Back to results >>

2026 Preseason Penn State Nittany Lions Rankings

Main Poll Voters

User	Rank	Reason
Charlemagne42	5	The Nittany Lions get rolling early, and travel to Ann Arbor 6-0. Michigan gives them all they've got, but Penn State prevails. After the bye week, they really get rolling, ending the regular season as the only undefeated team and the unquestioned #1. However, a Big Ten title game spanking by Ohio State moves Penn State down and the Buckeyes up.
Xy13	10	Toughest Games - vs USC, @ UM, @ UW. Avoid - ORE, Indi, OSU --- Matt Campbell picked a good debut season, and Franklin missed out. They avoid nearly all the heavy hitters in the B10, and host 2 of the 3 they do face. Let's see how half of Iowa State's roster would fare in the B10.
laprasrules	11
shifty1032231	11
Blazeth	12
mthompson2320	12
NotSoSuperNerd	12	67.38
HideNZeke	13
JustinMSU21	13
owlalwaysloveyew	13
Pyromania1983	13
CommodoreN7	14
Helifino	14
Lex_Ludorum	14
Longvols	14
MainPeanut25	14	The Penn State Cyclones
OldCoaly	14
Player_1_has_Joined	14
A_Rolling_Baneling	15
deadtofall12	15
galacticdude7	15
PlactusTX	15
SteemieRayVaughn	15
bannista7	16
COLU_BUS	16
Conn3er	16
Dropbackandpunt	16
dschinghiskhan	16
jalexjsmithj	16
Jay_Dubbbs	16
skuhlke	16	(10-2)
SpadeRyker	16
tdeff19	16
Zloggt	16	After a strong start, bad middle, strong finish season last year...could they perhaps have a weird bad start, strong middle, bad finish inverse this time? Not really rooting for it, but it would be quite the funny reversal if it DID happen lol.
Blooblod	17
brucewaynewins	17
budget_um	17
Chipsahoy523	17
colton_97	17
Corgi_Koala	17
daredassdude	17
Drexlore	17
jbowen1	17
Luigiatl	17
MahjongDaily	17
Our-Gardian-Angel	17
PalmettoFace	17
penisthightrap_	17
PSUMediaPA	17
Sometimeswelose	17
texas2089	17
titansfan174	17
twitter_paulbd	17
UNC_Samurai	17
WarEagle9	17
AllHawkeyesGoToHell	18
bakonydraco	18
BallSoHerd	18
Buckeyes2010	18
CambodianDrywall	18
Cars-and-Coffee	18
fredmerc111	18
Jakesnake42	18
JeromesNiece	18
jonstark19	18
kflinderman	18
monkeymatt1836	18
PeteyNice	18
retnuh101	18
seaotter2	18
Staind075	18
TolkienFan71	18
VerySeriousBanana	18
ALStark69	19	NR
BananaBouquet	19
diehardcubforever	19
grey_pilgrim_	19
jjjoebox	19
Pure_Protein_Machine	19
SCsprinter13	19
thescottula	19
dukemetoo	20
HelioOne	20
JBonkies	20
jrich960608	20
jthomas694	20
MemeofMemeJTG999999	20	End of Last Season: was unranked (7-6) | Next Week: vs Marshall | Projected Bowl: Citrus Bowl vs Texas A&M
noahthearc	20
Bank_Gothic	21
BendrickLamar19	21
Doogitywoogity	21	Listen, there aren’t many schools that don’t have at least one frat running a sophisticated cocaine ring. So I won’t be adding any points for that. I think Matt Campbell will get PSU back on track, but I don’t think they’ll suddenly be world beaters this season.
EpicSchwinn	21	Iowa State with more money? It’s gonna work. Well, I said the same thing about Luke Fickell. But Im feeling good and think they should rise from here.
joebob431	21
Roscoe_Filburn	21
SwissArmyScythe	21
ThaCarter	21
True_Ad5324	21
BlueSCar	22
chillmagic420	22
grtgbln	22
jrluhn	22
Red261	22
redrumsoxLoL	22	Penn State is dealing with replacing a head coach and a significant portion of their roster but a very strong transfer class including a large amount of Iowa St players highlighted by quarterback Rocco Becht can lead this team to be a competitor in the B1G
Shion314	22
SufferingfOrLife	22	Reasons I like them: Easy Schedule, nice defensive pieces, continuity on offense Reasons I dislike them: A lot of transfers from an 8-4 Iowa State team, so what is the ceiling for the team? Receivers, o-line question marks.
Tornadohunter24	22
Versigot	22	Iowa State was a pretty half-good football team last year!
ch1l1_ch33s3	23
Corporal_Hicks	23
eclectic_tastes	23
elnino550	23
Klaassy23	23
plannedsickdays	23
tdoger	23
udderlymoovelous	23
Acm0028	24
ChaseTheFalcon	24
DarkLegend64	24
ewolfy13	24
halldaylong	24
IceColdDrPepper_Here	24
Laschoni	24
lowes18	24	Penn State lost a lot of key players to the portal and NFL draft last year, but I believe the team returns enough to tread water and be decent in 2026. The offensive line will probably take a step back, but anchored by talented pieces such as Malachi Goodman I have a hard time believing it won't be a decent unit on the team. Rocco Becht is a known solid commodity at QB at this point, he is who he is which should be good enough to keep this team competitive. Penn State lost a ton of talent to the draft/portal, especially on the d-line, but they likely have enough talent stocked up to still be a decent unit. Yvan Kemajou went under the radar with Chaz Coleman breaking out in 2026, but there were games where it was Kemajou being relied on more. If he takes a step next to the veteran pieces Penn State has, it could potentially be a strong point of the team. The rest of the defense returns a lot of production or is importing it from Iowa State, so it should at the very least be solid.
malowry0124	24
ManiacalBlazer	24
NyquillusDillwad20	24
bretticus733	25
Justanother_0	25	Since this is essentially Iowa State's team from last year, I asked myself "would I have ranked Iowa State if their roster hadn't been raided?" I say yes, therefore Penn State is in at #25 First five out of the poll (26-30) are K-State, UCLA, ASU, TCU, and UNLV. Thank you for reading!
one98d	25
spmartin1993	25
T-Thugs	25
TheUltimate721	25	Given that this roster is majority Iowa State transfers I reserve the right to call them Iowa State East. Iowa State was not a bad team by any means last year, but historians will recall they finished 8-4 in a relatively weak Big 12. I think predicting them to dominate the Big Ten, a tougher conference, right away is a bit premature, but they'll at least be decent and have some upside to them.

