Penn State Football: Nittany Lions Rise in the ESPN SP+ Spring Rankings

Penn State football has been among the lead stories college football's 2025 offseason. After their bitter loss to Notre Dame in the Orange Bowl, the Nittany Lions quickly turned toward next season with a singular mission: to win the College Football Playoff championship.

As spring practice approaches, Penn State retains that national brand. Penn State is third in the latest ESPN SP+ rankings, Bill Connelly's formula that measures team efficiences across offense, defense and special teams to predict a finish and not to measure success. In that sense, Penn State is improving. The Nittany Lions ranked fifth in the season-ending ESPN SP+ rankings and enter spring practice at No. 3 behind defending national champ Ohio State and Alabama. Penn State ranks ahead of Georgia and Notre Dame, which round out the top 5.

Connelly's updated rankings lean heavily on three key assessment points: returning production, recruiting and recent history. Penn State performs well in all three categories.

The Nittany Lions return much of their offensive production with quarterback Drew Allar, running backs Nicholas Singleton and Kaytron Allen and five offensive linemen with starting experience. Of course, Penn State must fill the great gap left by Tyler Warren's departure (and his 104 catches) along with the transfers of the team's top two receivers. Defensively, edge rusher Dani Dennis-Sutton is a budding All-American, safety Zakee Wheatley and cornerback A.J. Harris lead the secondary and Tony Rojas seeks to become one of the Big Ten's top linebackers.

In recruiting, Penn State brought in the nation's 15th-ranked class, according to the 247Sports Composite, and one that features some potential early contributors. As for recent history, the Nittany Lions have won at least 10 regular-season games over the past three seasons, went 11-1 during the 2024 regular season and won 13 games for the first time in school history.

Further, Penn State is basking in the "all-in" perception that national media has cultivated for the program. Several too-early college football rankings that emerged in January had Penn State listed as No. 1. The Nittany Lions have staked their claim by returning top talent, signing defensive coordinator Jim Knowles as the nation's highest-paid assistant and bringing in former Temple head coach Stan Drayton to coach running backs.

"In terms of the [athletic department] commitment, it's been phenomenal," Penn State football coach James Franklin said. "It's been all you can ask for. I think really, in the last two years, the commitment level has matched the expectations and I think there's very few places in the country that can actually say that. So I'm very, very appreciative of that. [Athletic Director] Pat Kraft has been phenomenal, has been supportive. [Penn State President] Neeli Bendapudi has been unbelievably supportive.

"As you know, we have unique flexibility because we are self-sufficient. A lot of different universities are using resources from the university or the student body, and we're not, but it still takes the support to get those things done, so I'm very appreciative. And obviously, when you're able to be able to go out and compete with who we competed with to get arguably the best defensive coordinator in college football, I'm very, very appreciative of that."

Added Kraft, "I'm here to win a national championship. We're here to win national championships, and we're here to do it the right way. I'm committed whatever you want to call it. We're committed to it. It takes everybody. When it comes to football, we're close, we're close, and we're going to keep going and keep going and keep going until we get to where we want to be. And it's working together with James and all of my coaches."

Penn State begins spring practice in late March. The spring Blue-White Game is scheduled for April 26 at Beaver Stadium.

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