oklahoma (101), Notre Dame (98) and USC (91).
Penn State was No. 1 twice when it really counted at the end of the season, as the Nittany Lions were ranked No. 1 and national champions in both 1982 and 1986.
PENN STATE VS. NO. 1
The Nittany Lions have played the No. 1-ranked team in college football a total of 15 times, and own a record of 4-11. Those four wins came in a 10-year window, in the most successful era of Penn State football, under head coach Joe Paterno. The years: 1981, 1982, 1986 and 1990. Two of those victories came in bowl games that were de facto national championship games. Overall, Paterno was 4-8 vs. No. 1-ranked teams — beating a very impressive quartet of Pitt, Georgia, Miami (Fla.) and Notre Dame.
Here is a breakdown of Penn State vs. No. 1-ranked teams, according to the AP (the wire service started college football rankings in 1936):
| Year | Opponent | W/L | Score |
| 1937 | @ Pitt | L | 28-7 |
| 1952 | @ Michigan State | L | 34-7 |
| 1966 | @ Michigan State | L | 42-8 |
| 1976 | @ Pitt | L | 24-7 |
| 1981 | @ Pitt | W | 48-14 |
| 1982 | Georgia/Sugar Bowl | W | 27-23 |
| 1986 | Miami/Fiesta Bowl | W | 14-10 |
| 1988 | @ Notre Dame | L | 21-3 |
| 1989 | Notre Dame | L | 34-23 |
| 1990 | @ Notre Dame | W | 24-21 |
| 1998 | @ Ohio State | L | 28-9 |
| 2006 | @ Ohio State | L | 28-6 |
| 2007 | Ohio State | L | 37-17 |
| 2010 | @ Alabama | L | 24-3 |
| 2015 | @ Ohio State | L | 38-10 |
In his 11 years at Penn State, a Franklin-coached team has faced the No. 1-ranked team in the nation only once. That came on Oct. 17, 2015, at The Horseshoe in Columbus, where Ohio defeated Penn State, 38-10.
Franklin’s victory over his highest-ranked opponent came just a year later, when the Nittany Lions defeated No. 2 Ohio State on Oct. 22, 2016. The win came on a blocked field goal by Marcus Allen and a scoop-and-score by Grant Haley, who picked up the loose ball and ran it 60 yards for the deciding touchdown.
Overall, since he arrived at Penn State in 2014, Franklin is 1-13 against Top 5 teams (OSU in 2016 is that win). He is 3-18 against Top 10 teams, with the victories vs. Ohio State and Wisconsin (in the Big Ten title game) in 2016 and against No. 10 Utah in the 2022 Rose Bowl. He is 14-26 vs. Top 25 teams (5-12 since 2020).
In his three years as head coach at Vanderbilt (2011-13), the highest-ranked team that Franklin’s Vandy squad played was No. 2 Alabama, in 2011, when the Commodores lost, 34-10, to the Tide on the road. Overall, Franklin’s Vanderbilt teams were 1-7 vs. Top 25 teams. The win was a 31-27 victory over No. 15 Georgia in 2013.
