With Nebby begging off playing the Vols OOC...

[nittanymoops]

in 2026-2027, I noticed our OOC could use an upgrade. Can replace Temple and still play a team with a T on the helmet.

And yes, I know they owe us two games here, i just don't see them plaing here both years.

 

[doctornick]

Would love to see the Volunteers added. We desperately need to get out of the idiotic Temple series - I know Sandy gets no love around here regardless, but the deal to play Temple is by far and away the dumbest thing she did as AD.

 

[SleepyLion]

Would love to see the Volunteers added. We desperately need to get out of the idiotic Temple series - I know Sandy gets no love around here regardless, but the deal to play Temple is by far and away the dumbest thing she did as AD.

I'm not sure it is in the top 10. And I'm not saying it wasn't a dumb thing to do.

 

[psuro]

Would love to see the Volunteers added. We desperately need to get out of the idiotic Temple series - I know Sandy gets no love around here regardless, but the deal to play Temple is by far and away the dumbest thing she did as AD.

Not sure why you are blaming Sandy.

Dating back to 1931, PSU has played Temple 45 times (winning 40 of them, losing 4 and tieing 1). They have played in every decade except the 1960s. The game has been played 18 times in Philly, once at the Meadowlands, and the rest in the Beav. So, 19 times, PSU fans in the general Philly/NYC/NJ/Delaware/MD area get to see PSU play without having to make a trek to State College.

So, it's not like she conjured up the idea of playing Temple on her own. PSU-Temple has been played long before she got here, and will be played probably long after we are all gone.

 

[Keyser Soze 16802]

No class move by Nebraska

 

[Erial_Lion]

Not sure why you are blaming Sandy.

Dating back to 1931, PSU has played Temple 45 times (winning 40 of them, losing 4 and tieing 1). They have played in every decade except the 1960s. The game has been played 18 times in Philly, once at the Meadowlands, and the rest in the Beav. So, 19 times, PSU fans in the general Philly/NYC/NJ/Delaware/MD area get to see PSU play without having to make a trek to State College.

So, it's not like she conjured up the idea of playing Temple on her own. PSU-Temple has been played long before she got here, and will be played probably long after we are all gone.

And I'm fine with playing them in a buy game, or in a 2 for 1...but I have no idea why we scheduled a Home and Home with them. That's my issue with the series.

 

[doctornick]

Not sure why you are blaming Sandy.

Dating back to 1931, PSU has played Temple 45 times (winning 40 of them, losing 4 and tieing 1). They have played in every decade except the 1960s. The game has been played 18 times in Philly, once at the Meadowlands, and the rest in the Beav. So, 19 times, PSU fans in the general Philly/NYC/NJ/Delaware/MD area get to see PSU play without having to make a trek to State College.

So, it's not like she conjured up the idea of playing Temple on her own. PSU-Temple has been played long before she got here, and will be played probably long after we are all gone.

It’s idiotic to schedule Temple for a home and home. We have extremely limited away game space non conference (one every other year) and wasting one going to Temple greatly limits our ability to play a decent opponent. If we are just going to schedule a trash opponent like Temple, it should only be scheduled as a home game.

If we really wanted to play a game in Philly then find a Power 4 team and play a one off there. I’m sure Notre Dame, for example, would be all about that.

 

[Erial_Lion]

My dream scenario would be that we use football to leverage scheduling in other sports. How about we get out of that Temple series and instead schedule a football Home and Home with Duke. With the caveat being that we also package into the contract a home and home in Men's basketball. Who doesn't benefit in that arrangement (maybe PSU football and Duke basketball, but seems like a net win for both schools looking at the big picture)? But if we're going to do Temple, I'd find Duke to be a step up from them.

I've said the same thing when we've schedule football home and homes with Syracuse. And would be glad to do the same thing with someone like Kansas or Kentucky.

 

[MtNittany]

It’s idiotic to schedule Temple for a home and home. We have extremely limited away game space non conference (one every other year) and wasting one going to Temple greatly limits our ability to play a decent opponent. If we are just going to schedule a trash opponent like Temple, it should only be scheduled as a home game.

If we really wanted to play a game in Philly then find a Power 4 team and play a one off there. I’m sure Notre Dame, for example, would be all about that.

A home and home w/ FAU or FIU at Hard Rock makes much more sense. Good for alums and recruiting.

 

[84lion]

No class move by Nebraska

From what I read, Nebraska will be renovating their stadium in that timeframe, and wanted the extra home game in 2027 for the revenue. Nebraska will be paying Tennessee a cool million dollars ($500K for each game canceled) to cancel the games. Given that Nebraska typically sells out home games "no matter what," whether Nebraska will be playing Tennessee or Toledo won't matter to their bottom line, and the extra home game should cover the million dollar payout (although Nebraska will have to pay some directional school to play the game). Financially, the move makes sense. The ethics or "classiness" of the decision is debatable. I also read that the series had been postponed previously, I believe to accommodate Tennessee.

 

[Marshall2323]

Under the current system, why would anyone play a challenging OOC game?

 

[Bison13]

Under the current system, why would anyone play a challenging OOC game?

Especially in the Big Ten or SEC. If you can finish in the top four of your league, then you’re almost assured to be in the playoff unless you have an extra loss from an out of conference opponent.

