STATE COLLEGE, Pa. -- The first set of College Football Playoff rankings have the Nittany Lions locked in at No. 7.
Penn State (7-1) moved from No. 2 to No. 7 in the AP Poll this week following the Lions' loss to Ohio State last weekend, a collapse that now requires James Franklin's team to do a lot of scoreboard-watching in the coming weeks.
While November is always a crazy time for potential upsets in college football, Penn State -- which finished last season ranked No. 5 in the College Football Playoff -- needs a lot of help and with a soft non-conference schedule the Lions' strength of schedule won't help them out.
But, what can Penn State do to try and stay in the mix for a spot in the top four? Well, ESPN's Kirk Herbstreit, who spoke highly of Penn State two weekends ago when he was on campus for ESPN's College GameDay, said the Lions will need some style points down the stretch in games against Michigan State, Rutgers, Nebraska and Maryland. That maybe -- just maybe -- could keep Penn State in the conversation for a potential spot in the College Football Playoff.
"Ohio State had Oklahoma last year as their trump card the way Oklahoma has it this year, Penn State doesn't have that," Herbstreit said during the broadcast. "They don't have that non-conference win and if you look within the Big Ten and with who they still have to play the best thing that Penn State can do is to blow people out.
"If you go by the numbers and you look at the different comparisons they will lose almost all of those arguments," he continued. "So, the best thing that they can do is blow people out by 40 or 50 points if they can and just the committee at the end of if a lot of people lose ahead of them [then] the committee has to look and just say, 'Penn State is one of the best four. The resume doesn't say it, but they're one of the best four.' Penn State, in my mind, that's really their only hope at this point."
Penn State did come in two spots ahead of unbeaten Wisconsin, the Big Ten West foe that has the inside track to potentially meet Ohio State in the Big Ten title game. The Lions also stayed ahead of unbeaten Miami.
Penn State fans looking for a reversal of last year's misfortune where the Lions were on the outside looking in while Ohio State got the nod likely won't have that benefit of the doubt this time around.
Michigan State, the Lions' opponent this weekend, checked in at No. 24 so while a win there would certainly help Penn State, Sparty is coming off a loss to unranked Northwestern and still has to play at Ohio State, against Maryland and against Rutgers. Should Penn State beat Michigan State and then the Spartans turn around and lose to Ohio State then Michigan State is in all likelihood out of the rankings, much like Michigan, which Penn State beat when they were ranked.
So, best-case scenario for Penn State is to win out and get some help, ideally in the form of Ohio State losing twice. The Buckeyes have games remaining at Iowa (3:30 p.m. Saturday), against Michigan State, against Illinois and at Michigan. As Penn State found out, Kinnick Stadium is a tough place to play and hey, anything can happen during that rivalry game at the end of the season.
The first set of College Football Playoff rankings:
1. Georgia (8-0)
2. Alabama (8-0)
3. Notre Dame (7-1)
4. Clemson (7-1)
5. Oklahoma (7-1)
6. Ohio State (7-1)
7. Penn State (7-1)
8. TCU (7-1)
9. Wisconsin (8-0)
10. Miami (7-0)
11. Oklahoma State (7-1)
12. Washington (7-1
13. Virginia Tech (7-1)
14. Auburn (6-2)
15. Iowa State (6-2)
16. Mississippi State (6-2)
17. USC (6-2)
18. UCF (7-0)
19. LSU (6-2)
20. N.C. State (6-2)
21. Stanford (6-2)
22. Arizona (6-2)
23. Memphis (7-1)
24. Michigan State (6-2)
25. Washington State (7-2)