Will Penn State host a College Football Playoff game? Here's what the projections say

UPDATE: No. 6 Penn State will host No. 11 SMU in a first round CFP game at Beaver Stadium.

Orignal story:

Penn State started work earlier this year to ensure Beaver Stadium would be able to host a football game in December if the Nittany Lions made the first 12-team College Football Playoff and ended up hosting a home game. The first part of the equation is in the books. Head coach James Franklin’s team will be in the field. Whether or not it will welcome an opponent to its 107,000-seat venue in two weeks, though, is up in the air as the selection committee prepares to unveil its bracket on at Noon ET today.

“I’m fairly confident that we’re going to be in the playoffs,” Franklin said after the Lions lost to Oregon 45-37 in the Big Ten title game on Saturday night. “I can speak on that. And I know these guys and myself and the rest of the guys in the locker room will be excited about the opportunity that comes. Do I think our resumé matches up with anybody in the country? Yeah, I think it does. Again, we lost by one possession to the No. 1 team in the country. And I think earlier in the season we lost to the No. 3 team in the country at the time, if I remember correctly. Is that correct?  And a one-possession game as well. 

“So I don’t think there’s anybody in the country that’s got that type of resumé in the Big Ten, arguably the best conference in all of college football. So, again, I’m not in that room. We don’t make those decisions. We’ll be waiting eagerly to find out who we play and then we’ll take all the necessary strategies and planning to put ourselves and our team in the best position to be successful.”

Penn State postseason projections after conference championship weekend

On3 national writers Andy Staples and Ari Wasserman have the Lions out of the top eight. That means they would go on the road in round one. The duo sends them to No. 8 Tennessee as the No. 9 seed.

“Penn State back-doored its way into the Big Ten title game after Ohio State lost to Michigan and people thought the Nittany Lions were going to be blown out by Oregon,” Wasserman writes. “The opposite happened. Though it lost, Penn State played perhaps its best game in a long time and passed the eye test. Penn State finished the season 11-2 and doesn’t have any quality wins, which is why it fell six spots in our projection. But the Nittany Lions looked like they could play with anyone in the country against Oregon. The loss stings, but that still has to feel pretty good to Penn State fans.”

Bill Bender of the Sporting News has the Volunteers and Nittany Lions playing, too, but in State College instead of Knoxville.

“Penn State lost the Big Ten championship game to Oregon, but they still earn a home game at Beaver Stadium,” he writes. “Kaytron Allen and Nick Singleton both went for more than 100 yards in the loss, and this is a chance for James Franklin to win a statement game for a program that lost one-score games to Ohio State and Oregon. Tennessee will get a first-round road game as the third SEC team in the field, and they are going to be a tough out with a combination of the eighth-best scoring offense (37.2 ppg.) and fifth-best scoring defense (13.9 ppg.).

“Josh Heupel has developed a grind-it-out team around quarterback Nico Iamaleava and running back Dylan Sampson. That formula worked when the Vols won their last national championship in the first year of the BCS in 1998. Will history repeat itself?”

For CBS Sports, Jerry Palm has Penn State at No. 6 and hosting No. 11 Alabama. At The Action Network, Brett McMurphy has the Lions at No. 6, as well, but has them facing No. 11 Clemson. ESPN’s Heather Dinich has the same matchup but puts the Tigers at No. 12 and Nittany Lions at No. 5. Her colleague Mark Schlabach sees it the same way, while Kyle Bonagua calls for the Tennessee at Penn State matchup, as well.

How will it play out?

All told, we expect Penn State to host a home game. Is it guaranteed to? No. Is it likely to? Yes. Where it is seeded will be a fascinating insight into how the committee will handle future seasons like this one when sorting out the field, as well.

Blue-White Illustrated will have complete coverage of selection Sunday throughout the day.