The Athletic's Stewart Mandel is a preseason Penn State believer, placing the Nittany Lions atop his too-early top 25 for 2025. "I'm skeptical they can actually pull it off," Mandel writes, "but on paper, James Franklin's team deserves that status given how many players are returning."

Penn State had a plenty successful 2024 season, finishing out with a narrow loss to national runner-up Notre Dame in the Orange Bowl. The Nittany Lions came away with a No. 5 ranking in the final AP Poll, the highest in James Franklin’s 11 years at the helm.

Penn State football's heartbreaking 27-24 loss to Notre Dame highlighted a weakness that has plagued this program for much of this season. Head coach James Franklin's team won the battle in the trenches Thursday night,

It's Penn State vs Notre Dame in the College Football Playoff semifinal. Follow along for live score and game updates from the Orange Bowl:

The Nittany Lions close a remarkable season with too many what-ifs in a loss to Notre Dame in the Orange Bowl.

But an untimely Drew Allar interception sealed the Nittany Lions' fate, as Notre Dame drove 19 yards to sink a 41-yard go-ahead field goal. REQUIRED READING:Penn State football Orange Bowl record ...

The pain of Penn State's season ending in the fashion it did will take some time to get over. Perhaps you are not looking forward to reliving some of the moments of Penn State's Orange Bowl loss to Notre Dame in the College Football Playoff semifinal.

The Nittany Lions could look quite different in 2025, as the program awaits decisions from several key players.

Penn State received 1,203 points in the final AP Top 25 poll, just eight behind Texas for fourth. Ohio State was No. 1, followed by Notre Dame and Oregon. Penn State has finished in the AP top 10 five times in James Franklin's 11 seasons as head coach. Franklin's teams have seven top-20 finishes since 2016.

Penn State football ... But the Nittany Lions gave up just one more heavyweight punch than they could handle at the end of Thursday night's heartbreaking defeat in this Orange Bowl in Hard Rock ...

Notre Dame didn't accomplish its biggest team goal of 2024, but did take huge steps in moving the program forward despite a national championship game loss.

Ohio State claims No. 1 in the final top 25 rankings, followed by Notre Dame, Georgia, Texas, and Penn State. Here are Athlon Sports' top 25 college football teams for the 2024-25 season: