ACC Coach Takes Shot at Penn State for Preseason Bias

The ACC has a legitimate gripe that too many teams from the Big Ten and SEC are represented in the preseason polls, before any team in the country has had an opportunity to earn a ranking.

Last week, Miami offensive coordinator Shannon Dawson argued that the rankings shouldn't come out until at least October. The polls wind up mattering because the College Football Playoff selection committee evaluates ranked wins when making their final bracket.

Penn State was one of the case examples of preseason polls being wrong during the 2025 season. The Nittany Lions entered the season ranked No. 2 before dropping out of the polls. 

PSU entered this season ranked No. 18 before climbing up to No. 13 before hosting Wisconsin in Week 4. The Nittany Lions beat three Group of 6 teams to earn the No. 13 ranking. Two weeks later, PSU is outside of the top 25 after losing to the Badgers and getting blown out 34–13 by Northwestern on Friday night. 

Pittsburgh just became ranked this week after narrowly surviving Virginia Tech on Friday night thanks to a controversial missed field goal in the final seconds of the ball game. The Panthers are ranked No. 25 before getting set to play North Carolina on Saturday.

When speaking to reporters on Monday, Pitt head coach Pat Narduzzi took a shot at Penn State, arguing they hadn't done anything to be ranked earlier this season.

"Look at the school down the road," Narduzzi said. "They were in the Top 25, and what did they really do to get in the Top 25?”

Penn State did absolutely zilch to get to No. 13, but the win did give Wisconsin a victory over a No. 13 opponent, which could help its CFP resume if the Badgers continue to pull off wins in the Big Ten.

The Nittany Lions are set to play another preseason favorite on Saturday. They will host No. 19 USC. The Trojans entered the season ranked No. 14 before climbing to No. 12 after beating Louisiana but falling to No. 18 after losing to Oregon.

After playing USC, Penn State will travel to play a 3-2 Michigan team that entered the season ranked No. 16, but fell out of the polls twice this season and likely won't get back for a while after suffering back-to-back losses to Iowa and Minnesota.

All that to say the Big Ten shouldn't get credited for having so many top 25 busts early in the season.