In an early bowl projection, Penn State narrowly misses out on its first College Football Playoff berth.
College football insider Brett McMurphy of The Action Network has Penn State playing in the Peach Bowl.
My Never-Too-Early @ActionNetworkHQ Bowl Projections. @CFBPlayoff: FSU-Michigan, Washington-Georgia. Cotton: Bama-Texas Tech; Peach: Penn State-LSU; Orange: Ohio State-Clemson; Fiesta: Tulane-Oregon; Las Vegas: Utah-Nebraska; Music City: Arkansas-Illinoishttps://t.co/5dAHs1t4Gb pic.twitter.com/WJGP8ZXeG6
— Brett McMurphy (@Brett_McMurphy) May 15, 2023
McMurphy has Penn State taking on LSU, with LSU as a three-point favorite.
The Peach Bowl is one of three New Year’s Six Bowls that isn’t part of the College Football Playoff.
This years Playoff will be the last one in the current four-team format before shifting to 12 teams for the 2024 season and the foreseeable future.
Add Nittany Sports Now as a preferred source in Google! Click here to add us.For the Playoff, McMurphy has Penn State’s Big Ten East foe, Michigan (-5.5) playing Florida State in the Rose Bowl and two-time defending champion Georgia (-6) taking on Washington in the Sugar Bowl. Penn State’s other big hurdle in the Big Ten East, Ohio State (-5), is projected to play Clemson in the Orange Bowl.
In some lesser Bowl games, McMurphy has Wisconsin (-8) playing Tennessee in the Cheez-It Bowl, Illinois (+1.5) playing Arkansas in the Music City Bowl and Iowa (+2) plating NC State in the Pinstripe Bowl. McMurphy also has Maryland (-2) playing Baylor in the Guaranteed Rate Bowl, Michigan State (-2.5) taking on Oklahoma State in the First Responder Bowl and Minnesota (-17) going against Fresno State in the Quick Lane Bowl.
He also has Nebraska (+11) playing in its first bowl game since the 2016 season, taking on Penn State’s opponent from last season’s Rose Bowl, defending PAC-12 champ Utah.
If Penn State makes it to the Peach Bowl as projected, it will be Penn State’s second straight New Year’s Six bowl game and its fifth since James Franklin took over the program in 2014.
Penn State’s New Year’s Six record under Franklin is 3-1, with the only loss coming in the Rose Bowl against USC in January 2017.
