Penn State is once again moving up in the rankings, this time into the top five. After a 27-11 win over UCLA on Saturday and some big upsets later in the day, the Nittany Lions climbed to No. 4 in the new AP Top 25 poll, three spots up from their listing last week.
The team’s move in the rankings comes thanks to formerly-No. 1 Alabama’s 40-35 loss to Vanderbilt and previous No. 4 Tennessee’s 19-14 loss to Arkansas. The Crimson Tide fell to No. 7 and the Volunteers dropped to No. 8. Penn State also moved ahead of No. 5 Georgia.
Penn State’s next opponent, USC, dropped out of the poll for the first time this season after suffering its second defeat in a 24-17 loss to Minnesota. The Trojans had been ranked No. 11 last week.
The Nittany Lions are one of six Big Ten teams ranked this week. Ohio State moved up one spot to No. 2 behind new No. 1 Texas. Oregon jumped three spots to No. 3, Indiana climbed five spots No. 18 and Illinois bumped up one spot to to No. 23. Michigan plummeted 14 spots to No. 24 after falling to Washington.
