For those unfamiliar, the SP+ is defined as the following by Connelly.
"It's a tempo- and opponent-adjusted measure of college football efficiency. It is a predictive measure of the most sustainable and predictable aspects of football, not a résumé ranking. Along those same lines, these projections aren't intended to be a guess at what the AP Top 25 will look like at the end of the season. These are simply early offseason power rankings based on the information we have been able to gather."
Taken into account for the SP+ projections is returning production, recent recruiting, and recent history for each program.
With the college football season just a little over six months away, the initial SP+ rankings are very high on James Franklin's Nittany Lions team.
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The SP+ currently has Penn State ranked No. 3 nationally only behind defending national champion Ohio State and the SEC's Alabama Crimson Tide. The Nittany Lions are ahead of programs such as Georgia, Notre Dame, Oregon, Texas, Tennessee, Ole Miss, and LSU who all round out the top-10.
The SP+ rankings have Penn State's offense ranked fourth nationally entering the season and its defense, seventh. The Nittany Lions' special teams are considered its weakest area, ranking 58th nationally.
Notably, Connelly earlier this week ranked the returning production rankings cross college football with Penn State ranked 33rd nationally thanks to 72% of their production returning on offense (14th nationally) and 53% returning on defense (73rd nationally).
When it comes to the NIttany Lions' 2025 schedule, here's how each team is ranked in the initial SP+ rankings.
Nevada - 131
FIU - 119
Villanova - N/A
Oregon - 6
UCLA - 69
Northwestern - 87
Iowa - 21
Ohio State - 1
Indiana - 24
Michigan State - 76
Nebraska - 34
Rutgers - 43
Penn State in 2025 will look to return to the College Football Playoff with unfinished business on their mind after narrowly losing to Notre Dame in the College Football Playoff Semifinal at the Orange Bowl. Under head coach James Franklin, they have now had three straight seasons of 10+ wins, marking six total since their 2016 breakthrough campaign. The Nittany Lions currently have the fifth best odds to win the national championship next season according to DraftKings at +800 only behind Ohio State, Texas, Georgia, and Oregon.
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