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.

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

Carter is also the second Nittany Lion to receive the Bednarik Award’s defensive player of the week honors, as now-injured safety Kevin Winston Jr. did so after Week 1. In the offseason, Carter was named to watch lists for both the Bednarik Award and the Nagurski Trophy. Both are given annually to college football’s best defensive player.

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.

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.