After coming in at No. 20 earlier in the week in the AP Top 25, Penn State made a shocking appearance at No. 12 in the all-important first College Football Playoff rankings of the season.

College Football Playoff chairman Kirby Hocutt explained the decision to place Penn State much higher than its AP and Coaches’ Poll counterparts.

CFP chair Kirby Hocutt on Penn State: "We've taken a lot of looks at the schedule played and also the quality of wins."

— Derek Levarse (@TLdlevarse) November 1, 2016

The name that stands out of course in the quality wins category is the upset over College Football Playoff No. 6 Ohio State. But Penn State also has wins over 6-2 Minnesota and 5-3 Maryland to complement the upset.

It also doesn’t hurt that both of Penn State’s losses came on the road to teams with a combined three losses total this season.

With strength of schedule playing a huge factor in the College Football Playoff rankings, Penn State is definitely in luck.

With a game coming up against 5-3 Iowa at home and then a stretch of games against teams that are either at or below a .500 record, Penn State’s chances don’t look to bad down the stretch to keep winning and improve that ranking — maybe even into one of the four playoff spots.