After winning its fourth consecutive game and beating an undefeated, ranked Northwestern team, the Penn State Nittany Lions received just one vote in this week’s AP Poll. Cecil Hurt, an Alabama writer from the Tuscaloosa News, put Penn State at 25th overall on his weekly ballot.

I say “just one vote” because many expected this Penn State team to garner some recognition after beating a legitimate opponent in noteworthy fashion with 22 unanswered points amid an impressive fourth quarter comeback. But Hurt stands alone — perhaps because of two bad losses to start off the season, or perhaps because Northwestern was a relatively weak ranked opponent.

Hurt took to Twitter to rationalize his Penn State voting in saying, “I was the voter who had Penn State at 25. I know Ohio beat them but can’t think of any team who has overcome more to be 4-2.”

It’s hard to argue with that. After a foundation-rocking scandal, a coaching change, and a laundry list of sanctions and transfers, this team is actually playing some damn good football.

In other news, the Big Ten has been shut out of the Coaches Poll for the first time in its history. Both Ohio State and Penn State are ineligible for the poll as a result of NCAA sanctions. But even so, the only Big Ten teams to make the AP rankings are Ohio State (#8) and Michigan (#25), with Nebraska and Northwestern both dropping out of the top 25 after losses on Saturday.