Penn State moves up in the College Football Playoff rankings after Rutgers win

The Nittany Lions are firmly in the mix for a New Year’s Six bowl bid.

Penn State was ranked No. 11 in the fourth edition of the College Football Playoff committee’s rankings, which were announced on Tuesday night.

The Nittany Lions were No. 12 in last week’s rankings before beating Rutgers, 27-6. Penn State moved up a spot thanks to Oregon State, which was ranked No. 11, losing to Washington and falling to No. 16.

Where the committee placed Penn State is right on par with where the Nittany Lions are ranked by both the Associated Press top 25 poll and the Coaches Poll.

Penn State is the third-highest ranked Big Ten team behind Ohio State and Michigan, which ranked No. 2 and No. 3, respectively. Iowa slid one spot to No. 17.

With regards to NY6 at-large consideration, it’s important that Penn State remained ahead of No. 12 Ole Miss and No. 13 Oklahoma. The Nittany Lions are projected to reach their fifth NY6 game of James Franklin’s tenure with realistic options including the Fiesta, Peach and Cotton bowls.

Georgia retained the No. 1 spot after thumping Tennessee over the weekend. Rounding out the top 10 are No. 4 Washington, No. 5 Florida State, No. 6 Oregon, No. 7 Texas, No. 8 Alabama, No. 9 Missouri and No. 10 Louisville.

Penn State will look to impress the committee one final time when it faces Michigan State. The Nittany Lions and Spartans will kick off at 7:30 p.m. Friday, airing on NBC.