Penn State Not in Preseason Coaches Poll
Your preseason Coaches Poll dropped Monday and the usual suspects are on the list:
The official preseason Coaches poll is out 🍿 pic.twitter.com/NO0knZrqTu
— Alex Ansted (@AlexAnstedCFB) August 8, 2022
Missing are the Penn State Nittany Lions, who got 246 votes and sit just outside of the top 25. That seems reasonable considering PSU is coming off a 7-6 season in which it went 4-5 in-conference and lost to Arkansas in the Outback Bowl.
Throw out the 2020 COVID season and James Franklin’s squad has finished in the AP top 20 four of the last five seasons, so there’s reason to believe they get back to that at some point. If they’re starting outside of the top 25 to begin the season, I imagine they push their way back up there by going 3-1 at the very least through their first four games: at Purdue, at Auburn, and home to a couple of G5 schools in Ohio and Central Michigan. Knowing how James Franklin typically operates, he’ll take superior talent and find a way to underwhelm, so we’re predicting a safe 9-3 or 8-4 type of season. Any Sean Clifford believers out there?
For what it’s worth, the last time PSU started outside the top 25 in the Coaches Poll, they won nine straight games after starting 2-2, which got them a Rose Bowl bid. They lost by three points to USC. Maybe being on the outside to begin the season adds some motivation. Higher expectations can be tough. Maybe the Lions sneak in there while Texas, Miami, and Pitt drop. Three perennial frauds right there. The SEC teams will eat each other up.
The Lions also have legendary Temple coach Manny Diaz in the fold now:
“One of the great cathedrals in college football.”
I asked Manny Diaz about when he walked into Beaver Stadium after Penn State hired him as defensive coordinator and linebackers coach last December.
He loves the place, and will love it more when 107,000+ fill the seats. pic.twitter.com/BEoZs04Bx9
— Joe Smeltzer (@joesmeltzer775) August 7, 2022