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SWB RailRiders 1B Garrett Cooper staying focused despite changes of scenery

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Our view: Wilkes Barre City borrowing only fixes half the problem

Not since LaVar Arrington appeared on the cover of Sports Illustrated has Penn State entered a season with this high of a ranking.The preseason coaches poll was released on Thursday and the Nittany Lions check in at No. 6 in 2017&#8217;s inaugural top 25.It&#8217;s the first time in the 21st century has been ranked this highly entering a season. The Lions opened at No. 3 back in 1999.It&#8217;s also the first time Penn State has been ranked in the preseason since the Jerry Sandusky scandal and ensuing NCAA sanctions. The Lions checked in at No. 25 to start the 2011 campaign.And it&#8217;s a big change for coach James Franklin, who enters his fourth season in Happy Valley with exponentially higher expectations after winning the Big Ten and reaching the Rose Bowl in 2016.&#8220;I think the expectations are always pretty big at Penn State. I think where it&#8217;s probably changed is nationally,&#8221; Franklin said last month at Big Ten media days in Chicago. &#8220;I think there&#8217;s more people nationally talking about Penn State right now than probably in years past.&#8220;But one of the reasons why we came here is because we love the expectations. We embrace those expectations as coaches.&#8221;Two of Penn State&#8217;s 2017 opponents also appear in the top 10 with Big Ten East foes Ohio State and Michigan opening at No. 2 and No. 9, respectively.Six others on the schedule &#8212; Pitt, Northwestern, Nebraska, Iowa, Michigan State and Maryland &#8212; received votes in the poll.All four of the Big Ten&#8217;s ranked teams appear in the top 10, with Wisconsin rounding things out at No. 10.Alabama topped the poll, receiving 49 of the 65 first-place votes. Ohio State picked up five, followed by No. 3 Florida State (four), No. 4 USC (none) and defending national champ Clemson (seven) at No. 5.The Associated Press preseason top 25 poll will be released on Aug. 21.Last fall, Penn State went from being largely off the national radar to swooping right into the College Football Playoff picture after upsetting Ohio State in late October.From there, the Lions were largely able to handle the pressure of being a ranked squad, running the table in the regular season and rallying to beat Wisconsin in the Big Ten title game in December.Franklin said he hopes that mentality carries over to this season and that the Lions are able to keep focus without dwelling on their place in the polls.&#8220;To be honest with you, I think our guys embrace it,&#8221; Franklin said. &#8220;They embrace those type of things. It challenges them and motivates them. But for us, we don&#8217;t spend a whole lot of time talking about those things. We believe in how we run our program and our process of doing things and focus on the fundamentals of the game and making sure all our guys are really detailed and specific and thorough in all the things we do from a preparation standpoint, both physically and mentally.&#8220;And the more days you put together like that, where you have maximized your day from the time you&#8217;ve got up to the time you&#8217;ve gone to bed, as an individual and as a group and as an organization, then you have a chance to be successful.&#8220;So we focus on that and not on the expectations, the outside noise. We&#8217;re concerned about ourselves. Although we are aware of it.&#8221;<style>
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<div class="neCaption">Penn State coach James Franklin and the Nittany Lions enter the 2017 season with their highest ranking since 1999. </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo0>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/08/web1_franklin-ranking.jpg</photo0><caption0>Penn State coach James Franklin and the Nittany Lions enter the 2017 season with their highest ranking since 1999. </caption0><photoCredit0>Joe Hermitt | AP photo, PennLive.com </photoCredit0></div></div>
<div class="metaInfo"><bylineMeta>By Derek Levarsedlevarse@www.timesleader.com</bylineMeta></div><div class="metaInfo"><factboxMeta>PRESEASON COACHES POLLFirst-place votes in parentheses1. Alabama (49)2. Ohio State (5)3. Florida State (4)4. Southern Cal5. Clemson (7)6. Penn State7. Washington8. Oklahoma9. Michigan10. Wisconsin11. Oklahoma State12. LSU13. Auburn14. Stanford15. Georgia16. Florida17. Louisville18. Miami19. Kansas State20. West Virginia21. South Florida22. Virginia Tech23. Texas24. Tennessee25. UtahOthers receiving votes: Washington State 99, Colorado 72, TCU 58, Boise State 49, Notre Dame 49, Texas A&amp;M 46, Pittsburgh 45, N.C. State 39, Oregon 37, Northwestern 25, Nebraska 23, Memphis 22, Arkansas 22, Mississippi State 19, San Diego State 18, Appalachian State 11, BYU 10, Georgia Tech 10, Tulsa 10, Wyoming 9, Western Michigan 8, Temple 8, North Carolina 8, Houston 7, Troy 6, Minnesota 6, Iowa 5, Louisiana Tech 4, Syracuse 3, Arizona 2, Army 1, Colorado State 1, Michigan State 1, Maryland 1, Toledo 1, UCLA 1.</factboxMeta></div><div class="metaInfo"><shirttailMeta>Reach Derek Levarse at 570-991-6396 or on Twitter @TLdlevarse</shirttailMeta></div>

Nittany Lions debut at No. 6 in preseason coaches poll