No. 6 Penn State has to beat Washington tonight for it to still be in good shape to make the College Football Playoff but it got some help Saturday afternoon from an unlikely source.
Unranked Georgia Tech, which came in as 10.5-point home underdogs against No. 4 Miami, pulled the upset 28-23.
THEYโRE STORMING THE FIELD AT BOBBY DODD.
GEORGIA TECH KNOCKS OFF MIAMI 28-23. @GeorgiaTechFB @ATLNewsFirst pic.twitter.com/pwHUnLwYco
— Connor Hines (@ConnorHinesTV) November 9, 2024
As a result, Penn State should be in the top five of the next College Football Playoff rankings so long as it takes care of business as 12.5-point favorites tonight in Happy Valley.
Penn Stateโs biggest victory over Miami will always be the 1986 Fiesta Bowl played on Jan. 2, 1987. But this one ainโt bad for Penn State fans, either.
THE RANKINGS
Photo by Matt Lynch, Nittany Sports Now: James Franklin
The Big Ten has the top two teams in the College Playoff Poll, with undefeated Oregon being No. 1 and Ohio State, which lost to Oregon last month, being No. 2. Georgia is No. 3, the recently vanquished Hurricanes are No. 4 and Texas is No. 5. Oregon hosts Maryland at seven tonight, Ohio State pounded lowly Purdue 45-0 this afternoon and Georgia is at No. 16 Ole Miss. Texas beat Florida 49-17.ย
Penn State would likely be No. 2 had it done its job against Ohio State last Saturday but, as usual, it didnโt. PSU is now 1-10 against the Buckeyes since James Franklin took over as head coach.
THE TASK AT HAND
Penn State announced their second-largest crowd in Beaver Stadium history with 110,830.
For Penn State to ensure itself a College Football Playoff spot, it must win its next four games: vs. Washington, at Purdue, at Minnesota and vs. Maryland. PSU will be favored in all of those games and should be at least two-touchdown favorites in at least three of them. The four teams have combined to post ย a record of 16-20, with Purdue being the worst of the bunch at 1-8 overall and 1-6 in conference play.
Penn State and Washington are scheduled to kickoff at 8 on Peacock.ย
