One analyst has Penn State as one of the last four teams in the College Football Playoff.
The good news in this scenario is that Penn State football would be in the Playoff, which most feel is the bare minimum for this to be a successful season.
The bad news is theyโd have to play a strong Tennessee team in one of Americaโs toughest environments.
Andy Staples of On3Sports has Penn State as the 10-seed playing at No. 7 Tennessee. Along with PSU, Oregon, Ole Miss and Missouri are the last four at-large teams in. Staples has Ohio State winning the Big Ten and being the No. 1 overall seed. He has current No. 1 Texas holding off Georgia to win the SEC and getting the No. 2 seed. ACC champ Miami is No. 3, Big 12 winner Kansas State is No. 4 and UNLV has Staplesโ Group of Five bid at No. 12.
NEW: Week 4 College Football Playoff Bracketology via @Andy_Staples๐
Do you agree? ๐คhttps://t.co/jodto7CvMH pic.twitter.com/1Ocy3FQ8LC
— On3 (@On3sports) September 16, 2024
Among his first four out are fellow Big Ten schools USC and Nebraska, which suggests that Penn Stateโs Oct. 12 clash with SC in the Coliseum could be huge.
Penn State and Tennessee have only played each other five times, the most recent one being the 2007 Outback Bowl, which took place New Yearโs Day. Penn State won that game, 20-10, behind 158 rushing yards by Tony Hunt. Penn State leads the all-time series, 3-2, having won the last three meetings.
PSU has 10 regular-season games left before it can worry about a playoff berth, the next one being against Kent State at Beaver Stadium in a matchup scheduled for Saturday at 3:30 on the Big Ten Network. Ironically enough, Tennessee was Kent Stateโs most recent opponent. The Vols won that game, 71-0.
