Following the third week of the college football season, Penn State saw no movement in the AP poll.
The Nittany Lions held their ground at No. 2 after defeating Villanova 52-6 on Saturday in Beaver Stadium, receiving five first-place votes. They now sit at 3-0 heading into a bye week before a pivotal matchup against Oregon, which could become the first-ever top-five matchup in a White Out.
The Ducks, who came in at No. 6 this week, slid two spots despite a comfortable win over Northwestern on Saturday. They have a nonconference game against Oregon State before traveling to Happy Valley. Meanwhile, No. 4 Miami is just a three-point favorite over Florida this week. If the Hurricanes falter, Oregon will likely jump back into the top five. Oregon was also just five points below No. 5 Georgia, an extremely thin margin which could flip while the Bulldogs are on bye this week.
Penn State is also on pace to compete in a top-five matchup when it travels to Ohio State on Nov. 1 for a marquee clash. The Buckeyes are currently ranked No. 1 nationally, a position they’ve held since defeating Texas 14-7 in Week 1.
The Nittany Lions only other ranked opponent is No. 19 Indiana, which will visit Beaver Stadium on Nov. 8. Penn State is also set to host Nebraska, which was in the “others receiving votes” category, on Nov. 22. It’ll be the first matchup between the two since 2020 and the first in State College since 2017.
The full AP Top 25 poll is as follows:
- Ohio State
- Penn State
- LSU
- Miami (Fl.)
- Georgia
- Oregon
- Florida State
- Texas
- Illinois
- Texas A&M
- Oklahoma
- Iowa State
- Ole Miss
- Alabama
- Tennesee
- Utah
- Texas Tech
- Georgia Tech
- Indiana
- Vanderbilt
- Michigan
- Auburn
- Missouri
- Notre Dame
- USC
