Believe it or not, we’re just 20 days away from the start of the 2025 college football season.
Week 0 will feature five intriguing matchups, which includes a showdown between Iowa State and Kansas State in Dublin, Ireland. The following week there’ll be countless games on display, such as Texas vs. Ohio State. That might very well be a preview for this year’s College Football Playoff.
Even though Texas and Ohio State are loaded with talent heading into this season, ESPN’s Mark Schlabach doesn’t have either team ranked No. 1 as of this time. Instead, that title belongs to Penn State.
“After finally turning the corner under coach James Franklin in 2024, the Nittany Lions look loaded for bear this coming season. With Allar, Allen and Singleton returning, Penn State should have one of the most balanced offenses in the FBS, especially if Allar takes the next step as a downfield passer. Adding Pena, Ross and Hudson was critical; Penn State’s receivers didn’t have a reception in a 27-24 loss to Notre Dame in a CFP semifinal at the Capital One Orange Bowl. Pena, a slot receiver, had 84 catches for 941 yards with nine scores in 2024,” Schlabach wrote.
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Schlabach actually has Ohio State ranked No. 5 as of this August, which is pretty low for the defending champions.
Here’s the top 25 from ESPN:
Penn State
Clemson
Texas
Georgia
Ohio State
LSU
Notre Dame
Oregon
Alabama
BYU
Illinois
Arizona State
South Carolina
Iowa State
SMU
Texas Tech
Indiana
Kansas State
Florida
Michigan
Miami
Louisville
Texas A&M
Ole Miss
Oklahoma
Unsurprisingly, these rankings from ESPN sparked quite a debate on social media.
“This is a wild Top 25… Penn State is NOT No. 1 Dawgs are NOT No. 4 Indiana and Sooners should be NOWHERE near Top 25 Miami, Fla. should be in Top 10,” one fan said.
“Not even Penn State fans believe Penn State is No. 1,” another fan wrote.
“I think this may come back to haunt Penn State,” a third fan commented.
Penn State has an early test against Oregon on Sept. 27. That could tell us all we need to know about James Franklin’s squad.
Do you think Penn State deserves to be ranked No. 1 heading into this season?
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