Penn State Football Scores Highest AP Top 25 Final Ranking in Nearly 20 Years

Penn State capped a 13-3 season in the College Football Playoff semifinals, where it fell one win shy of playing for the national championship. As a result, Penn State football commanded its highest finish in the AP Top 25 Poll in nearly 20 years.
The Nittany Lions finished fifth in the final AP Top 25 Poll released Tuesday after Ohio State's 34-23 win over Notre Dame in the College Football Playoff title game. Penn State's No. 5 ranking represents the team's highest finish in the final AP poll since 2005, when the Nittany Lions went 11-1 and ended the season at No. 3. According to College Poll Archive, the top-5 finish is just the fourth for the Nittany Lions since their last national-championship season in 1986. In addition to 2005, Penn State was third after the 1991 season and second after the 1994 season.
Penn State was ranked as high as No. 3 in the AP Poll during the regular season, reaching that spot after a 33-30 overtime win at USC in October. Penn State fell to No. 6 after its 20-13 November loss to Ohio State and climbed back to No. 3 after capping the regular season with a 44-7 win over Maryland. Penn State was fourth in the final College Football Playoff rankings released in December and seeded sixth for the playoff. The Nittany Lions defeated SMU and Boise State before falling to Notre Dame in the Orange Bowl.
RELATED: Where the Nittany Lions stand in the way-too-early 2025 rankings
Penn State received 1,203 points in the final AP Top 25 poll, just eight behind Texas for fourth. Ohio State was No. 1, followed by Notre Dame and Oregon. Penn State has finished in the AP top 10 five times in James Franklin's 11 seasons as head coach. Franklin's teams have seven top-20 finishes since 2016.
Penn State returns a host of seniors and starters in 2025, giving Franklin perhaps his best opportunity to reach the CFP championship game.
"Well, obviously it was a tremendous experience for our guys, and they know they can play with anybody," Franklin said after the team's loss to Notre Dame in the Orange Bowl. "There's a lot of young guys in that locker room who played. There's a bunch of young guys that just were able to experience it. It's an experience that they'll remember for the rest of their life, this season and how it went. And there's going to be a ton of guys coming back for next year that are going to be hungry and are going to be motivated for more. They've gotten a taste of what this feels like and what it looks like
and what it smells like. We'll all be better for it, including myself. We'll be better from this experience because there's so many guys in that locker room that have a chance to come back and use this as fuel and experience to get back here next year and the years after that."
Penn State opens the 2025 season Aug. 30 against Nevada at Beaver Stadium.
Final AP Top 25 for the 2024 Season
- 1. Ohio State 14-2
- 2. Notre Dame 14-2
- 3. Oregon 13-1
- 4. Texas 13-3
- 5. Penn State 13-3
- 6. Georgia 11-3
- 7. Arizona State 11-3
- 8. Boise State 12-2
- 9. Tennessee 10-3
- 10. Indiana 11-2
- 11. Ole Miss 10-3
- 12. SMU 11-3
- 13. BYU 11-2
- 14. Clemson 10-4
- 15. Iowa State 11-3
- 16. Illinois 10-3
- 17. Alabama 9-4
- 18. Miami 10-3
- 19. South Carolina 9-4
- 20. Syracuse 10-3
- 21. Army 12-2
- 22. Missouri 10-3
- 23. UNLV 11-3
- 24. Memphis 11-2
- 25. Colorado 9-4
National champion Buckeyes are No. 1 in final AP Top 25, Notre Dame, Oregon next; Ole Miss, BYU ranked ahead of CFP teams.
— AP Top 25 (@AP_Top25) January 21, 2025
Full poll: https://t.co/7dTTUiSC1j pic.twitter.com/rTBgIok3Zh
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