If you’re looking at the latest AP Poll and scratching your head because you can't find the blue and white, you aren't alone. It has been a bizarre, borderline historic collapse for a program that started the season with national championship aspirations. To give it to you straight: Penn State is currently unranked. They aren't just "falling." They are out. Completely.
After starting the 2025 season as the No. 2 team in the country, the Nittany Lions suffered a mid-season meltdown that saw them plummet out of the Top 25 entirely. They eventually clawed back some dignity, finishing the year with a 7-6 record and a win over Clemson in the Pinstripe Bowl. But for a team that was supposed to be a playoff lock, "unranked" is a tough pill to swallow for the folks in State College.
The current standing of Penn State football
Right now, the 2025-2026 season has wrapped up, and Penn State is sitting in the "receiving votes" category or lower in major polls. In the Big Ten standings, they finished 12th out of 18 teams. Let that sink in for a second. In a conference they once headlined, they ended up behind programs like Iowa, Illinois, and even Minnesota.
- Final 2025 Record: 7-6
- Big Ten Record: 3-6
- Final Ranking: Unranked (AP and Coaches)
- Bowl Result: Won Pinstripe Bowl (22-10 vs. Clemson)
Honestly, it’s been a rollercoaster. They spent the first five weeks of the season inside the Top 5. They looked invincible. Then, the wheels didn't just wobble—they flew off.
What rank is Penn State football in the history books?
If we look past this specific season's disaster, Penn State's "rank" in the hierarchy of college football is still massive. We are talking about the 7th winningest program of all time. They have 930+ wins. They have two national titles.
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But modern ranking is about "what have you done for me lately?"
In the James Franklin era, the "rank" was usually somewhere between No. 6 and No. 12. They were the "almost" team. They were the team that could beat everyone except Ohio State and Michigan. This year, however, that ceiling became a floor. After a 3-0 start where they held the No. 2 spot, they lost six straight games.
Six. In a row.
That streak included a heartbreaking double-overtime loss to Oregon and a stunning upset at the hands of UCLA. By the time they hit mid-October, the "what rank is Penn State football" question changed from "Are they No. 1?" to "Wait, are they even good?"
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Why did they fall so far?
You don't go from No. 2 to unranked because of bad luck. It was a systemic failure. James Franklin, who had been the face of the program for over a decade, was actually fired in October 2025 after a three-game skid. The university decided they’d seen enough. Terry Smith took over as the interim, and while he stabilized the ship to win the final three regular-season games, the damage to their ranking was irreversible.
The offense was the main culprit. They ranked 96th in passing yards per game. In a modern era where you have to score to survive, Penn State was trying to win with a 1990s blueprint. It didn't work. They were 12th in the Big Ten for a reason.
The 2025 "Free Fall" Timeline
- September: Ranked No. 2. Rolling through Nevada and FIU.
- September 27: The "White Out" disaster. A 30-24 2OT loss to Oregon. Rank drops to No. 7.
- October 4: The UCLA upset. Penn State loses 42-37 as a 24-point favorite. They drop out of the Top 25.
- November 1: A blowout loss to Ohio State (38-14). Ranking remains non-existent.
- December: The rebound. They win four straight, including the bowl game, but it's too little, too late for the polls.
The "Predictive" Rank: Are they actually better than 7-6?
There’s a difference between a "Human Poll" (like the AP) and a "Predictive Rank" (like SP+ or KenPom-style metrics). Interestingly, despite the 7-6 record, some computer models still had Penn State in the Top 20 at the end of the year.
Why? Because their defense was actually elite.
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They finished the season ranked 32nd in points allowed. They just couldn't score. They lost games by one point to Northwestern and one point to Iowa. If a couple of kicks go the other way, we are talking about a 9-3 team that's ranked in the Top 15. But football isn't played on a spreadsheet. It’s played on grass, and on grass, they were a sub-.500 team in conference play.
What's next for the Nittany Lions?
The question of "what rank is Penn State football" is going to be the main storyline of the 2026 offseason. With a new permanent head coach search underway, the program is at a crossroads.
They have the talent. They have the 107,000-seat stadium. They have the money. What they don't have is a ranking. For the first time in years, Penn State will likely start the next season as an underdog, probably unranked or tucked away in the "Others Receiving Votes" section.
If you are a fan, the next step is watching the Transfer Portal. Because they fell out of the rankings so spectacularly, keeping their top-tier talent from fleeing to Ohio State or Oregon is going to be a battle. Keep a close eye on the late-winter recruiting rankings; that’s the only place you’ll find Penn State near the top of a list for a while.
The path back to the Top 25 starts with fixing an offense that finished near the bottom of the FBS in big plays. Until that happens, the Nittany Lions are just another team in the middle of the Big Ten pack.
Actionable Insights for Fans:
- Monitor the Coaching Search: The new hire will determine if PSU returns to the Top 10 or stays in the 7-6 wilderness.
- Check the 2026 Strength of Schedule: The Big Ten is only getting tougher with the West Coast additions; an unranked PSU has a brutal climb back up.
- Focus on the Defense: The unit remains Top-25 caliber; any offensive improvement could lead to a massive "bounce-back" rank next season.