Penn State football finished the 2024-25 season fourth after losing to Notre Dame in the College Football Playoff semifinals with a sour taste left in its mouth. Preseason rankings, polls, and expectations — regardless of arguing over the Nittany Lions deserving a No. 1 or No. 2 spot in the overall Top 25 or in the Big Ten — repeat the same message over and over.
The Athletic released its full ranking of all 136 Division I college football teams Monday morning, and Chris Vannini also emphasized what everyone has been saying about Penn State: "You can't get over the hump until you finally do."
Head coach James Franklin has the best team and chances on paper. While that's what technically matters in preseason rankings and polls, we can't ignore Sisyphus-esque Nittany Lion history. In 2024, it was the over-and-over again pattern of losing when in need of a win. Falling to Ohio State in the regular season by seven, Oregon in the Big Ten Championship by eight, then Notre Dame in the Orange Bowl by three was just hit after hit for Franklin.
"The Nittany Lions are this year’s Michigan and Ohio State, with a lot of guys who turned down the NFL to come back to win it all, and I predict they will," Vannini wrote.
The Athletic predicts 2025 to be Penn State's year to get over the hump
After the loss to the Fighting Irish, it was all about "Big Game James" and quarterback Drew Allar not performing well in the spotlight (to be fair, he did throw two interceptions late against the Ducks and Notre Dame). There's no better time for Franklin and the Nittany Lions to prove themselves than now.
Penn State returns 14 starters between offense and defense, including one of the best backfields in the country with Allar, Nicholas Singleton, and Kaytron Allen, one of the sturdiest offensive lines with Vega Ioane, and some of the best standout defensemen in Zane Durant, Dani Dennis-Sutton, and Zakee Wheatley. On top of that, Franklin brought in former Ohio State defensive coordinator Jim Knowles onto his staff and offensive coordinator Andy Kotelnicki returns after proving to be an asset to Allar's development in 2024.
So on paper, the Nittany Lions are a top three team in the country at the very least. Having this level of talent and experience on the player roster and coaching staff is adding a lot more expectation and pressure onto them, but there's realistically no excuse for them not to finally get over that hump. If not, Franklin has to wave goodbye to his strongest shot at a national title and enter a reloading season in 2026 like the Buckeyes are in currently.