The Nittany Lions took a page out of Penn State men’s basketball’s book and continued to #climb up the College Football Playoff rankings. After a wild regular season finale, the Nittany Lions rose to No. 9 in the latest CFP poll.

Penn State leapfrogged previously No. 8 Notre Dame following the Irish’s 38-20 loss to No 21 Stanford. Last week’s top two teams, Alabama and Miami, which were both undefeated heading into their final games, both lost, but both the Tide and Hurricanes remain ahead of the Nittany Lions in the ranking.

Though the Nittany Lions have been essentially out of the Playoff race for weeks, Penn State is staring down the barrel of a New Year’s Six berth — something the program is pretty much guaranteed to earn. The most likely outcome would be a trip to Arlington, TX. for a date in the Cotton Bowl Classic against an unspecified opponent, but that all hinge on the conference championship game outcomes.

The final College Football Playoff ranking and bowl game pairings will be released on Sunday, Dec. 3.