Penn State received 1,203 points in the final AP Top 25 poll, just eight behind Texas for fourth. Ohio State was No. 1, followed by Notre Dame and Oregon. Penn State has finished in the AP top 10 five times in James Franklin's 11 seasons as head coach. Franklin's teams have seven top-20 finishes since 2016.

The Nittany Lions ended in the top five for the first time since 2005. It’s the first time the Big Ten has had three teams in the final top five. Ohio State was No. 1 and Oregon was No. 3.

Sports ranked Penn State as the No. 4 team for next fall. The Nittany Lions were ranked behind newly crowned champions Ohio State, Texas and Alabama. The returning trio of Drew Allar, Nicholas Singleton and Kaytron Allen seems to make a strong case that Penn State should be viewed as a team within college football’s upper echelon.