Where does Penn State rank in this week’s CFB Playoff rankings?

Penn State has moved up two spots in this week’s College Football Playoff rankings and remains in the driver’s seat for a potential home playoff game in December. Penn State is ranked no. 4 in the latest College Football Playoff rankings released by the selection committee on Tuesday night. That currently puts Penn State in a position to be the No. 6 seed in the playoff field this year, giving the Nittany Lions a home playoff game against an SEC opponent.

Penn State started off at No. 6 in the initial College Football Playoff rankings a week ago. However, a projected playoff field would have given Penn State a No. 7 ranking with the top four seeds reserved for the highest-ranked conference champions.

The top 12 teams as of Nov. 12

Here is what the top 12 looks like in the second release of the College Football Playoff rankings this season:

1. Oregon
2. Ohio State
3. Texas
4. Penn State
5. Indiana
6. BYU
7. Tennessee
8. Notre Dame
9. Miami
10. Alabama
11. Ole Miss
12. Georgia

If the season ended today, here are the first-round matchups

• 5. Ohio State vs. 12. Boise State (Mountain West Conference leader)
• 6, Penn State vs. 11. Ole Miss
• 7. Indiana vs. 10. Alabama
• 8. Tennessee vs. 9. Notre Dame

Boise State is ranked no. 13 in the selection committee’s rankings this week, but the Broncos could nab the no. 12 seed as a Mountain West Conference champion. The four top seeds are reserved for the four highest-ranked conference champions but a fifth spot in the field is reserved for the fifth highest-ranked conference champion. But that fifth conference champion gets slotted according to rankings, and is given the 12th seed if ranked outside the top 12. In this scenario, Boise State would block Georgia in the playoff field.

In the current projections, Penn State would host Ole Miss in a rematch of last season’s PEach Bowl, which Penn State lost to the Rebels in Atlanta.

Penn State will visit Purdue this weekend with the hopes of maintaining its position in the playoff hunt with just a few games…