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Penn State will be a double-digit favorite in eight of 12 games, The Action Network projects

Greg Pickelby:Greg Pickel•07/06/23•

GregPickel

NCAA Football: Penn State Spring Game
Penn State Nittany Lion players run onto the field prior to the Blue White spring game at Beaver Stadium. (Mandatory Credit: Matthew OHaren-USA TODAY Sports)

Penn State football is a top-five team in numerous preseason media polls and data-driven top-25 rankings. Expectations are high for head coach James Franklin’s program ahead of his 10th season as the leader of the Nittany Lions. Sportsbooks have set the win total over/under at 9.5, meaning those picking the over will need Penn State to win 10 games or more in the regular season to cash.

FanDuel already has four of the Big Ten East team’s contests lined. It has Penn State as a 19.5-point favorite for its opener opposite West Virginia. It is a 10.5-point favorite, then, for its matchup with Iowa at the end of September. But, the Lions are underdogs for their marquee matchups at Ohio State (+10.5) and against Michigan (+2.5) at Beaver Stadium.

More betting lines will come as the season nears. In anticipation of those, The Action Network released a buffet of college football information recently that, among other things, offers point spread projections for every team’s regular season matchups. For Penn State, it says the Lions will be double-digit favorites in eight of 12 contests. But, it has it as an underdog in three games. The Buckeyes and Wolverines are logical. But, TAN‘s projections also see Maryland being a short favorite over the Lions with home-field factored advantage in.

Here are The Action Network’s projected spreads for each regular season game:

PSU (-11.5) vs. West Virginia

PSU (-43.1) vs. Delaware

Illinois vs. Penn State (-2.4)

PSU (-13.7) vs. Iowa

Northwestern vs. Penn State (-15.2)

PSU (-45.2) vs. UMass

Ohio State vs. PSU (+11.1)

PSU (-25.4) vs. Indiana

Maryland vs. Penn State (+0.3)

Penn State (+8.6) vs. Michigan

PSU (-23.9) vs. Rutgers

Michigan State vs. Penn State (-16.6)

Franklin, Penn State, not focused on outside hype

Penn State coach James Franklin and his team are not unaware of the buzz and hype surrounding them ahead of preseason camp. But, during a recent appearance on the ‘Next Up with Adam Breneman’ podcast, the leader of the Lions told the PSU letterman that it is not a discussion that is being had internally.

“Outside of the Lasch Building, I try not to answer those questions. People are asking and I really just try to downplay it as much as possible,” Franklin said. “But inside the building, we don’t really talk about those things. It’s like, ‘Are we working the way we need to work? Are we preparing the way we need to prepare to do the things that we want to do, starting with West Virginia?’ 

“Nothing else matters. If we’re doing those things, the games take care of themselves.”

The full nearly hour-long interview is here.

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