Dellenger omits Penn State from Week 1 Top 10, but gives grace to Texas

Senior college football reporter Ross Dellenger published his Week 1 Top 10 teams, but No. 2 Penn State was never going to be a consideration no matter what the score was.

The Nittany Lions (1-0) checked off a 46-11 victory over Nevada on Saturday. It was an expected, easy win that was a platform for star players to dominate without being contested. For Dellenger, like most people, fans and media alike, playing the Wolf Pack neither turns heads nor deserves to.

"When ranking teams, we do NOT consider preseason polls or any past season results. What happened in the past is, firmly, in the past," Dellenger wrote. "For instance, you won’t find on here . . . Penn State (it played Nevada!)."

Ross Dellenger leaves Penn State off Top 10 Week 1 list and it's justified

Leaving Penn State out is acceptable in Week 1 with the easy matchup. That doesn't mean there's room for excitement and anticipation for the coming weeks regardless of how unimpressive beating Nevada is as the No. 2 team in the country.

Quarterback Drew Allar had nearly an 85 percent completion average on Saturday and targeted his wide receivers, specifically Kyron Hudson and Trebor Pena, confidently. The running back room, even for the evening's third string Cam Wallace, showed consistency from last season. On defense, Dani Dennis-Sutton was nothing short of incredible while Zane Durant tallied an interception. The overall depth on that side of the ball gave head coach James Franklin something to be excited about.

The Nittany Lions shouldn't be a Top 10 team based on their Week 1 finish. They faced one of their three non-conference cupcake teams.

With that being said, No. 1 Texas made the list. The Longhorns who lost to No. 3 Ohio State with a flop performance from quarterback Arch Manning made the list.

Yes, it was an away game on the road in a tough stadium for them against the reigning national champions. That doesn't take away from the fact that the game raised some major red flags for Texas fans.

"Look, the Longhorns should have never started the season as the top-ranked team in the land. They were replacing their top two receivers, four starting offensive linemen and their quarterback, for crying out loud," Dellenger wrote. "There’s some comfort for Texas fans in that they were a couple fourth-down conversions away from winning a game on the road against the defending national champs."

Is comfort enough to make the Top 10 for the week?

There weren't expectations for either Texas or Ohio State to pull out a win, at least by a landslide. Ruling out some teams entirely, like Penn State and Georgia, before Week 1 even gets started is justifiable. Ruling some teams in because of comfort, phantom possibility, and "what ifs" isn't.