Last season, James Franklin finally led Penn State to the College Football Playoff, but for championship-starved Penn State fans, that’s simply not enough. The expectations are already sky-high for Franklin heading into Year 12, but ESPN decided to add fuel to that fire by putting the Nittany Lions at No. 1 in their 2025 Post Spring Way-Too-Early Top 25 Rankings.
After adding Syracuse transfer wide receiver and last year’s ACC receptions leader Trebor Pena and linebacker North Carolina Amare Campbell in the spring transfer portal window, Franklin’s roster is complete, and there is a real chance that Penn State tops the preseason AP Top 25.
Penn State tops ESPN’s Way-Too-Early Top 25
The Nittany Lions last reached No. 1 in the AP Poll in 1997, and under Franklin, the highest that Penn State has climbed is No. 2 in 2017 before a loss to Ohio State. The Buckeyes stood in the way of Franklin again last season, and Penn State fell one game short of a rematch with Ohio State in the National Championship Game, but Ryan Day’s group will look very different in 2025.
After winning it all, Ohio State sent 14 players into the NFL Draft, including four first-round picks: Emeka Egbuka, Donovan Jackson, Tyleik Williams, and Josh Simmons. The Buckeyes will still have Jeremiah Smith and Caleb Downs as two of the best players in the country, but with that much talent heading out the door into professional football, it’s not surprising to see the Nittany Lions ranked four spots ahead of the Buckeyes.
Because of the talent he was able to retain from last year’s CFP appearance, for the first time in Franklin’s tenure, he’ll be expected to beat Ohio State. With a 1-11 record against his program’s biggest rival, the longtime head coach absolutely has to get over the hump this year, not just beating the Buckeyes, but winning his second Big Ten title.
ESPN’s rankings just further reinforce the reality that Penn State has a national championship-caliber roster and the potential to be the best team in the country. Once the season comes around, the entire country will get to see if Franklin is ready to handle that immense pressure and towering expectations.
So far, with his aggressiveness in the transfer portal, Franklin has done everything right to put the best team possible around senior quarterback Drew Allar. He’s behaving like a head coach ready to shed the burdensome weight of his past disappointments, but a preseason No. 1 ranking will only make it sting worse if he comes up short once again.