Penn State Football Climbs 2024 Preseason Rankings

“Penn State is a unanimous top-10 team for 2024,” Ben Crawford writes for 247 Sports . “And it’s staying that way despite the spring game performance from the first-team offense leaving much to be desired. By design, sometimes it looks that way in April. The proof of an improvements there come in September when the Nittany Lions take the field with a new play-caller and the promise of explosive plays for the first time in several years. That’s what it will take to be an expected force in the Big Ten alongside other elites. James Franklin made changes to a 10-win team he felt were necessary to get over the hump and into the expanded playoff next season. “

The Nittany Lions usually rank around that ten spot, and in 2023, they started the year ranked seventh in the AP Preseason Top-25 poll.

What Makes Penn State Football a Top-10 Team in 2024

It’s not a stretch to see Penn State inside the Top Ten.

One thing they do have over many teams in the rankings is a legit starting quarterback in Drew Allar, who could position himself to be a first-rounder in next year’s NFL Draft.

They also have a two-head monster running back duo, Nick Singleton and Kaytron Allen, and Abdul Carter is one of the best defensive players in the country.

How Penn State Football Compares to Big Ten Foes

Even though Penn State comes in at number nine, there are still three Big Ten teams ahead of them, with Ohio State at number one, the newcomer Oregon at four, and the defending champion Michigan at seven.

The only other Big Ten team in the rankings is USC, which is down at number 21, so it’s going to be a very competitive Big Ten this season; the Nittany Lions used just to have to go through Ohio State and Michigan, and now you have to throw in two more teams in USC and Oregon.

The Big Ten ranks five teams behind the SEC, with nine: No. 2 Georgia, No. 3 Texas, No. 5 Alabama, No. 6 Ole Miss, N. 8 Missouri, No. 12 Tennessee, No. 13 LSU, No. 15 Oklahoma, and No. 19 Texas A&M.

The ACC had the second-most ranked schools but none inside the Top 10: No. 11 Florida State, No. 14 Miami, No. 16 Clemson, No. 20 NC State, No. 24 Virginia Tech, and No. 25 Louisville.

The Big 12 had four schools ranked No. 17: Kansas State, No. 18 Utah, No. 22 West Virginia, and No. 23 Oklahoma State, and one independent ranked, Notre Dame, at 10.

The SEC and Big Ten will be the super conferences this season, with nine of their teams ranked inside the top ten. Expect to see most of those schools in the new 12-team College Football Playoff this season.

It will be exciting to see how the new conferences play out and how the 12-team playoff goes. We are entering a new era of college football, and it will be fun.