Where Penn State Lands in the 2025 Way-Too-Early College Football Rankings

Penn State wasted little time after the Orange Bowl in recalibrating for next season. Key starters like Nicholas Singleton, Kaytron Allen, Dani Dennis-Sutton and Zane Durant announced plans to return for the Penn State football team in 2025, joining quarterback Drew Allar and offensive coordinator Andy Kotelnicki. That's a lot of firepower back for a team that went 13-3, made the Big Ten Championship Game and reached the College Football Playoff semifinals.
Penn State coach James Franklin returns for season No. 12, which has the potential to be his best in State College. When one college football season ends, the next begins almost instantly. Which means, it's time for the way-too-early rankings for the 2025 season. The Nittany Lions figure prominently in them. In fact, at least two have Penn State at No. 1.
Fox Sports analyst Joel Klatt has Penn State as his early No. 1, saying that the Nittany Lions are "knocking on the door of a national championship." He suggests 2025 is the year.
Penn State is bringing all these key pieces back, and @joelklatt says they're "knocking on the door of a National Championship." 🏆🔑
— The Joel Klatt Show: A CFB Pod (@JoelKlattShow) January 23, 2025
More on why the Nittany Lions are Klatt's way-too-early #1 team ahead of the 2025 season ⬇️ pic.twitter.com/Y7F7dczAji
The Athletic's Stewart Mandel is a preseason Penn State believer, placing the Nittany Lions atop his too-early top 25 for 2025. "I'm skeptical they can actually pull it off," Mandel writes, "but on paper, James Franklin's team deserves that status given how many players are returning."
Sports Illustrated's early top 25 positions Penn State at No. 3 and asks the question, "Can the Big Ten go three-for-three with three different schools, a la the SEC from 2019 to ‘21 with LSU, Alabama and Georgia? The Nittany Lions look like the team best equipped to make that happen."
Action Network's Brett McMurphy has Penn State as preseason No. 3 behind Ohio State and Texas.
At the Sporting News, Bill Bender likes Penn State at No. 4 behind Texas, Ohio State and Georgia.
Brad Crawford of 247Sports also pegs Penn State at No. 4, writing that Franklin "has to feel great about his roster outlook for 2025..."
Pro Football Focus' Max Chadwick is another analyst who lists Penn State at No. 4, writing that the team's biggest question is "who Allar's top targets will be."
Saturday Blitz isn't as sold on Penn State yet, listing the Nittany Lions at No. 7
On3's Andy Staples lists Penn State at No. 4, making this important point: "Penn State will be talented and old next year."
That's key. The Nittany Lions will have a third-year starting quarterback, two fourth-year running backs and five starting offensive linemen back (two who played right tackle). On defense, Dennis-Sutton and Durant will guide a defensive front that includes a seventh-year edge rusher in Smith Vilbert. Further, Penn State returns two starting linebackers, two primary starters in the secondary, four team captains and the bulk of its specialists. It also has playoff experience, having hosted a game at Beaver Stadium and having won two CFP games.
"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."
Moreover, Penn State has a head coach entering his 12th season with the program.
"I don't know when I became the old coach, but I did at some point," Franklin said. "But we've got a throw-back program with throw-back uniforms, and I still coach them and love them. I guess like the dinosaur I've become at some point. I don't know when that happened. But to me, it's about the guys. It's about the guys and their development. I want them to get drafted as high as possible. I understand the transfer portal is a part of college football now and NIL is a part of college football and we'll embrace those things, too, but I want this experience to be so much more than a transactional experience. I want it to be transformational."
Penn State returns to the field April 26 for the annual Blue-White spring scrimmage. The Nittany Lions open the 2025 schedule Aug. 30 against Nevada at Beaver Stadium.
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