Provisional Poll Voters

User	Rank	Reason
civfan5843	6
NA_Faker	8
grahamca	9
Protoco2	9
Yechibaby09	12
saquad69	13
jtchr33	14	Iowa State 2.0.........which was good, a few good extra pieces should ease the offensive transformation Campbell hopes to bring. Very concerned about defense, that was what kept Iowa State games; not having that great defense I think caps this team at a 9-3 season. Guessing most of their games will be pretty obvious, either win or lose by a lot.
laxintx	14
hiiightide	15
meristematic	15
AllEliteSchmuck	16
ceris13	16
dee3Poh	16
Ethanol-Muffins	16	Rhule is a good coach but it remains to be seen if the talent he brought over from Iowa State will be enough to finish above teens
fm22fnam	16
FrontRunner51	16
MisguidedPassion	16
MWiatrak2077	16
National-Sundae9427	16
Rare_Bit5844	16
70277027	17
DownshiftGD	17
journey1986	17
Kirkwood641	17
Klightgrove	17	Recovering after Franklin's departure, expectations are always high but Matt Campbell proved he can win. However the reeling season prior and poor recruiting class raises concerns.
Living_Human	17	18.81
loneSTAR_06	17
manbeqrpig	17
Midnight-Mustang	17
noah_divine	17	basically a mix of the best of Penn State and Iowa State from last year, and honestly i like it. i think they could be a sneaky good team this year.
NoOutdoorSoup	17
PrideSax711	17
SaguaroCactus19	17
TyRoland06	17
538allspelledout	18
bolts_win_again	18
bruhstevenson	18
Dan20698	18
DwayneBaconStan	18
Elegant_Tiger6870	18
jtsmd2	18
NebraskaPlainsman	18
OG_Felwinter	18
Salmon-Dude	18
Sflabuckeye13	18
SportsCat4	18
AoA_nB1	19	Second biggest question mark in cfb behind LSU. By all accounts Matt Campbell is a great hire, but will Iowa State 1.5 look like 2024 Indiana or 2025 Penn State?
Billiam501	19
dannykandy	19
DarthGlazer	19
Front-Broccoli5957	19
kevinsdomain	19
mr_longfellow_deeds	19
ndbfsu22	19
Real-Plant-5722	19
Repulsive_Rub6443	19
alttabbins	20
bigred91224	20
d1sportsball	20	Brought in everyone but Abu Sama from ISU, PSU really lucked out in the coaching search
DesignerClub1887	20
Different-Salary2899	20
isrealball	20
KansasChaser2021	20
PM_ME_YOUROUY_EM_MP	20
Pure-Shirt-5831	20
RJTrey	20
Yelich04	21
baileyx96	22
Nervous_Metal_9445	22
JJones927	23
myworld3	23
PsychologicalFox8660	23
Rishik01	23
ArlyntheAwesome	24
epyoch	24
msonar623	24
GenuineBoss	25
Ok_Significance_3803	25
rt13wx	25
SignificanceFirm2398	25
SomerandomIDFBfan	25

Blue = Human
Red = Computer
Green = Hybrid

Bold = before the AP poll was published
Normal = after the AP poll was published

Back to results >>