The Athletic's Stewart Mandel is a preseason Penn State believer, placing the Nittany Lions atop his too-early top 25 for 2025. "I'm skeptical they can actually pull it off," Mandel writes, "but on paper, James Franklin's team deserves that status given how many players are returning."

The Nittany Lions ended in the top five for the first time since 2005. It’s the first time the Big Ten has had three teams in the final top five. Ohio State was No. 1 and Oregon was No. 3.

The Arizona State Sun Devils closed the 2024 college football season as a Top 10 team in most end-of-season rankings. Will they open 2025 as one?

Penn State received 1,203 points in the final AP Top 25 poll, just eight behind Texas for fourth. Ohio State was No. 1, followed by Notre Dame and Oregon. Penn State has finished in the AP top 10 five times in James Franklin's 11 seasons as head coach. Franklin's teams have seven top-20 finishes since 2016.