Penn State bowl projections: New Year's Six path comes into focus for the Lions
Penn State beat Indiana 45-14 on Saturday to win its seventh game of the year. The Nittany Lions will be favored in each of its final three games with a 10-win season on the line. And, that has head coach James Franklin’s program on a clear path to a New Year’s Six game should it take care of business.
“You got to value every win that you can get,” Penn State coach James Franklin said Saturday night. “So, obviously we did some good things. When we talk about the field position battle, we won that. The turnover battle, we won that. I think that’s really been a story for our season and something that I’m really going to emphasize on Sunday with the guys that we’re able to create turnovers on defense and limit them on offense. And then the explosive play battle, we won it. We did not meet our goal on offense, but we did win it in terms of ours compared to theirs.
“Obviously, the 16 tackles for loss, the most that we’ve had since they started keeping the statistic from an NCAA perspective. Our red zone defense has been tremendous all year long. And then Nick and and Kaytron both tied to the freshman record of touchdowns. Obviously that those things are big for us.”
Here are the latest Lions bowl projections.
Penn State bowl projections entering Week 11
Brett McMurphy, Action Network: Penn State vs. North Carolina in the Orange Bowl (Dec. 30, Miami)
Mark Schlabach, ESPN: PSU vs. Oregon in the Rose Bowl (Jan. 2, California)
Kyle Bonagura, ESPN: Penn State vs. Ole Miss in the Citrus Bowl (Jan. 2, Orlando)
Steve Lassan, Atholin Sports: PSU vs. Tulane in the Cotton Bowl (Jan. 2, Dallas)
Jerry Palm, CBS Sports: Penn State vs. Ole Miss in the Citrus Bowl
College Football News: PSU vs. UCF in the Cotton Bowl
Bill Bender, Sporting News: Penn State vs. Oregon in the Rose Bowl
Richard Johnson, SI: PSU vs. South Carolina in the Gator Bowl (Dec. 30, Jacksonville)
Where will the Lions go?
There is much to still figure out in this college football season. Upsets will happen that shake things up. Three things seem to be the biggest factor for Penn State, though. One is where Alabama is ultimately ranked. The other is whether or not Ohio State and Michigan both make the College Football Playoff.
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“After the dust settles, Alabama should be ranked higher than Penn State,” Jerry Palm writes for CBS Sports. “The Crimson Tide therefore replace the Nittany Lions in the Orange Bowl projection. Bama would be the fourth SEC team in a New Year’s Six game.
“Penn State dropping out of the Orange Bowl means the Big Ten will keep its spot in the ReliaQuest Bowl. (The ACC takes the Big Ten slot in that game if the Big Ten is in the Orange Bowl.) That caused bowl projection changes for several teams in both the ACC and Big Ten. Penn State is now projected to the Citrus Bowl. Illinois moves over to the ReliaQuest Bowl, replacing North Carolina. The Tar Heels are now expected to play in the Cheez-It Bowl.”
All told, we’re still not willing to believe at this point in time that a 10-win Penn State team would miss out on the NY6 party. But, we see why Palm and others think it’s a possibility at this point in time. Regardless, we’d expect the Lions to be in either the Rose, Cotton, or Orange bowl when all is said and done.
