Elsewhere, ESPN's Mark Schlabach and Kyle Bonagura have Penn State in the field as well. Both project Penn State playing a road game as the No. 9 seed: Schlabach has Penn State heading to Oregon, Bonagura pits the Nittany Lions vs. Georgia.

After a wild Week 5, there are major changes in the College Football Playoff bracket projection. Among them are Alabama and Kansas State rising.

Using PennLive reporter Johnny McGonigal's AP top 25 ballot, here are where the Nittany Lions stand in the CFP picture.

Despite the success that Illinois had prior to the game, the oddsmakers were still all over Penn State in this one. The Nittany Lions came into this game as massive favorites as the line favored them by 17.5 points, but the Fighting Illini ended up showing that they can compete with the best teams in the Big Ten.

After he was named the Big Ten’s defensive player of the week Monday, Abdul Carter found his name on two more awards Tuesday. The junior defensive end was named the national defensive player of the week by both the Bednarik Award and the Bronko Nagurski Trophy,

Ohio State has enough talent to survive hiccups on both sides of the ball, which is why the Buckeyes remain No. 1 in the Big Ten Power Rankings.

While Michigan nearly suffered a second-half malaise against Minnesota, Ohio State ruthlessly handled Michigan State, and Oregon rumbled past UCLA in the Rose Bowl, Penn State prevailing over Illinois pushes them into conference contention in our latest Big Ten predictions powered by the College Football Network Football Playoff Meter.