James Franklin shares Penn State would be 'very, very excited' to play in Big Ten Championship game

The Penn State Nittany Lions are going into the final game of the season against Maryland in a seemingly good position to make the College Football Playoff. However, head coach James Franklin still has a chance to lead the Nittany Lions to the Big Ten Championship Game too.

Ahead of that final game, Franklin insisted that the focus is on Maryland, and not potentially making the championship game. At the same time, he added that the Nittany Lions would be excited for the opportunity to play in the championship game.

“To be honest with you, I haven’t spent a whole lot of time kind of thinking about that,” James Franklin said. “I’m literally, completely focused on the Terps and the University of Maryland, and after that game, there is a lot of other things I think that have to happen. But that is a possibility. For us, we want an opportunity to compete as many times as we possibly can this year. If that includes a conference championship game, we would be very, very excited about that opportunity.”

Oregon has already clinched a spot in the Big Ten Championship Game. Then, three teams have one loss in conference play — Penn State, Ohio State, and Indiana. The Buckeyes have the tiebreaker over both the Nittany Lions and the Hoosiers. However, a Buckeyes loss could throw that into chaos.

“But, again, all we have to do is focus on playing Maryland this week,” Franklin said. “And if we’re not focused on that, then a lot of these other things that everybody else wants to talk about, then those things become questionable. Those things become challenging. Those things become different.”

James Franklin is a former assistant coach at Maryland who, at one point, was expected to become the team’s next head coach. However, he ended up becoming the Vanderbilt head coach instead. Since getting to Happy Valley, he’s coached against the Terrapins 10 times and has an 8-2 record. Penn State as a school is 43-3-1 all-time against Maryland.

“So, honestly we have not talked about it in the Lasch Building once. We are focused totally on the University of Maryland and sending our seniors out the right way,” Franklin said. “Got a ton of respect for the University of Maryland and the talent they have on their team every year. Totally focused on that. Anything that happens after Saturday, we’ll be excited about those opportunities that we’ve earned.”

If Penn State were to win the Big Ten Championship Game, they’d be in a position to earn a first round bye in the College Football Playoff. As it stands now, the Nittany Lions are expected to make the Playoff, likely hosting a first round game.