Who would Penn State football face in a non-conference game if it was your choice?: Roundtable

Imagine you’re sitting in the Vice President for Intercollegiate Office at Penn State. The one currently inhabited by Sandy Barbour but soon to be taken over by Pat Kraft.

Across from your head sits James Franklin. You both have one mission: Pick a non-conference foe to add to a future schedule. In front of you are spreadsheets filled with all sorts of data. For this exercise, we’ll say that the priorities are making money or at least breaking even on the matchup, the potential recruiting impact, and of course, the ability to actually win the game.

Which team would you choose? The Blue-White Illustrated team of senior editor Nate Bauer, reporter Greg Pickel, and film analyst Thomas Frank Carr have their picks. Read on to learn more in our first of many offseason roundtables.

Pickel picks an ACC school to face Penn State

Penn State fans have often, with good reason, bemoaned the Lions’ non-conference schedule. It has featured few enticing visiting opponents of late. The program did add a home-and-home with Syracuse in 2027 and 2028. But closer to now non-Big Ten dates include matchups with the likes of  Ohio, Central Michigan, Bowling Green, Kent State, Marshall, and San Jose State.

There is much that goes into picking who is played and when. Much of it has to do with the fact that Big Ten teams must play a nine-game conference schedule. So, the logic is that the easier the non-conference foe is, the better.

We’ll keep that somewhat in mind here, but my pick is Miami. Penn State continues working hard to land prospects from Florida, and playing, and beating, the Hurricanes would only help matters. Plus, they’re not exactly a buzz saw at the moment. Add in the fact that the two sides haven’t played since 2001 but do have some history, and to me, it would be an awesome game to land on the schedule.

Bauer goes with an independent program with ACC ties

Gauging the health of a program from year to year is a treacherous proposition. Last year, Southern Cal might have been my answer to this question. Heck, it still could be even after the tidal wave of Lincoln Riley and Caleb Williams both transferring from Oklahoma to the Trojans. The point though is that things can change in an instant, and Riley’s move, along with that of Brian Kelly, hammers that home just this offseason.

With that in mind, though, I just think that Penn State will always have a natural, high-intrigue opponent in Notre Dame. Even with the Irish success in the past decade, its a program that has operated a tier lower than the best of the best in the modern game. Blowout CFP semifinal losses to Clemson and Alabama after the 2018 and 2020 seasons, respectively, demonstrates as much. 

Put it in Cleveland for an equidistant one-off, go home and home, or take it back to the Meadowlands to strike right at the heart of the New Jersey recruiting grounds and fan locales that both programs still cultivate. In a scheduling philosophy that should otherwise be filled with pushovers (due to the Big Ten’s commitment to a 9-game schedule), this is one that, even with a loss, has little downside and a ton of appeal.

T-Frank picks a foe for Penn State led by a familiar face

Deep down I really want to say Clemson here. On the surface level, the Tigers with Dabo Swinney operate similarly to Penn State and head coach James Franklin. They have similar recruiting philosophies and core values. It would be an interesting matchup and a measuring stick for the Nittany Lions to face a CFP team other than Ohio State. I’ll also throw Pitt in here as an honorable mention purely as a pander to sections of our audience.

No, the team I’m going with is Virginia Tech. Why not bring James Franklin’s best friend, Virginia Tech head coach Brent Pry, back into town for a home and home? Or better yet, find a neutral site. Go to Fed Ex Field and have a regional showdown in a recruiting hotbed for both teams. Does it have the sexy appeal of Penn State Clemson? No, but Virginia Tech is still a good program. What’s more it’s more of a guaranteed win for the Nittany Lions and it puts Pry’s squad on a national stage.