Yesterday, we told you the Associated Press ranked Penn State the No. 12 program in the history of college football. Well, after a bit of number crunching, College Football News deemed the AP’s system to be flawed, and came up with a revised list using a more thorough ranking process. The result? A few programs remained in their original place, but others — like Penn State — received a well-deserved boost in the rankings.

Penn State now cracks the top-ten, coming in at No. 10 on the new and improved list. Let’s take a look at what changed.

Both systems were based on points, which were given based on a number of different factors (like number of times appearing on a weekly poll, number of times appearing as the No. 1 team, etc.). However, the crux of the matter lies in the number of points the AP’s list awarded teams. Thanks to some clever analysis by Jason Kirk of SB Nation, it was found that the AP gave the same amount of points to a team appearing on the top-25 poll early in the season as it did a team ranking in the top-three at the end of the season. There’s a huge issue with that.

The AP’s list seemingly discredits the importance of late season accomplishments, as well as how high a team actually ranks in on its poll. I’d love to see Penn State ranked in the preseason top-ten, but that ranking doesn’t mean squat if the team falls out of the rankings by season’s end.

So, College Football News wisely rewarded teams for finishing higher, giving 25 points to a team finishing No. 1 in the season ending poll, 24 for No. 2, 23 for No. 3, etc. It makes more sense, and acknowledges the truly great programs for what they’re worth.

So there you have it. Instead of bragging about a top-15 program, you can now brag about a top-ten program.

Also, thanks to the more thorough system, Pitt fell completely out of the all-time top-25.