Penn State Football Continues to Rise in AP Top 25

Penn State football rose three spots to No. 11 in the latest AP Top 25 Poll on Sunday following a 30-0 victory over Maryland that improved the Nittany Lions’ record to 8-2 on the year.

Up next for Penn State is a trip to Rutgers before closing out the regular season against Michigan State at Beaver Stadium. The Rutgers game is set to kick at 3:30 p.m. on the Big Ten Network, while kick time for the Michigan State game has yet to be announced.

It was busy day around the top 11 as former No. 6 Oregon, No. 9 UCLA and No. 11 Ole Miss all fell on Saturday. The Big Ten’s top two ranked teams held steady with Ohio State and Michigan both winning with relative ease to maintain their spots at No. 2 and No. 3, respectively. The Nittany Lions are the only other Big Ten team represented in the rankings.

Georgia heads up the poll at No. 1. No. 4 TCU and No. 5 Tennessee held their spots to round out the top five.

Previously ranked Illinois dropped out of the top 25 after a loss to Purdue and joins Minnesota as Big Ten teams receiving votes in the poll.

The College Football Playoff Rankings will be released on Tuesday evening. Penn State was No. 14 in the most recent iteration of that poll.

AP Top 25 Week 12

1. Georgia (62)
2. Ohio State (1)
3. Michigan
4. TCU
5. Tennessee
6. LSU
7. USC
8. Alabama
9. Clemson
10. Utah
11. Penn State
12. Oregon
13. North Carolina
14. Ole Miss
15. Washington
16. UCLA
17. UCF
18. Notre Dame
19. Kansas State
20. Florida State
21. Tulane
22. Cincinnati
23. Coastal Carolina
24. Oklahoma State
25. Oregon State

Others receiving votes: NC State 77, Texas 65, UTSA 51, Troy 22, Duke 16, Liberty 15, Illinois 13, Minnesota 7, Florida 6, Boise State 5, South Alabama 1