Pat Narduzzi takes a lame and unnecessary shot at Penn State and the AP Poll

The AP Top 25 Poll has a lot of moving pieces, especially early in the college football season.

For Penn State football, which started the season as the No. 18 team in the preseason, it found itself outside of the rankings without any votes following its first Big Ten loss to Wisconsin. The Week 5 loss to Northwestern at new Ryan Field just confirmed voters' opinions on where the Nittany Lions stand so far this season.

Penn State's highest ranking since the preseason was at No. 13 following its victory over Buffalo, which was the last non-conference game of that slate in Week 3. Now, the non-conference schedule isn't indicative of what a team truly looks like unless it plays a Top 25 team. The Nittany Lions love their cupcake schedule, so voters had to wait until Week 4 to really see what they were about.

Things didn't pan out well for Penn State, clearly, and Pittsburgh head coach Pat Narduzzi decided to take a shot at his in-state rival when asked about the AP Poll on Monday.

"I think it's all the brands, you know, everybody wants to look at the logo and gets all infatuated with logos and all that stuff," Narduzzi said. "... I mean, you look at the school down the road gets in the Top 25 and what did they really do to get in the Top 25?"

Pat Narduzzi tries bringing Pittsburgh up by putting Penn State down

Narduzzi makes an acceptable point when talking about brands, but the reason why those programs are so well-known is because they have a history of being good (or historically really bad). Team consistently in the Top 25 with very good records playing very good opponents will be recognizable and also expected to be good year after year.

Penn State was on the brink of a national championship appearance in 2024 with a very talented team. It only made sense that heading into the 2025 season, the Nittany Lions would be considered a Top 5 team in the country. They were No. 2 in the preseason poll that year before their season crashed and burned before everyone's eyes.

Coming out of that season with a new head coach in Matt Campbell and a reloaded roster and coaching staff gave the public something to talk about. Penn State entered the season with the most experience quarterback in the NCAA in Rocco Becht and had all of his offensive weapons from Iowa State wearing the blue and white now as well. That's not to mention the defense with returning linebacker Tony Rojas and transfers Caleb Bacon and Kooper Ebel.

Especially in the preseason, the AP Poll is very much based around what teams look like on paper and what changes there are from the previous season. How else are voters supposed to assess these teams when they have yet to play a game?

It only made sense that Penn State was a Top 25 team. Even at No. 18, the Nittany Lions had a lot to prove and they ultimately failed to meet expectations. That's why they're not in the Top 25 anymore. That's also why Michigan is no longer in the rankings, either. On the flip side, that's why teams like UCLA, Mississippi State, and Oklahoma State have found their way into the AP Poll after exceeding expectations.

There's no point in taking a shot at the Nittany Lions when the AP Top 25 is voted on after each week. Teams prove themselves and shoot themselves in the foot all the time, which is why the preseason poll is just a starting point. If a team is good enough and plays good enough opponents, then, yes, they make their way into the Top 25.

Now, if Penn State was still in the AP Poll, Narduzzi has a good argument. That's not the case, though. Narduzzi should be more concerned making sure his No. 25 Pittsburgh team doesn't get booted out of the rankings than where the Nittany Lions were ranked five weeks ago.

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