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Penn State Football

Prediction: Analyst Has Penn State Football Getting Bounced in 1st Round

Penn State has fallen in the rankings?
Penn State Nittany Lions head coach James Franklin November 12, 2022 David Hague/NSN

Penn State football wonโ€™t have a long playoff run in the option of one major analyst.

In his updated College Football Playoff bracket projection, On3โ€™s Ari Wasserman has Penn State having a dominant regular season, winning the Big Ten and picking up the No. 2 seed.

Wasserman also has Penn State losing to No. 10 Alabama in the quarterfinal.

Considering Penn State made it to the semifinals ย last season with players such as Drew Allar, Nicholas Singleton, Kaytron Allen and Zane Durant etc. all a year younger and without the benefit of a first-round bye, this would be seen by many as a failure.

TITLE OR BUST?

James Franklin has a decision to may have a decision not make depending on how the pending House Settlement turns out

Photo by Matt Lynch, Nittany Sports Now

Whether this season is โ€œtitle or bustโ€ for Penn State is subjective. But there are plenty who see it that way. Never in James Franklinโ€™s tenureโ€” which is entering its 12th seasonโ€” has Penn State had this good of a shot at a national title.

Franklin knows the expectations, and embraces them.

โ€œI mean, thatโ€™s the nature of major college football,โ€ Franklin said recently on the Triple Option Podcast. โ€œThatโ€™s part of being at a place like Penn State. โ€œWe finished fifth in the country last year and people are pissed, right? Like thatโ€™s what the Penn State job is about. Youโ€™ve got to embrace that.โ€

James Franklin on Penn Stateโ€™s Title Hopes: โ€˜We’ve Got a Tremendous Opportunityโ€™

NEW FORMAT

Penn State footballโ€™s receivers have been a problem

Harrison Wallace fights for the ball on what would inevitably be Oregon’s game sealing interception.

As Wasserman noted in his tweet, this is his first bracket projection since the College Football Playoff changed its format. Last seasonโ€” the first one that featured a 12-team bracketโ€” was laid out so that the four first-round byes went to the four highest-ranked conference champions.

Now, itโ€™s simply the four highest-ranked teams that will get the byes.

Had the current format existed last season, Penn Stateโ€” which was ranked No. 4 through the Big Ten Championship Gameโ€” would have received a bye. But it wasnโ€™t to be.

Penn State opens the 2025 season at 3:30 Aug. 30 against Nevada at Beaver Stadium on CBS.

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