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The Penn State Nittany Lions will begin the 2019 season as the No. 15 team in the country according to the newly released preseason AP Poll, two spots higher than they finished the 2018 season.
BREAKING: Clemson ranked No. 1 in preseason AP Top 25 for first time; Alabama, Georgia, Oklahoma, Ohio State round out the top five in the poll, presented by @askRegions: https://t.co/DWCBw9xytP pic.twitter.com/vwevmx9hfy
— AP Top 25 (@AP_Top25) August 19, 2019
This marks the third-straight season the Nittany Lions have been ranked entering the season, the program’s longest such streak since 2006-10. It also marks the 41st-straight week for Penn State in the AP Poll, the fifth-longest streak in the nation.
There are seven Big Ten teams ranked in the 2019 preseason poll, the most of any conference with the SEC coming in second with six. Ohio State and Michigan lead the way as the only Big Ten teams in the top-10 coming in at No. 5 and No. 7 respectively. Penn State, Michigan State, and Wisconsin are all in the middle of the pack at Nos. 15, 18, and 19, while Iowa and Nebraska round out the Big Ten’s representation at No. 20 and No. 24.
The Nittany Lions are scheduled to take on four preseason ranked teams this upcoming season in Iowa, Michigan, Michigan State, and Ohio State.
Comparatively, the Nittany Lions are ranked No. 14 in the preseason Amway Coaches Poll. The Nittany Lions will look to begin their ascent up the rankings on August 31 when they take on the Idaho Vandals at Beaver Stadium. That game kicks off at 3:30 p.m. ET.