Undefeated Penn State climbs to 11th in the AP college football top 25

Fresh off a 33-14 dismantling of Central Michigan, the unbeaten Penn State Nittany Lions moved up three spots to No. 11 on Sunday in the Associated Press college football poll.

The Nittany Lions (4-0, 1-0 Big Ten) will host Northwestern (1-3, 1-0) on Saturday at 3:30 p.m. (ESPN). After a bye week, Penn State faces a Big Ten showdown at No. 4 Michigan on Oct. 15.

» READ MORE: No. 14 Penn State pulls away from Central Michigan powered by a complete second-half resurgence

Defensive tackle PJ Mustipher said he expected more from the Nittany Lions on Saturday. “There’s a certain standard in this program,” he said. “I told the guys after the game that we’ve got to come out hot, we’ve got to come out better.”

Tennessee and North Carolina State broke into the top 10, and Florida State is back in the rankings for the first time in four years.

Georgia remained No. 1 and received 55 of 63 first-place votes. No. 2 Alabama (four first-place votes), No. 3 Ohio State (four first-place votes), No. 4 Michigan, and No. 5 Clemson all held their places.

Oklahoma’s upset loss to Kansas State created room for teams to move up, like Southern California to No. 6 and Kentucky to No. 7.

Tennessee moved up three spots to No. 8, its best ranking since 2006 and first top-10 appearance since a few weeks at ninth in the first half of 2016. That was the last time the Volunteers started 4-0. The Vols knocked Florida out of the rankings by snapping a five-game losing streak in the rivalry.

Oklahoma State remained at nine and North Carolina State jumped two spots to No. 10. The Wolfpack have their best ranking since they were 10th in 2002.

This article contains information from the Associated Press.