Penn State Football Stays at No. 11 in Latest College Football Playoff Rankings

Nov 23, 2022 - 12:11 AM

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PSU football continues to get some respect from the College Football Playoff committee, but stay at #11 in this week’s rankings.

The Nittany Lions aren’t the top ranked two-loss team, but they arguably still have the *best* two losses, to still top-three Ohio State and Michigan. As has been the case more often than not since the divisions were re-sorted in 2014, the Big Ten’s title hopes run through the East, as this year, like last, the winner of this year’s Buckeye/Wolverine matchup looks poised to be in the playoff.

There are no entrants from the Big Ten West division in the playoff rankings, and no more Big Ten East teams behind Penn State.

Out of conference, Tennessee’s blowout loss to South Carolina this past week looks to have derailed their playoff hopes, though they still are ahead of Penn State. The battle for the final playoff spots this year look to directly impact PSU as much as finishing the regular season with a win over the Spartans, as the Lions look to lock down a New Year’s Six bowl game depending on how the rest of the field shakes out.

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Side note: who else is irked at the show’s audio clip of “we’ve never seen before a two-loss team with a credible claim” that is used in the ESPN intro? 2016, anyone?

Also, USC going “on the road” to UCLA is l