penn state football vs top 5 ranked teams last 25 years

Between September 15, 2001 and September 15, 2026, the Penn State Nittany Lions have had their best record in a season against the AP top 5 in 2016, with a record of 1-1.

	TEAM	REC	SEASON	W%	GP	W	L	TD	PTS	PPG	OPP PTS	OPP PPG	1DWN	3DWN%	4DWN%
1	Penn State	1-1	2016	.500	2	1	1	4	34	17.0	70	35.0	25	16.0	50.0
2	Penn State	0-2	2025	.000	2	0	2	5	38	19.0	65	32.5	32	53.3	50.0
3	Penn State	0-3	2024	.000	3	0	3	9	74	24.7	92	30.7	63	37.1	83.3
4	Penn State	0-2	2023	.000	2	0	2	3	27	13.5	44	22.0	32	16.7	50.0
5	Penn State	0-2	2022	.000	2	0	2	6	48	24.0	85	42.5	34	35.7	50.0
6	Penn State	0-2	2021	.000	2	0	2	5	44	22.0	56	28.0	45	47.1	0.0
7	Penn State	0-1	2020	.000	1	0	1	3	25	25.0	38	38.0	20	33.3	0.0
8	Penn State	0-1	2019	.000	1	0	1	2	17	17.0	28	28.0	15	40.0	0.0
9	Penn State	0-2	2018	.000	2	0	2	4	33	16.5	69	34.5	33	17.9	50.0
10	Penn State	0-1	2015	.000	1	0	1	1	10	10.0	38	38.0	14	16.7	0.0
11	Penn State	0-1	2013	.000	1	0	1	2	14	14.0	63	63.0	20	50.0	0.0
12	Penn State	0-1	2011	.000	1	0	1	1	11	11.0	27	27.0
13	Penn State	0-1	2010	.000	1	0	1	0	3	3.0	24	24.0
14	Penn State	0-1	2008	.000	1	0	1	3	24	24.0	38	38.0	19
15	Penn State	0-1	2007	.000	1	0	1	2	17	17.0	37	37.0
16	Penn State	0-3	2006	.000	3	0	3	3	33	11.0	86	28.7
17	Penn State	0-1	2002	.000	1	0	1	1	7	7.0	13	13.0	8

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More Penn State Stats

Team Leaders

PASS

539

Becht

RUSH

132

Hansen

REC

229

Howard

Team Rankings

PPG

36.0

50th

OPP PPG

4.5

1st

RUSH YDS/G

155.5

88th

PASS YDS/G

296.0

29th

2026 Big 10 Standings

	TEAM	CONF	OVERALL
6	Michigan State	0-0	2-0
7	Nebraska	0-0	2-0
8	Penn State	0-0	2-0
9	UCLA	0-0	2-0
10	Washington	0-0	2-0

Schedule

DATE	MATCHUP			TIME (ET)
Sat 9/19	BUFF	@	PSU	12:00 PM
Sat 9/26	WIS	@	PSU	5:00 PM
Fri 10/2	PSU	@	NW	8:00 PM
Sat 10/10	USC	@	PSU	7:30 PM
Sat 10/17	PSU	@	MICH	1:00 PM

Last Game

Penn State

2 - 0

Final

Temple

1 - 1

Sat 12 Sep 2026

CFB 2026 Leaders

Pass Yards Leaders

896

Maiava

795

Stokes

794

Alejado

Rush Yards Leaders

375

Carter

374

Sheppard

319

Bates

Rec Yards Leaders

376

Legree

333

Duff

330

Toney

Pass TD Leaders

10

Maiava

9

Hejny

8

Weaver

Rush TD Leaders

6

Carter

6

Knight

5

Baugh

Rec TD Leaders

5

Duff

5

Dixon

5

Becker

QB Rating Leaders

284.5

Stockton

271.7

Mensah

243.9

Jennings

Sack Leaders

5.0

Umanmielen

4.0

Lewis

4.0

Lester

CFB 2026 Rankings

PPG Rankings

66.5

61.0

59.0

58.5

55.0

54.5

Opp PPG Rankings

4.5

5.0

5.5

6.5

Total Yards Rankings

702.5

620.5

586.0

576.5

573.5

569.0

Rush Yards Rankings

394.0

376.0

341.5

336.0

319.0

314.0

Pass Yards Rankings

442.0

427.0

396.5

358.0

356.0

346.0

Sack Leaders

12.0

11.0

10.0

9.0

CFB 2026 Standings

	Southeastern	W	L	PCT
1	Alabama	2	0	1.000
2	Auburn	2	0	1.000
3	Florida	2	0	1.000
4	Georgia	2	0	1.000
5	LSU	2	0	1.000
6	Mississippi State	2	0	1.000
7	Missouri	2	0	1.000
8	Ole Miss	2	0	1.000
9	South Carolina	2	0	1.000
10	Tennessee	2	0	1.000
11	Texas	2	0	1.000
12	Texas A&M	2	0	1.000
13	Vanderbilt	2	0	1.000
14	Arkansas	1	1	.500
15	Oklahoma	1	1	.500
16	Kentucky	1	1	.500

