Penn State coach James Franklin is one of the 53 program leaders who make up the voting block for the weekly USA Today Coaches Poll. As we’ll detail below, he doesn’t do the leg work himself, as you could have probably assumed.

Penn State finished the regular season 11-1, but the “one” was another loss to Ohio State. Franklin is 4-17 against Ohio State and Michigan, his team’s biggest rivals in the Big 10. Penn State had a favorable path to the semifinals, beating SMU and Boise State.