Penn State football moved up three spots to No. 8 in the penultimate College Football Playoff rankings, which were released on Tuesday night ahead of conference championship weekend. Fellow Big Ten conference foe Michigan is ranked No. 2 while Ohio State sits just outside the playoff field at No. 5.
TCU is currently No. 3 in the rankings while future Big Ten member USC sits at No. 4. Undefeated Georgia sits atop the poll at No. 1.
The Nittany Lions are 10-2 on the year with losses only to Michigan and Ohio State this season. Penn State opened the year with a victory over eventual Big Ten West Division champions Purdue, which will face Michigan this weekend in Indianapolis for the conference title with the Wolverines just a week removed from a blowout victory over Ohio State in Columbus. No other Big Ten teams are ranked in the Top 25.
Nearly all current bowl projections are slotting Penn State in to make a return trip to the Cotton Bowl to face No. 18 Tulane but ESPN analyst Kirk Herbstreit postulated Tuesday evening that Penn State could jump Ohio State for a Rose Bowl bid after the Buckeyes played in that same bowl last year, beating Utah 48-45. While not a hard and fast rule, bowls generally shy away from back-to-back appearances by the same program. Ohio State still could very well slip into the Top 4 if Kansas State were to beat TCU this weekend in the Big 12 championship game.
