Penn State football checked in at No. 4 in the College Football Playoff committee’s first top 25 poll of the 2019 season.

No. 1 Ohio State, No. 2 LSU, and No. 3 Alabama made up the rest of the top four teams in this week’s rankings. This is the first time Penn State has held a spot in the top four of the College Football Playoff’s rankings.

The Nittany Lions rattled off eight consecutive wins to start the year — including a pair of victories over then-No. 17 Iowa and then-No. 16 Michigan. That 17-12 victory over the Hawkeyes at Kinnick Stadium was James Franklin’s first win over a ranked opponent on the road during his five-plus seasons as Penn State’s head coach. The team was idle in week 10.

This ranking is a 10-spot improvement from last year’s first College Football Playoff top 25 poll. Penn State was the No. 14 team in the country at this time last season, but it ended the regular season at No. 12 in the poll ahead of its Citrus Bowl defeat to Kentucky. The team has now been ranked in the College Football Playoff committee’s first top 25 poll of the season in four consecutive seasons.

In addition to this new ranking, Penn State checked in at No. 5 in both the AP and Coaches’ Polls this week. The top four teams in the final College Football Playoff rankings will play in the Peach and Fiesta Bowls, and the winners of those games will play for a national championship on January 13 at the Mercedes-Benz Superdome in New Orleans.

As far as the near future is concerned, No. 4 Penn State (8-0, 5-0 Big Ten) will play No. 17 Minnesota (8-0, 5-0 Big Ten) at noon on Saturday at TCF Bank Stadium in the Twin Cities.