Where does Penn State's 2026 class now sit in the Rivals Team Rankings following update?

On3 and Rivals officially merged their 2026 rankings on Monday, which led to some major changes for Penn State’s individual players in the Industry Rankings. How the Industry Rankings are now calculated also changed with the merger, making this one of the more noteworthy changes since On3 was created nearly four years ago.

Now, just three sites make up the Industry Rankings: Rivals, 247Sports and ESPN.

With On3’s previous rankings now branded under Rivals, Penn State’s overall class ranking improved from 89.698 to 89.962. However, it wasn’t enough for the Nittany Lions to surpass Tennessee, leaving Penn State at No. 16 in Rivals’ 2026 Team Recruiting Rankings. They have 11 four-star players and 13 three-star players. Among the schools that aren’t credited with at least one five-star recruit, Penn State ranks third nationally behind Clemson at No. 10 and Florida at No. 11.

Understanding Rivals’ Team Recruiting Rankings

For those unfamiliar with Rivals’ Team Rankings, there are two major differences compared to other sites that you need to know.

1) We use the Industry Rankings, which puts together all three major recruiting sites – Rivals, 247 and ESPN – to find a cumulative score for each prospect. It’s not just based on Rivals’ rankings. The updated Industry Rankings are now an even 33.3% split between the three sites. Previously, On3 and 247 both weighed more heavily at 35 percent. Rivals had a 20 percent impact on the rankings, while ESPN had a 10 percent impact.

2) Rivals’ Team Recruiting Rankings solves the problem of varying class sizes during the recruiting cycle by totaling the highest-rated commitments for each team based on a rolling average of current total commitments among Power Four schools. That average has climbed to 17 players in recent weeks following a surge of commitments across the country.

That second point is a major difference compared to 247Sports, which uses a point system that grows throughout the cycle. Because of this, classes with the most commitments often rate higher early in the cycle compared to where they finish.

That’s why On3 and Rivals designed this system to give a more accurate projection throughout the cycle of where a particular school is on pace to finish.

Around the Big Ten

USC was ranked No. 1 in the 2026 Team Rankings for months, but that changed during Monday’s update, as Georgia just edged out USC for the top spot.

Of course, the Trojans still have an elite class of 31 players. In May, USC added the nation’s top-ranked tight end in California native Mark Bowman, as well as a previous Penn State target, cornerback Elbert Hill. Of course, they also added top Penn State target Luke Wafle in June, followed up by elite wide receiver Bobbie Feaster on July 4.

Oregon’s class also benefited from the rankings change, climbing to No. 6 nationally and second in the Big Ten. In addition to five-star tight end Kendre Harrison, the Ducks also added two more five-star prospects in recent weeks in safety Jett Washington and offensive tackle Immanuel Iheanacho.

Link: Three thoughts on Penn State’s class following the updated Industry Rankings

Ohio State is now ranked eighth nationally and third in the Big Ten. With 21 total commitments now, the Buckeyes have four top-100 players, including five-star wide receiver Chris Henry Jr. Safety Blaine Bradford, linebacker Cincere Johnson and offensive lineman Sam Greer all rank among the top 66 players in the Industry Rankings.

No school has seen its class rise as much as Michigan over the past few weeks, as the Wolverines have climbed from outside the Top 25 in May to No. 9 in the rankings. Edge rusher Carter Meadows holds a five-star rating, but they’ve also added six additional top-200 prospects since the end of June 23.

Beyond Penn State at No. 16, you’ll find Washington at No. 17 and UCLA at No. 18. However, the Huskies’ overall class grade of 88.649 is also more than 1.3 points behind Penn State. That’s a larger gap than the one that separates Penn State at No. 16 from Michigan at No. 9. Illinois is the other Big Ten program that currently ranks among the top 25 at No. 23 nationally.