Sports Illustrated’s College Football Preseason Top 25: No. 1 Penn State

Through Aug. 22, Sports Illustrated will count down its preseason college football Top 25 with overviews of each team. Here are the full rankings so far.

If you came across a random sports fan who didn’t know much about the recent past in college football and told them about the 2025 Penn State team, they would probably be impressed.

The Nittany Lions have a returning quarterback who has thrown for 49 touchdowns the past two seasons and still hasn’t quite reached the potential his physical gifts should allow him to. There’s a creative offensive coordinator back in the fold, and Penn State has a two-headed monster in the backfield with a pair of the best tailbacks in the game. The Nittany Lions, you would probably note up front, also filled their desperate needs at wide receiver through the transfer portal and have a deep group at offensive line that makes them one of the favorites for the Joe Moore Award.

Oh, and they hired the most expensive defensive coordinator in the country fresh off winning a national title to coach a unit that has experience and talent all over the two-deep. Throw in that their schedule is probably going to truly test them just twice and this hypothetical stranger would wonder what the but is about Penn State.

There isn’t one in terms of talent. This is a team and a program which fits the mold of the two most recent national champions, both from their conference which they have seen up close and personal. They bring back a ton, have experience all over the board and will be fueled by coming up just short in the College Football Playoff (and Big Ten championship game) last season. There is no lacking for anything on the field coming into Week 1, that’s for sure.

For any other program, that would normally result in the greater college football universe beginning the season by wondering if anybody can beat these Nittany Lions. Instead, that’s not really the case. There’s almost a built-in skepticism for no other reason other than their head coach being James Franklin.

If Dabo Swinney or Kirby Smart, or even Kyle Whittingham or Lincoln Riley, was in charge, do you think there would be a much different outlook about this team? Probably. Franklin, after a dozen years, has won plenty—71% of all his games—but come up woefully short in the big games against brand-name opponents under the biggest spotlight.

That narrative has a chance to change this season, however. Franklin has the team to right plenty of past wrongs.

Hard as it is for some to believe, the Nittany Lions are the favorite to win the CFP. This is their moment and much of this 2025 season will be about seeing if they can seize it.

Fast Facts

2024 record: 13–3, 8–1 Big Ten

Offense: 33.1 ppg (28th in FBS), 6.54 yards per play (14th)

Defense: 16.5 ppg (eighth in FBS), 4.67 yards per play (sixth)

On the Headset

James Franklin, entering Year 12 in State College, 125–57 overall record, 101–42 with the Nittany Lions

When it comes to Franklin, there is no shortage of accomplishments. He won the Big Ten and finished inside the top 10 five times. He won a Rose Bowl, the Fiesta Bowl and the Cotton Bowl, plus made it to the final minute of a CFP semifinal with a chance to win.

For goodness sakes, his resume also includes winning nine games at Vanderbilt. Twice.

But if there is a flaw that has kept Franklin from being mentioned as one of the very best coaches in college football recently, it comes down to his reputation as Big Game James: a 1–15 record against top-five opponents and a penchant for ill-advised decisions down the stretch.

To be fair, in most of those games his team was not close to being the favorite, but the record is the record and that is damning. So, too, are the late-game clock management issues that have cost Penn State in other situations against teams they very much should have beaten, but didn’t.

There were similar questions about Jim Harbaugh being the guy at Michigan before he won a national title as well as about Ryan Day before last season’s title. Can Franklin make it three seasons in a row for Big Ten coaches who don’t get the benefit of the doubt?

He has the team to do so. Now it’s up to Franklin to make sure they realize it.

Key Returning Starter

QB Drew Allar, Sr.

As NFL evaluators were questioning how good the quarterback class was in the draft last spring, there was a handful of scouts who thought Allar returning to school for his senior year was a mistake given he had the tools to be a top-five pick. He’s 6' 5" and can run well enough at 235 pounds to smartly supplement his strong arm. He made a big jump from completing just 60% of his passes in 2023 to 67% in ’24 and pushed the ball down field with more regularity. Allar returned not just to finish his senior year, but to further refine his development which could allow him to become an All-American in 2025. He has tons of weapons at his disposal, familiarity with OC Andy Kotelnicki’s system and a chance at putting a subpar playoff run behind him to firmly displace Kerry Collins and Todd Blackledge as the best Penn State quarterback of the past few decades.

Key Transfer

WR Trebor Pena, from Syracuse

All offseason the program heard about the lack of production from the wide receiver position and unsurprisingly went hard in the portal to make up for that with Kyron Hudson from USC and Troy’s Devonte Ross added to the wideout room. In Pena, the slot receiver might be the biggest key to the team’s upgrades given his efforts in the middle of the field and the sure hands he displayed in blossoming as a starter last season. He’s a real veteran and should have an impact in a variety of different situations with a savvy ability to find open space that will make Allar’s job much easier.

Key Departure

TE Tyler Warren, first-round NFL draft pick by the Indianapolis Colts

Dynamic pass rusher Abdul Carter was a top-three pick in the spring, but Warren was the Swiss Army knife that often had to carry the offense in big games. He would give opposing defensive coordinators headaches given that he could line up just about anywhere and find the end zone. His versatility will be missed despite the upgrades in the passing game.

Circle the Dates

Sept. 27, vs. Oregon
Oct. 18, at Iowa
Nov. 1, at Ohio State
Nov. 8, vs. Indiana

Bottom Line

It’s now or maybe never if Penn State really wants to put the past behind it and win the national championship. The Nittany Lions came ever so close a year ago. That heartbreaking ending in the Orange Bowl should fuel them all season considering how many boxes they check off that Michigan and Ohio State did too before ultimately triumphing in the CFP. There are no excuses now, it’s on Franklin and the Nittany Lions to get the job done because they may never have a confluence of talent, experience, schedule and weakened rivals like they do in 2025.