ALTOONA, Pa. -- Penn State is one of the darlings of the way-too-early top 25 lists released over the past couple of days, ranked inside the top 10 by a dozen major outlets.
It makes perfect sense, too, given how well the Nittany Lions finished the season and with what they've got coming back next year. They were No. 7 in the final Associated Press poll of the season.
Despite finishing in the Associated Press top 25 for the second straight season, Pitt has not received much love at all when it comes to looking ahead to next year's rankings.
Of the dozen major outlets below, only one had the Panthers ranked in its early top 25.
Let's take a look at the way-too-early rankings.
PENN STATE
As you can see, the Lions are ranked as high as No. 4 and as low as No. 9 in the way-too-early rankings. Here's where they are slotted:
Sports Illustrated: No. 4
247Sports: No. 5
USA Today: No. 5
ESPN: No. 6
The Athletic: No. 6
CBSSports: No. 7
FOXSports: No. 7
Yahoo! Sports: No. 7
Pro Football Focus: No. 7
Action Network: No. 7
Athlon: No. 8
Sporting News: No. 9
As we reported earlier this week, Penn State has the sixth-best odds to win the national championship next season, according to BetOnline.
The Lions will return a host of starters on both sides of the ball, but will be breaking in a new quarterback in phenom Drew Allar, the No. 1 QB recruit in the country for the class of 2022.
PITT
The only outlet to include Pitt in its early top 25 was Action Network, where veteran reporter Brett McMurphy has the Panthers at No. 22.
ESPN has Pitt listed among teams that "just missed the cut" for the top 25, while The Athletic has the Panthers listed as "just outside" the top 25. No other outlet mentioned Pitt at all with regards to its rankings.
Pitt was No. 22 in the final AP poll, winning five games in a row to close the season. The Panthers have to replace a lot of key players on both sides and will have a new quarterback in Boston College transfer Phil Jurkovec.