STATE COLLEGE, Pa. -- The Nittany Lions head into the bye week unbeaten and on the rise from No. 4 to No. 3 in both the Amway Coaches Poll and this week's AP Poll.
Penn State's No. 3 spot, coming in behind Alabama and Clemson, is the Lions' highest ranking since they were in the same spot in 2008. While the Lions didn't receive any first-place votes, a pair of upsets resulted in the shake up in this week's set of rankings. Michigan, following the loss to Michigan State on Saturday night, dropped out of the top-10 in the AP Poll and fell all the way to No. 17. Oklahoma also fell after their loss to Iowa State, dropping from No. 3 to No. 12.
The Wolverines, of course, come to Happy Valley following Penn State's bye week for the Lions' annual White Out game.
The AP Poll:
1. Alabama (43)
2. Clemson (18)
3. Penn State
4. Georgia
5. Washington
6. TCU
7. Wisconsin
8. Washington State
9. Ohio State
10. Auburn
11. Miami (FL)
12. Oklahoma
13. USC
14. Oklahoma State
15. Virginia Tech
16. Notre Dame
17. Michigan
18. South Florida
19. San Diego State
20. NC State
21. Michigan State
22. UCF
23. Stanford
24. Texas Tech
25. Navy
In the grand scheme of the season, what does this mean? Well, the Lions certainly remain in the hunt for a spot in the College Football Playoff, but those rankings -- at least the first set of them -- aren't released until Oct. 31. And, should Penn State not take care of business against Michigan and Ohio State, then all of the rankings and projections will mean very little.
This is the toughest stretch of the Lions' schedule coming up and don't forget that after Michigan and Ohio State, the Lions travel to East Lansing for a game against Michigan State. While the Spartans certainly have their share of problems, after upsetting Michigan don't expect Penn State to roll them like the Lions did last November to punch their ticket to the Big Ten title game. The Spartans checked in at No. 21 in this week's AP Poll.