The Problem No One Is Talking About With Penn State’s Ranking originally appeared on Athlon Sports.
College Football’s official AP preseason Top 25 was released on Monday, revealing the first look into where the best college programs fall among one another. The Texas Longhorns were crowned No. 1 for the first time, but it came as a bit of a surprise when the Penn State Nittany Lions (2) were placed above the defending champion Ohio State Buckeyes (3).
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RJ Young, host of the “Adapt & Respond” show, highlighted a notable issue with the rankings. Penn State has struggled against top-five teams in the past, raising questions about whether the Nittany Lions can maintain the No. 2 spot as the season progresses.
Penn State Nittany Lions head coach James Franklin.Joe Camporeale-Imagn Images
Young pointed out that since coach James Franklin took over the program in 2014, Penn State is just 1-15 against top-five opponents. On top of this, Big Ten foes Michigan and Ohio State have a combined 7-1 record against them, challenging whether the No. 2 overall spot and being placed above Ohio State was rightly deserved.
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Aside from these stats, he also honed in on the Nittany Lions’ failures in the postseason, where they come up short in big moments.
“Drew Allar, Nick Singleton, Kaytron Allen, Dani Dennis-Sutton—but when it comes time to beat Notre Dame, Drew Allar threw the pick. When it comes time to beat Ohio State, they come up short,” said Young.
Time will tell if the AP Poll made the right move by putting faith in Penn State. As for Ohio State, they want to repeat as champions, and the first team in their way will be Texas in Week 1.
Related: These 6 College Football Teams Earned First-Place Votes in Preseason AP Poll
This story was originally reported by Athlon Sports on Aug 11, 2025, where it first appeared.
