Where Penn State Landed in the Polls After Loss to Ohio State

The Nittany Lions slipped in the AP Top 25 and Coaches Poll after falling at home to the Buckeyes.

Penn State coach James Franklin walks on the field during a warmup prior to the game against the Ohio State Buckeyes at Beaver Stadium. / Matthew O'Haren-Imagn Images

Penn State fell in both major college football polls following its 20-13 loss to Ohio State, perhaps previewing its place when the first College Football Playoff rankings are released this week.

Penn State fell three spots to No. 6 in the AP Top 25 and four spots to No. 7 in the Coaches Poll. That the Nittany Lions (7-1) remained in the top 10 in both polls suggests a potentially favorable landing spot in the inaugural CFP rankings of 2024. The CFP committee will release its first set of rankings at 7 p.m. ET on ESPN. Michigan Athletic Director Warde Manuel serves as the College Football Playoff committee chair this year.

Penn State lost its eighth straight game to Ohio State on Saturday, as the Buckeyes overwhelmed the Nittany Lions' offense in a 20-13 victory. Penn State did not score an offensive touchdown in a game for the first time since 2014. Ohio State held the Nittany Lions to 270 total yards, including 42 by their primary running backs, and put together a goal-line stand in the fourth quarter.

The Nittany Lions took five snaps inside the Ohio State 5-yard line on two different possessions but did not score. Penn State coach James Franklin called that the difference in the game.

"First of all, you’ve got to give Ohio State credit. They did a really good job today," Franklin said. "We did some things that were good enough to win and other things we did not. We cannot have the ball inside the 5-yard line twice and come out with no points."

Penn State fell two spots to No. 11 in the ESPN College Football Football Power Index, a predictive model of a team's performance. The Nittany Lions still have a 73.7 percent chance to make the College Football Playoff, according to the FPI. Seven teams have better chances to make the playoff, according to the FPI, including unbeaten Indiana of the Big Ten.

Penn State and Indiana do not play this season. The Hoosiers (9-0) host Michigan on Saturday before visiting Ohio State on Nov. 23.

"We’ve got to do a great job making sure we come in tomorrow, make their corrections, but then Sunday night, we’ve got to flush it and move on to Washington," Franklin said. "We can't allow one loss to turn into two. The reality of college football is everything is still ahead of us, and we’ve got to do a great job of making the corrections, eliminating the things that were unforced errors that happened today, and then we’ve got to find a way to get a win next week at home, and everything is still in front of us.

Penn State hosts Washington on Saturday night in the annual White Out game. Kickoff is scheduled for 8 p.m. ET on Peacock.

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