Penn State Remains at No. 4 in College Football Playoff Rankings Ahead of Regular Season Finale

Penn State is all but guaranteed a first-round home game in the College Football Playoff if it can overcome Maryland on Saturday. After a 26-25 win at Minnesota this past weekend, the Nittany Lions stayed put at No. 4 in the College Football Playoff rankings, which were released on Tuesday night.

Based on ESPN’s projected playoff bracket, Penn State would host No. 10 Indiana in the first round on either Dec. 20 or 21, if the season were to end on Tuesday. But with another week of action and conference championships, this is subject to change.

The Nittany Lions are one of four Big Ten teams ranked in the top 12. Oregon and Ohio State were again ranked No. 1 and No. 2, respectively. Meanwhile, the Hoosiers dropped five spots after a 38-15 loss to the Buckeyes on Saturday.

Penn State has the opportunity to earn a bid to the Big Ten Championship if it beats the Terrapins (4-7) and Ohio State falls to Michigan (6-5) this weekend.

“After that game, there’s a lot of other things I think that have to happen, but that is a possibility for us,” James Franklin said on Monday. “We want an opportunity to compete as many times as we possibly can this year, and if that includes a conference championship game, we would be very, very excited about that opportunity.”