Penn State leads The Athletic’s 1-136 rankings, list of players and things that will impact the CFP race: Newsstand

Penn State news, notes, and updates for Aug. 19 include more preseason rankings, headlines of the day, and more. Chris Vannini of The Athletic posted his first 1-136 rundown of FBS teams for the 2025 season to start the week. He has the Nittany Lions at No. 1 after the team took the No. 3 position in the USA Today Coaches Poll and the No. 2 spot in the first Associated Press top 25 of the year.

“The Nittany Lions are this year’s Michigan and Ohio State, with a lot of guys who turned down the NFL to come back to win it all, and I predict they will,” Vannini writes. “You can’t get over the hump until you finally do.”

You can see the full top 25 here.

Vannini’s colleague Manny Navarro took a different approach to previewing the season. He ranked the 20 players or position groups that will have the biggest impact on the 2025 College Football Playoff race. The Penn State receivers led the list.

“The Nittany Lions’ national title hopes will likely hinge on whether Kyron Hudson (USC), Trebor Pena (Syracuse) and Devonte Ross (Troy) can provide reliable pass-catching options for senior QB Drew Allar,” Navarro writes.

Read that story here.

In related news, Penn State also leads USA Today’s 1-136 team re-rank ahead of the 2025 season.

“At this point, the Nittany Lions are more of a sure thing than Ohio State, which has a new quarterback, a new backfield, a largely remade defensive front seven and new coordinators on offense and defense,” Paul Myerberg writes.

In other news, Penn State Athletics posted its annual football parking map on Monday. The ride share pickup and drop-off location has changed to the Pegula Ice Arena. You can see the map below:

Headlines of the day

Four marquee high school games Penn State fans need to watch this upcoming weekend: Snyder, BWI

Penn State wrestling is set to host a Big 12 program this season, but not the one you might think: Pickel, BWI

Kill the 28-team College Football Playoff idea before it can infect anyone else: Staples, On3

History says Penn State’s preseason ranking is good news for national title hopes, but there’s a catch: Ralph, PennLive

Quote of the day

“When Brenton Strange was here, that’s when I mostly learned my blocking from. He was a great blocker. The way he had his feet set, and the way he strikes people with his hands, he was always tight.”

“Brenton had the right, you know, techniques just to get it done. And that’s kind of where I took my learning from.”

PSU TE Khalil Dinkins on his pass blocking abilities.