Penn State Ranked No. 15 In First College Football Playoff Ranking

The start of November brought the first College Football Playoff ranking of the season, with the Nittany Lions coming in at No. 15.

All in all, this is a good sign for Penn State should it want to reach a New Year’s Six bowl game. There’s been some projections that Illinois — should it win the Big Ten West — could sneak into the NY6 instead of a 10-2 Penn State. But given that the Illini are ranked behind Penn State (at No. 16) despite being 7-1, it likely shows that the committee won’t reward what will probably be a 9-3 team even if it has a Big Ten West crown.

Regardless, for Penn State the main focus of the season shouldn’t be on rankings, but instead, just winning the season out. While the prize of a New Year’s Six bowl is certainly nice, the more important piece to that is ending the regular season on a four-game winning streak. Whatever happens after 10-2 is just the cherry on top.