Penn State football cracked the Top 10 in College Football Playoff poll. What it means ...

Penn State football is, indeed, a Top 10 team now in the rankings that will determine their postseason fate − including whatever hope remains of making its first playoff.

The second College Football Playoff poll, released Tuesday evening, moved the Nittany Lions into the No. 10 spot. They were 11th in last week's inaugural ranking release of the 2023 season.

The Lions remain one spot behind one-loss Ole Miss and are just ahead of one-loss Louisville. Meanwhile, they are No. 9 in the traditional rankings, including the US LBM Coaches Poll.

Of course Penn State's outlook shifts significantly if it can upset undefeated and No. 3 Michigan Saturday in Beaver Stadium. A victory would potentially jump it into the top five and on the edge of qualifying for the CFP in the final year of the four-team format.

For now, Penn State has this calling card: They are one of three Big Ten teams (Ohio State, No. 1; Michigan, 3rd) in the CFP Top 10 − one of five if you include Washington (4) and Oregon (6), which will be new league members in 2024.

The Lions are handicapped a bit with their best wins relegated to unranked West Virginia, Iowa and Maryland. At least the overwhelming 51-15 victory against the Terps came on the road and just last weekend − possibly providing some feel-good momentum toward meeting Michigan.

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Penn State is a 4.5-point underdog at home to the Wolverines, who have crushed all adversaries so far, no matter how pedestrian the competition or the escalating scrutiny over the claims of inappropriate sign-stealing by its staff.

Beating Michigan could also set the stage for an intriguing three-way tie in the Big Ten East. Penn State, Ohio State and Michigan could each still finish with 11-1 regular seasons, including victories over each other.

In that scenario, the Big Ten's fifth tiebreaker scenario would come into play: Which team's slate of Big Ten West opponents have the best cumulative conference winning percentage?

For now, Penn State owns the slight edge as its three Big Ten West opponents (Iowa, Northwestern, Illinois) are a combined 8-10 so far in league play; Ohio State and Michigan opponents carry 7-11 records into this coming weekend.

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Frank Bodani covers Penn State football for the York Daily Record and USA Today Network. Contact him at  fbodani@ydr.com and follow him on X, formerly known as Twitter, @YDRPennState.

This article originally appeared on York Daily Record: Penn State football in College Football Playoff poll before Michigan