 

[Tgar]

At this point, scheduling should be taken out of the hands of the individual programs. There should only be two OOC games with a 10 game conference schedule. Identify two lesser conferences for an arrangement with guaranteed pay to those conferences and get it done. Let the conferences with the Networks determine who plays who.


Same should be for SEC, Big 12, ACC.

 

[Bvillebaron]

No class move by Nebraska

The proper thing for Nebraska to do would be to postpone the games for a few years like when Penn State agreed to postpone the home and home games scheduled with Alabama for 2004 and 2005 for five years when Alabama basically begged out of playing those games then because of sanctions imposed on Alabama in February 2002 which included five years probation, a two year postseason ban and loss of scholarships.

 

[BobPSU92]

Would love to see the Volunteers added. We desperately need to get out of the idiotic Temple series - I know Sandy gets no love around here regardless, but the deal to play Temple is by far and away the dumbest thing she did as AD.

Yet someday, we will look at Sandy and barren as Penn State’s Golden Age.

 

[rigi19040]

Would love to see the Volunteers added. We desperately need to get out of the idiotic Temple series - I know Sandy gets no love around here regardless, but the deal to play Temple is by far and away the dumbest thing she did as AD.

Did you complain when joe played temple?

 

[NittPicker]

I don't have a problem with the Temple series. I think it's mainly for recruiting purposes. In looking at the recent On3 rankings, the majority of top players in the state are from eastern PA. Maintaining visibility there is important and PSU playing in Philadelphia is a big deal for a lot of people. Consider the most recent top twenty player rankings....

• 2020 - 14 from eastern PA
• 2021 - 12 from eastern PA
• 2022 - 17 from eastern PA
• 2023 - 16 from eastern PA
• 2024 - 12 from eastern PA
• 2025 - 13 from eastern PA
• 2026 - 13 from eastern PA

For sure there are a lot of talented players elsewhere in the state but it's not 1970 anymore when you could field almost an entire team from western PA. That's why Notre Dame played Pitt so often back in the day - to establish a recruiting presence in what was then a hotbed of talent.

 

[Lion84]

I would rather not play Temple for the same reason I don’t want to play Pitt - living in SEPA Temple fans are right up there on the a-hole scale with Pitt fans and as with Pitt fans for no good reason. You should have heard the clowns on the sports talk radio here during the playoffs hating on PSU and most were graduates of Temple - pretty funny when the rip on PSU for never winning anything - no self awareness at all on the dumpster fire than is Temple sports.

 

[doctornick]

Did you complain when joe played temple?

I would absolutely complain if we signed a 1 and 1 home/home series with them. Under Joe, we typically signed 2 for 1 or 3 for 1 deals with the majority of the games at Beaver Stadium. The problem isn't playing Temple; the problem is using a precious away game slot to play at Temple.

(Also completely different schedule flexibility when we were an independent with a wide open schedule vs having only 3 non-conference slots)

Our absolutely pathetic home schedule this upcoming season is the direct result of scheduling Temple. We should have played a real Power 4 team home 2025 and away 2026 but playing the idiotic game at Temple next season destroys that flexibility.

 

[doctornick]

I don't have a problem with the Temple series. I think it's mainly for recruiting purposes. In looking at the recent On3 rankings, the majority of top players in the state are from eastern PA. Maintaining visibility there is important and PSU playing in Philadelphia is a big deal for a lot of people. Consider the most recent top twenty player rankings....

• 2020 - 14 from eastern PA
• 2021 - 12 from eastern PA
• 2022 - 17 from eastern PA
• 2023 - 16 from eastern PA
• 2024 - 12 from eastern PA
• 2025 - 13 from eastern PA
• 2026 - 13 from eastern PA

For sure there are a lot of talented players elsewhere in the state but it's not 1970 anymore when you could field almost an entire team from western PA. That's why Notre Dame played Pitt so often back in the day - to establish a recruiting presence in what was then a hotbed of talent.

I'm extremely skeptical that playing an away game in a particular geographic area has any impact on recruiting in that area. But even if that is the thought process, there is no reason PSU has to play Temple to get a game in Philadelphia - a much better option is to play a one off neutral site game there against an actual good opponent.

 

[doctornick]

Under the current system, why would anyone play a challenging OOC game?

It didn't really come into play this past season, but I definitely think that not playing a good OOC opponent will keep a team out at some point when it is a debate between two or more teams with the same record.

(Although I do wonder if in such situations, the committee will take into account the differences in number of conference schedule games. Personally, I think looking at "number of Power 4 teams played" is a better consideration than just who did you play non-conference since SEC and ACC teams need to play a Power 4 team OOC just to get to the same number of P4 games at Big Ten/Big 12 teams)

 

[Marshall2323]

C

It didn't really come into play this past season, but I definitely think that not playing a good OOC opponent will keep a team out at some point when it is a debate between two or more teams with the same record.

(Although I do wonder if in such situations, the committee will take into account the differences in number of conference schedule games. Personally, I think looking at "number of Power 4 teams played" is a better consideration than just who did you play non-conference since SEC and ACC teams need to play a Power 4 team OOC just to get to the same number of P4 games at Big Ten/Big 12 teams)

Comes down to risk reward when you already have 9 conference games. Also means you are giving up a home date every other year. I don't see PSU doing that when they could draw 90k for a game with Bloomsburg.