College Football Rankings: Penn State Moves Up in AP, Coaches Polls

After defeating Indiana State 41-7 in Week 1, and seeing some other teams from around the country take some early hits, Penn State has moved up in the Associated Press poll and the USA Today coaches poll.

Penn State is ranked 23rd by the Associated Press, making their 2011 season debut in the poll after being unranked in the preseason poll. The Nittany Lions jumped up five spots in the coaches poll, from 25th to 20th overall. Penn State jumped past Texas (21st), Auburn (19th) and TCU (25th) and stayed ahead of Arizona State and West Virginia, each making their first appearance in the coaches poll this week. Penn State also benefited from Notre Dame and Georgia each dropping out of this week's rankings following losses in Week 1.

Penn State is one of four teams making their first appearance in the AP poll, joining Baylor (20th), South Florida (22nd) and Texas (24th). Penn State jumps by TCU (25th) and moves past unranked Auburn, Georgia, and Notre Dame.

Penn State will be hosting Alabama on Saturday afternoon. The Crimson Tide dropped from second to third in the AP poll despite winning against Kent State in Week 1. SEC West rival LSU moved into second place following an impressive performance against Oregon. The Tigers were ranked fourth in the AP poll.

Alabama remains second in the coaches polls though, and received two more first place votes than LSU. Oklahoma remains the top team in both rankings for this week.

Future Penn State opponents ranked in the poll include Wisconsin (8th in AP poll, 9th in coaches), Nebraska (10th/10th), Ohio State (15th/15th)and Michigan State (17th/16th).

Penn State is ranked 24th in the Bleacher Report Top 25.

Kevin McGuire is the national college football writer for Examiner.com. Follow his college football discussion on Google+ and Twitter. Become a fan of him on Facebook.