Zero Hoopla from Penn State Football Players and Coaches About No. 7 Preseason Ranking: ‘It’s Where You Finish That Matters’

For the second Monday in a row, a big preseason college football poll placed Penn State No. 7.

Last week, the USA Today AFCA coaches’ poll had the Nittany Lions seventh. This Monday, The Associated Press released its own poll — and there were the Nittany Lions at lucky number 7. Again.

Both polls have defending national champion Georgia at No. 1, followed by Penn State’s Big Ten East rivals Michigan (2) and Ohio State (3).

If the Nittany Lions, who are 1-5 vs. the Wolverines and the Buckeyes over the past three seasons, are to finish the season atop the Big Ten standings and the polls, and into the College Football Playoff, they will have to beat at least one of their B10 rivals — if not both. 

Iowa, which Penn State hosts Sept. 23 in a White Out, is the only other 2023 Penn State opponent ranked in the preseason Top 25, at No. 25. Other Big Ten teams present and future ranked in the preseason Top 25 are USC (6), Washington (10), Oregon (15) and Wisconsin (25).  That’s eight in all. The SEC, counting current and future schools, also has eight. The rest of college football only has nine.

WHAT THE PLAYERS SAY

For now, though, Penn State’s players said on Monday that they couldn’t care less about their preseason ranking.

“It doesn’t matter to me,” said running back Kaytron Allen. “We just want to make a statement and be one of the best teams in the country and not worry about it.”

PSU cornerback Johnny Dixon said he doesn’t even know where Penn State is in the preseason polls.

“Where are we ranked?” he asked. “To be honest with you, we can come out here and be (ranked) 50th. It doesn’t matter. We just come out here to work and get better. We’re not coming out here (to practice), saying ‘We’re 7th, so we deserve this.’ ”

Penn State cornerbacks coach and associate head coach Terry Smith can certainly relate to what his players are feeling. In 1991, Smith was a senior wide receiver and co-captain under Joe Paterno. The Nittany Lions were coming off a 9-3 season and facing a schedule that featured away games at USC, Miami (Fla.) and Pitt, plus home matchups against BYU and Notre Dame, as well as a season-opener in the Kickoff Classic at Giants Stadium against co-defending national champion Georgia Tech.

The 1991 Nittany Lions entered the season ranked No. 7 in the AP poll — and as it turns out, deservedly so. They beat Georgia Tech 34-22 in the Meadowlands and lost only to USC, 21-10, and Miami, 26-20. After downing Tennessee, 42-17, in the Fiesta Bowl they finished with an 11-2 record and a No. 3 ranking.

Smith said he couldn’t remember where the Nittany Lions were ranked in that preseason.

“I don’t remember before the season, but we finished third,” he recalled on Monday. “It’s where you finish that matters.

“Our job as coaches is to keep them focused on one game at a time. We preach it throughout the building, 1-0. That’s all there is. Last year doesn’t mean anything for this year. Right now, we’re zero and zero.”

The seventh-ranked Nittany Lions open the 2023 season at night at home in Beaver Stadium against unranked West Virginia.

The 2023 preseason rankings are the fourth time that Penn State has been ranked in the preseason top 10 in Franklin’s 10 years at the helm. The three previous times, they didn’t match their preseason standing — going from No. 7 to unranked in the 2020 COVID year, from 10 to 17 in 2018 and from 6 to 8 in the much-hyped 2017 season.

Twice under Franklin, Penn State has finished the year ranked No. 7 in the final AP poll – in 2016, when PSU began the year unranked, and again in 2022, when it was also unranked in the AP preseason poll.

PSU, CJF & THE AP POLL

Historically, Penn State has finished in the top five of the final AP poll a total of 14 times, since the rankings were established in the 1930s. Three of those times they started the year ranked No. 7, and finished better in each of those seasons (No. 3 in 1991; No. 3 in 1981; and No. 5 in 1973).

Penn State’s most dramatic climb up the AP poll rankings came in 2005, when it was coming off a 4-7 season, its fourth losing campaign in five years. The Nittany Lions were unranked in the initial AP poll, and it took a five-game winning streak to open the season before they even cracked the Top 25. After going 11-1 with an Orange Bowl win, the Nittany LIons finished No. 3 in the final poll.

Overall, here is how many times Penn State has finished in the Top 5 of the final AP poll: No. 1 (two), No. 2 (three), No. 3 (four), No. 4 (two) and No. 5 (three).

PSU & THE POLL: TOP FINISHES (No. 5 or higher)