With the season only weeks away, Penn State fans got their first taste of a small success with the release of the US Today Coaches Poll.
While the Nittany Lions didn’t land in the Top 25, they did pick up 20 points in the poll, a mark good enough for 35th best in the nation. Penn State comes in just five points behind Minnesota in the poll and seven behind Nebraska. Michigan, Illinois and Maryland round out the Big Ten teams just outside the Top 25.
Ohio State comes in at No. 1 in the nation with Michigan State and Wisconsin ranking No. 6 and No. 18 respectively.
Penn State head coach James Franklin is a voting member of Coaches Poll this year after not being a member of panel of 64 coaches who vote each week in 2014.
For the most part Penn State has avoided any significant push in the polls since the start of the sanction era. The Nittany Lions have received votes in the polls but the up and down nature of Penn State’s past several years has prevented Penn State from ever regaining status in the Top 25 polls.