	Sun Belt	W	L	PCT
1	Appalachian State	2	0	1.000
2	Troy	2	0	1.000
3	Georgia State	2	0	1.000
4	James Madison	2	0	1.000
5	Arkansas State	1	1	.500
6	Coastal Carolina	1	1	.500
7	Georgia Southern	1	1	.500
8	Louisiana	1	1	.500
9	Louisiana Tech	1	1	.500
10	Marshall	1	1	.500
11	Old Dominion	1	1	.500
12	South Alabama	1	1	.500
13	Southern Miss	1	1	.500
14	Louisiana-Monroe	0	2	.000

	Big 12	W	L	PCT
1	BYU	2	0	1.000
2	Cincinnati	2	0	1.000
3	Colorado	2	0	1.000
4	Houston	2	0	1.000
5	Kansas State	2	0	1.000
6	Texas Tech	2	0	1.000
7	Utah	2	0	1.000
8	West Virginia	2	0	1.000
9	Arizona State	1	1	.500
10	Baylor	1	1	.500
11	Iowa State	1	1	.500
12	Kansas	1	1	.500
13	Oklahoma State	1	1	.500
14	TCU	1	1	.500
15	UCF	1	1	.500
16	Arizona	1	1	.500

	Pac-12	W	L	PCT
1	Colorado State	2	0	1.000
2	Boise State	1	1	.500
3	Fresno State	1	1	.500
4	San Diego State	1	1	.500
5	Oregon State	0	2	.000
6	Texas State	0	2	.000
7	Utah State	0	2	.000
8	Washington State	0	2	.000

	Mid-American	W	L	PCT
1	Eastern Michigan	1	2	.333
2	UMass	2	0	1.000
3	Akron	1	1	.500
4	Ball State	1	1	.500
5	Buffalo	1	1	.500
6	Central Michigan	1	1	.500
7	Kent State	1	1	.500
8	Miami (OH)	1	1	.500
9	Ohio	1	1	.500
10	Toledo	1	1	.500
11	Western Michigan	1	1	.500
12	Bowling Green	0	2	.000
13	Sacramento State	1	2	.333

	Atlantic Coast	W	L	PCT
1	Miami	2	0	1.000
2	SMU	2	0	1.000
3	Virginia	2	0	1.000
4	California	1	1	.500
5	Duke	2	0	1.000
6	North Carolina	2	0	1.000
7	Pittsburgh	2	0	1.000
8	Virginia Tech	2	0	1.000
9	Wake Forest	2	0	1.000
10	Boston College	1	1	.500
11	Clemson	1	1	.500
12	Louisville	1	1	.500
13	Georgia Tech	0	2	.000
14	Florida State	1	1	.500
15	NC State	1	1	.500
16	Stanford	1	1	.500
17	Syracuse	1	1	.500

	Independent	W	L	PCT
1	Notre Dame	2	0	1.000
2	UConn	1	1	.500

	American Athletic	W	L	PCT
1	South Florida	2	0	1.000
2	Florida Atlantic	1	1	.500
3	Tulsa	2	0	1.000
4	UTSA	2	0	1.000
5	Memphis	2	1	.667
6	North Texas	1	1	.500
7	Rice	1	1	.500
8	Temple	1	1	.500
9	Tulane	1	1	.500
10	UAB	1	1	.500
11	Charlotte	0	2	.000
12	East Carolina	0	2	.000
13	Army	1	1	.500
14	Navy	1	1	.500

	Big 10	W	L	PCT
1	USC	3	0	1.000
2	Indiana	2	0	1.000
3	Iowa	2	0	1.000
4	Maryland	2	0	1.000
5	Michigan	2	0	1.000
6	Michigan State	2	0	1.000
7	Nebraska	2	0	1.000
8	Penn State	2	0	1.000
9	UCLA	2	0	1.000
10	Washington	2	0	1.000
11	Northwestern	1	0	1.000
12	Illinois	1	1	.500
13	Minnesota	1	1	.500
14	Ohio State	1	1	.500
15	Oregon	1	1	.500
16	Purdue	1	1	.500
17	Wisconsin	1	1	.500
18	Rutgers	0	2	.000

	Conference USA	W	L	PCT
1	Delaware	1	1	.500
2	Florida International	1	1	.500
3	Kennesaw State	1	1	.500
4	Liberty	1	1	.500
5	Middle Tennessee	1	1	.500
6	Missouri State	1	1	.500
7	Jacksonville State	1	2	.333
8	New Mexico State	1	2	.333
9	Sam Houston	0	2	.000
10	Western Kentucky	0	2	.000

	Mountain West	W	L	PCT
1	North Dakota State	3	0	1.000
2	UNLV	1	2	.333
3	New Mexico	2	0	1.000
4	San Jose State	2	1	.667
5	Nevada	1	1	.500
6	UTEP	1	1	.500
7	Wyoming	1	1	.500
8	Northern Illinois	0	2	.000
9	Air Force	1	1	.500
10	Hawai'i	1	2	.333