How many top-25 teams are on Penn State’s 2026 schedule?

A lot has been made about the level of difficulty, or lack thereof, that Penn State has on its schedule, but now we finally have a better understanding of just how tough it is. The initial preseason AP Poll was released on Monday, and it revealed a lot about Penn State’s schedule.

The poll reinforced that the school got lucky by dodging Ohio State, Oregon, and Indiana — the first, second, and sixth schools in the list respectively. But it also revealed that the Nittany Lions face some tests along the way, with three of the top-25 teams on the schedule.

The only bad thing is that they play the teams in a four-game stretch. No. 14 USC comes to town on Oct. 10 before Penn State heads to play No. 16 Michigan the very next week. They get a little bit of a break after facing the Wolverines, with a bye week and then a Halloween home game against Purdue.

Then the Blue and White are right back in the thick of it, heading out west to play the Washington Huskies, ranked at No. 17 on the list. Sure, the Nittany Lions managed to avoid some of the top teams in the nation, but they’ll still be put to the test a few times.

This collection of teams will likely change dramatically throughout the year, but it doesn’t look like the team’s schedule is quite as easy as it was made out to be.

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This article originally appeared on Nittany Lions Wire: How many top-25 teams are on Penn State’s 2026 schedule?