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Heather Dinich: Penn State schedule poses 'significant' issue for College Football Playoff committee

Barkley-Truaxby:Barkley Truax•11/03/24•

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Kaytron Allen
© Dan Rainville / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

Penn State now has a “resume problem,” according to ESPN’s Heather Dinich.

The Nittany Lions’ 20-13 loss to Ohio State caused a massive shift in the College Football Playoff and Big Ten races after Week 10, raising questions surrounding Penn State’s strength of schedule and what it means for their eventual seeding.

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“This was Penn State’s best chance to impress the selection committee,” Dinich said on SportsCenter on Sunday morning. “When you look at the schedule as a whole, their best win by the end of the season on selection day is going to be against an Illinois team that just lost to Minnesota. This is a Penn State team that can finish the season with no wins against ranked opponents.

“That’s significant, because even though they can run the table and finish with just one loss, like I said, coming into this game, they are playing for an at-large bid now and a first-round home game as a team seeded 5-8 that could be in jeopardy because of their schedule’s strength.”

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At the time, Penn State defeated a one-loss, No. 19 Illinois team 21-7 — but the Fighting Illini are 6-3 and will likely fall out of the rankings after the Minnesota loss.

Other than that, wins over four-loss West Virginia, the overtime win on the road at five-loss USC and Week 9’s road win against Wisconsin can be considered their strongest resume-building wins over power conference opponents.

However, it would be hard for the selection committee to deny the Nittany Lions if they were to enter the postseason with an 11-1 record. Unless Indiana, Oregon and/or Ohio State trip up to finish the season, the Big Ten Championship is looking farther from reality. As Dinich noted, they appear to be on pace for an at-large bid and a first-round home playoff game.

Penn State has Washington, Purdue, Minnesota and Maryland to finish up its regular season schedule. Likely to be favored in all four matchups, the Nittany Lions can only play who’s in front of them at this point in the season.