Penn State Football: Nittany Lions At No. 14 In First CFB Playoff Rankings

Penn State is ranked 14th in the first College Football Playoff standings of the season. The Nittany Lions are the second lowest Big Ten team with Iowa coming in at No.  16. The poll was released lived Tuesday evening on ESPN.

The rankings, formulated by the playoff committee, are based on current resumes and in turn the poll is essentially reset and re-ranked each week. Across the Big Ten it’s Michigan coming in at No. 5 just outside of the playoff field with Ohio State at No. 10 while Michigan State and Wisconsin both are unranked in the opening week of the poll.

Penn State is set to face Michigan this weekend in a game that will essentially make or break the legitimacy of the Nittany Lions’ playoff hopes.

Of note, during Ohio State’s national championship season in 2014 the Buckeyes entered the playoff rankings at No. 16, the lowest ranking to win the title in the history of the college football playoffs.

Either way Penn State will need some help across the country and conference in the coming weeks, more importantly, a win in Ann Arbor in a few short days.