Historic College Football Powerhouse Plummets in Preseason AP Top 25 Rankings

What a difference a year makes, as one blue blood college football program took a nosedive in the preseason AP rankings.

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It was another roll call of elite college football programs who earned consideration as the best teams in the country as AP top 25 pollsters revealed their preseason rankings.

But one such marquee program that was very highly considered this time last preseason saw its fortunes take a nosedive when voters compiled their 2026 poll, proving once again that the first rankings of the summer aren’t what you would call an exact science.

Big Ten powerhouse takes a fall

A year ago, Penn State entered the fall with hopes about as high as they could get, earning the No. 2 position in the previous preseason poll, carrying 23 first place votes and the belief that they were legitimate national championship contenders.

A year later, that optimism looks almost surreal. Penn State finished 7-6, needing a new coach, and unranked — a dramatic and unforeseen collapse from the lofty expectations that accompanied the program into last season.

Those 2025 promises quickly unraveled once Penn State lost to Oregon in a double-overtime thriller and then followed it with a surprising loss at UCLA. The Nittany Lions eventually fired head coach James Franklin, fell out of the rankings altogether, and never recovered.

Enter Matt Campbell

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Now, in the present, the Nittany Lions open the 2026 preseason as the No. 18 team in the AP poll, a respectable enough ranking by itself, but the number that really matters is the distance between where the program was a year ago and where it is now.

That 16-point drop from one preseason poll to the next marks the second-largest such tumble for any college football program in the playoff era, and now it falls on new head coach Matt Campbell to meet the challenge of resurrecting Penn State’s national reputation.

A year ago, the question was whether Penn State could win a championship. This year, the more immediate question is whether it can restore the credibility it lost. 

The fall from No. 2 to unranked was catastrophic. Starting at No. 18 suggests voters believe the climb back has begun — but also that Penn State has plenty left to prove.

Penn State isn’t alone

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Falling from No. 2 to No. 18 from one preseason to the next is one thing, but the Nittany Lions have plenty of company when it comes to AP top 25 pollsters making early mistakes.

Clemson was named the No. 4 team in last preseason’s rankings and earned four first-place votes, only to stumble into a forgettable 7-6 record itself, arousing speculation around Dabo Swinney’s future, and splashing down as an unranked team at season’s end.

Ten other preseason ranked teams finished the 2025 campaign out of the poll entirely, including: LSU (preseason No. 9), Arizona State (11), Illinois (12), South Carolina (13), Florida (15), SMU (16), Kansas State (17), Iowa State (22), Tennessee (24), and Boise State (25).