No. 14 Penn State football is slowly rising the ranks in the AP Top 25 Poll after winning its first two games of the 2026 season.
The Nittany Lions were the No. 18 team in the preseason then bumped up two spots to No. 16 after shutting out Marshall in Week 1. While the performance from the whole team was impressive, the Thundering Herd weren't necessarily tough competition.
What helped Penn State out in the poll, though, was Michigan barely winning its game against Western Michigan. The added second allowed the Wolverines a second Hail Mary attempt, and they ended the game with a 13-12 victory. The public wasn't a fan of the clock situation, the Mid-American Conference was upset with how things were handled, and the poll voters weren't impressed. Rather than Michigan dropping to the back-half of the rankings, it was nixed entirely from the Top 25. The Wolverines dropping back (and out) gave the Nittany Lions a little extra boost.
After Week 2, Penn State found itself in a similar spot.
Power is shifting in the Big Ten, and Penn State is benefiting
Oregon is considered one of the top three teams in the Big Ten and started the season as the No. 2 team in the country. After Week 1, the Ducks dropped to No. 6. Now, they have a really tough uphill battle to overcome after losing to Oklahoma State in Week 2, 39-31.
Oregon is now the No. 21 team in the country after the Week 2 loss. That's a 15-spot drop-off from the previous poll and a 19-spot fall from the preseason poll.
Penn State fans understand what it's like to be a top team in the country and fail to meet expectations. The Nittany Lions were also the No. 2 team in the preseason polls, but their first defeat wasn't to a non-conference opponent. Though Oklahoma State is still in a Power Four conference (Big 12), that's a tough blow for the Ducks.
Thanks to that loss, though, Penn State got another extra boost in the AP Poll.
The Nittany Lions didn't have a phenomenal performance like they did vs. Marshall, but they still won and they looked good. Head coach Matt Campbell proved that one quarter, or even one half, won't define this team and fans can only hope that that also applies to losses if and when they come about this season.
Still, beating Temple isn't something that's worth too much praise, particularly when discussing the poll. A one-spot jump is reasonable, but that two spot increase wouldn't have happened if Oregon beat Oklahoma State. So, for that, Penn State should be thankful.
Is Oregon the new Penn State one year removed?
Just like how the Nittany Lions helped out others in the AP Poll last season, the Ducks might be on their way in taking on that role. Michigan proved itself vs. Oklahoma on Saturday, placing itself back in the poll after taking down the No. 10 team in the country, per the Week 1 poll. If Oregon doesn't figure things out, it could be on its way out the poll just how Penn State did in 2025.
The Ducks were the turning point for the blue and white last year. That Week 5 contest changed everything: Penn State didn't have an identity, former head coach James Franklin slowly lost the locker room from thereon out, and there was no fight left in the team. The double overtime loss to a Big Ten foe exposed that everything that looks right on paper can go south very quickly.
About two weeks less than a year later, the Nittany Lions are getting a big of deja vu. Except this time, they get to watch from afar.
What is Oregon's identity?@joelklatt: "They don't have one at all... This is teetering on this year's version of Clemson and Penn State." pic.twitter.com/8QfOwgrWN2
— The Next Round (@NextRoundLive) September 14, 2026
"This is teetering on this year's version of Clemson and Penn State with all these guys coming back, turning down the NFL, high expectations," Joel Klatt said of Oregon.
Unfortunately for Oregon, it's in a different situation with a similar outcome. A non-conference opponent got the best of the Ducks and they didn't play that well, either, in Week 2. At least in 2025, Oregon needed double overtime to defeat Penn State. The Big 12 only needed four quarters.
Teams rise and fall all the time, but this time, it just happens to be Penn State's 2025 kryptonite that's facing the brunt of this wave.
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