Where Penn State Ranks in the Week 4 College Football Polls

Penn State held steady in the major college football polls following its Week 3 win over Villanova. The Nittany Lions scored 31 second-half points in a 52-6 victory that lifted their record to 3-0 after the non-conference schedule. Penn State has a bye week before hosting Oregon on Sept. 27 at Beaver Stadium.

Penn State is No. 2 once again in both the AP Top 25 and Coaches Poll and also held firm in ESPN's College Football Power Index, which has a No. 1 team of interest for the Nittany Lions. Here's a look at where Penn State stands in the major polls.

AP Top 25

THE WEEK 4 AP TOP 25 IS IN 🙌

Which team is ranked too high? pic.twitter.com/icQFWdmAhf
— FOX College Football (@CFBONFOX) September 14, 2025

AP voters ranked Penn State at No. 2 for the fourth time this season. Penn State once again is behind top-ranked Ohio State, which stretched its points lead to 141. Penn State also received five first-place votes for the second consecutive week.

Coaches Poll

The voting coaches of the US LBM Coaches Poll also ranked Penn State at No. 2 behind the Buckeyes. Three coaches placed Penn State atop their ballots in the season's fourth poll. That's one fewer than last week. Penn State began the season at No. 3 in the Coaches Poll.

ESPN College Football Power Index

Penn State remained at No. 7 in ESPN's FPI, which is a predictive model rather than a poll. The FPI purports to represent "how many points above of below average a team is." According to the model, Penn State currently has just a 2.3 percent chance to go undefeated during the regular season.

The FPI also gives Penn State a 47.2 percent chance to make the College Football Playoff, which is lower than Ole Miss, Miami, USC and Alabama. Oregon, Penn State's unbeaten next opponent, ranks No. 1 in the latest FPI.

Penn State Nittany Lions players sing the alma mater following their 52-6 win over the Villanova Wildcats at Beaver Stadium. | Matthew O'Haren-Imagn Images

Massey Ratings

Penn State is No. 5 in the latest Massey Ratings, which take into account such data points as offensive and defensive power, home-field advantage, strength of schedule and strength of future schedule.

Massey ranks Penn State's strength of schedule as 136th, or last, in the FBS. The Nittany Lions are 3-0 with wins over Nevada, FIU and Villanova by a combined score of 132-17. Penn State's future schedule ranks 34th, according to Massey.

Joel Klatt

My new Top 10 (9/13)
1) @OhioStateFB
2) @LSUfootball
3) @oregonfootball
4) @PennStateFball
5) @GeorgiaFootball
6) @CanesFootball
7) @OU_Football
8) @TexasFootball
9) @FSUFootball
10) @Utah_Football
Almost: @Vol_Football @AggieFootball @IlliniFootball @AlabamaFTBL
— Joel Klatt (@joelklatt) September 14, 2025

The FOX Sports analyst has Penn State at No. 4 in his latest top-10 behind two Big Ten teams in Ohio State (No. 1) and Oregon (No. 3). Klatt had painted Penn State at No. 1 in a preseason poll.

What's next for Penn State?

Penn State Nittany Lions head coach James Franklin watches a replay of the final play of the game vs. the Villanova Wildcats. — Penn State Nittany Lions head coach James Franklin watches the replay of the final play of the game against the Villanova Wildcats at Beaver Stadium. | Matthew O'Haren-Imagn Images

Penn State coach James Franklin called this a bye week "but not an off week by any means." The Nittany Lions were scheduled to practice Sunday night at Beaver Stadium to test the venue's new lights ahead of the prime-time White Out vs. Oregon on Sept. 27.

"Obviously, we'll have the advantage of not having to break down the previous game and not make corrections in practice, so we'll be a little bit ahead, but we need to get better," Franklin said. "We need to get better on Tuesday, we need to get better on Wednesday and then we need to be able to come in the next week in a really good place with a tremendous opportunity and a tremendous challenge in front of us."

Penn State also knows that it will be facing an interim head coach in its first road game of the season. UCLA on Sunday fired coach DeShaun Foster after the Bruins started the season 0-3 with a 35-10 home loss to New Mexico. Ted Skipper, who was Foster's special assistant, will be the interim head coach. Skipper was the interim head coach at Fresno State in 2024. Penn State visits UCLA at the Rose Bowl on Oct. 4.