Nittany Lions check in at No. 6 in coaches poll

STATE COLLEGE, Pa. -- James Franklin's Nittany Lions will start the 2017 season ranked No. 6 in the Amway Coaches Poll.

Penn State finished last season ranked No. 7 in the same poll and Ohio State is picked as the lone Big Ten team ahead of them, checking in at No. 2. While this poll is made up of a panel of FBS head coaches and will be updated weekly throughout the season, in reality, and as many Penn State fans figured out last season, the College Football Playoff rankings certainly are the ones to stay glued to. Those don't get released until later in the season, with the first one of seven rankings coming out on Oct. 31.



The coaches poll is pretty much spot on with the rest of Penn State's pre-season rankings. The Lions received 1,257 points in the poll and zero first-place votes. The top-10 were as follows:

•Alabama (49 first-place votes)
•Ohio State (5 first-place votes)
•Florida State (4 first-place votes)
•USC
•Clemson
•Penn State
•Washington
•Oklahoma
•Michigan
•Wisconsin

It certainly speaks to the power of the Big Ten with four teams projected in the top-10. Pitt checked in on the receiving votes category with 45.

Also released on Thursday, ESPN's preseason power rankings have Penn State at No. 6 as well. However, the teams ahead of Penn State were flipped a little bit:

•Alabama
•Florida State
•Ohio State
•USC
•Clemson
•Penn State
•Oklahoma
•Washington
•Wisconsin
•Oklahoma State