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Will James Franklin Hang Penn State's Preseason Ranking in His 'Man Cave'?

The Nittany Lions open the 2025 season ranked No. 3 in the preseason Coaches Poll.
Mark Wogenrich|
Penn State football coach James Franklin smiles during a practice session outside Holuba Hall.
Penn State football coach James Franklin smiles during a practice session outside Holuba Hall. | Dan Rainville / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

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An elite soft skill of college football coaches is dismissing rankings, particularly those of the preseason. Penn State coach James Franklin delivered a sharp one-liner in that regard at Penn State Football Media Day.

Two days before the Nittany Lions opened 2025 ranked third in the preseason Coaches Poll (in which Franklin votes), the Penn State coach said this:

"No one — no one — cares about preseason rankings," Franklin said. "Like, I'm not going to frame the preseason rankings and put it in my basement in the man cave. No one cares. No one cares."

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Nevertheless, there's a reason the Nittany Lions are among the favorites to win the College Football Playoff championship. Penn State returns 20 starters, 10 on offense, from a team that went 13-3 last season and reached the CFP semifinals. Penn State closed the season fifth in the Coaches Poll and opened 2025 ranked two spots higher.

Penn State even received 14 first-place votes in the preseason Coaches Poll, an indication that Franklin's fellow coaches like his team. The Nittany Lions start the season behind Texas and defending champ Ohio State in the Coaches Poll. Those two teams will play Aug. 30 in Columbus. Georgia and Notre Dame round out the top 5.

But Franklin and the Nittany Lions have used preseason expectations to turn the conversation inward. Doesn't matter where you rank us, players said, our expectations are even higher.

"Yeah, there's probably more noise about us than there was in the past, but that's all it is," Penn State center Nick Dawkins said. "It's noise. Again, acknowledging it, it's awesome we're getting this kind of love and stuff like that, but I don't really tune into it much. I've got so many other things going on in my life, as all of us do. And really, I think when you take that approach, that you're worried more about the team and yourself as an individual, it makes you a better player. Because if you get stuck looking at all that stuff, and you kind of try to convince yourself you're somebody or not, or you're trying to be something you're not, it just drains you."

Penn State earns a No. 1 preseason ranking

FOX Sports' Joel Klatt pushed the Nittany Lions even higher than the coaches, placing them No. 1 in his preseason rankings ahead of Texas, Ohio State, Clemson and Oregon. The preseason AP Top 25 will be released Aug. 11. Penn State could be ranked No. 1 in the preseason poll for the first time since 1997. Certainly, Franklin is looking forward to it.

"All that's wonderful," Franklin said. "We want to spend our time working on the things that are going to allow us to do the things we want to do this year, starting with Nevada [on Aug. 30] and creating the habits and behaviors that will get us there. We're not talking about, not spending a ton of time talking about, goals and those type of things. There's a place for it, but we're focused on what we have to do to have the type of season that we want to have."

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Mark Wogenrich
MARK WOGENRICH

Mark Wogenrich is the editor and publisher of Penn State on SI, the site for Nittany Lions sports on the Sports Illustrated network. He has covered Penn State sports for more than two decades across three coaching staffs, three Rose Bowls and one College Football Playoff appearance.

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