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Penn State Slides in the Polls After Loss to Michigan

Pollsters drop the Nittany Lions after their 24-15 loss to the Wolverines.

Penn State tumbled in the polls Sunday following its 24-15 loss to Michigan at Beaver Stadium. The Nittany Lions dropped three spots to No. 9 in the AP Top 25 and the Coaches Poll after falling to 8-2 on the season.

Michigan, playing without head coach Jim Harbaugh on the sideline, defeated Penn State for the third consecutive season. The Lions are now 0-6 against Ohio State and Michigan over the past three seasons. Penn State has not beaten both teams in the same year since 2008.

Michigan remained at No. 2 in both polls after improving to 10-0 with the win. The Wolverines were No. 3 in last week's College Football Playoff rankings.

Michigan improved to 17-10 all-time against Penn State and 8-6 at Beaver Stadium. The Wolverines also improved to 14-6 in games when the teams are ranked.

"We've lost to the No. 1 [Ohio State] and No. 3 [Michigan] teams in the country," Penn State coach James Franklin said, referring to the College Football Playoff rankings. "That's not good enough. We’ve got to find ways to win those games. But address it, be honest, be transparent. Go after it head-on and then move on to the next opponent so we can find a way to get a win next week and finish this thing in a positive direction."

The third edition of the College Football Playoff rankings will be released Tuesday. Penn State hosts Rutgers on Nov. 19 for a noon kickoff. It's the Lions' final home game of the season and Senior Day. FS1 will televise.

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