NCAA Football Week 12 Power Rankings

Rutgers v Penn State

9 - Penn State Nittany Lions (8-2)

Among the other nine teams these rankings, there are a total of nine losses. The average margin of defeat in those nine games for those teams is 13.9 points. Penn State's two losses have come by a combined 4-point margin of defeat, and both were road losses against Big Ten conference opponents who are currently ranked in the top 17.

Sure, Penn State's chances at making the College Football Playoff are extremely slim if not totally nonexistent, as they will need a miracle to even made it to the Big Ten conference championship game. But that doesn't mean they have stopped competing at the level they were playing when they were ranked at #2 in the country.