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Penn State bowl projections: Where are the Lions slotted to go now?

Greg Pickelby:Greg Pickel•11/15/22•

GregPickel

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Penn State coach James Franklin at practice on Nov. 9, 2022. (Althouse/BWI)

Penn State will be going to the postseason again this year. The Nittany Lions are 8-2 with two regular season games left. They take on Rutgers this weekend before hosting Michigan State on Senior Day to close out the first part of their yearly schedule.

Bowl projections are starting to come into focus now in mid-November. But, as you’ll read below, there is a lot still up in the air regarding where head coach James Franklin’s team will go following its 30-0 win over Maryland.

“In the field position battle, we won. In the turnover battle, we tied; we had one late in the game,” Lions coach James Franklin said. “The penalty battle we won; didn’t necessarily feel like that, but we did. We won the explosive play battle, not only did we win, but also offensively, we met our goal, and defensively we met our goal. Some cool notes for you. Jake Pinegar, I’m so happy for him playing his tail off, you’re talking about a guy who was the starter, lost his starting job, stuck it out, stayed here, and became the starter again. He’s playing really well right now. A 50-yard field goal tonight at the end of the second quarter. 
 
We have 13 different players with a sack right now. Back-to-back games with six sacks or more haven’t happened since 2007. On top of that, no sacks on offense and the offensive line are playing their tails off right now with a lot of moving parts. Defensively, we held them to 27 yards in the first half. On top of that, because of the way our defense and special teams are playing, our offense had the ball on their side of the field for 27 plays as well. Again, Pinegar, I can’t say enough about him. It was the fourth game that we’ve had this year without allowing the sack, that’s the first time that’s happened since 2011.”

Here are the latest bowl projections.

Penn State bowl projections entering Week 12

Erick Smith, USA Today: Penn State vs. Cincinnati in the Cotton Bowl (Jan. 2)

Kyle Bonagura and Mark Schlabach, ESPN: PSU vs. Ole Miss in the Citrus Bowl (Jan. 2)

The Athletic: Penn State vs. UCF in the Cotton Bowl.

College Football News: PSU vs. Ole Miss in the Citrus Bowl.

Brett McMurphy, The Action Network: Penn State vs. UCF in the Cotton Bowl.

Richard Johnson, SI: PSU vs. Ole Miss in the Citrus Bowl.

Jerry Palm, CBS Sports: Penn State vs. Ole Miss in the Citrus Bowl.

Bill Bender, Sporting News: PSU vs. Ole Miss in the Citrus Bowl.

Where will the Lions end up?

We understand why many experts are currently slotting Penn State in the Citrus Bowl. However, the Lions are expected to win out and, assuming they do, head coach James Franklin’s team should be inside of the top-10. That, combined with 10 wins, would all but assure them a New Year’s Six bowl slot. Right now, our best bet would be the Cotton Bowl based on how the rest of the rankings look. But, plenty of chaos remains for other teams who are currently slotted ahead of the Lions. The Orange Bowl, and even the Rose Bowl, remain in play as well.

All told, we see an NY6 berth for the Lions. Which game, though, will continue to be up in the air over the next three weeks.

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