It’s that time of year as the evergreen content season is ending and Andy Staples of On3 does his annual blue blood status.
For a third year in a row, according to Staples, Penn State is not amongst college football’s royalty.
What ultimately doomed Penn State in Staples’ criteria was that it doesn’t have a national championship in two of the three eras in college football.
Penn State’s two official titles— 1982 and 1986– came in the latter stages of Poll-era national championships.
While many will argue Staples’ criteria stinks, which I will in a bit, I agree that Penn State isn’t a blue blood.
Every year, I seem to follow Staples’ thoughts about Penn State.
I wrote this following Staples’ 2023 Blueblood article.
“Penn State is one of the most consistently good programs in college football history.
Using a baseball analogy, Penn State is a power hitter that hits .300 every year, 30 home runs, and drives in 100 runs.
They aren’t any more or any less, and in some years, their output has gotten them titles.
What hurts Penn State is their lack of championships, it does hurt they went unbeaten in four different seasons with no national championships.
If James Franklin can capitalize on the momentum he has built, Penn State might reel off some championships, and they would need to be re-assessed.”
In 2024, in my “Revisiting College Football Blue Bloods” column, my opinion of Penn State did not change:
“Penn State is that program that makes it inconvenient to recognize them as blue blood.
They have all the credentials and feats that scream yes they are blue blood.
They have participated in all six of the New Year’s Six bowl games, they are in the Top 10 in wins, bowls, draft picks, and weeks in the polls. They are just outside the Top 10 in Consensus All-Americans, First Round draft picks, and weeks at No. 1.
While they check a lot of boxes, it’s what they don’t check that keeps them off.
The lack of championships is a big one.
Hall of fame coach Joe Paterno was an immortal in Eastern football and dominated the space for four decades, When Penn State entered the Big Ten, Paterno had one of his coaching opuses in 1994 but after that, the Big Ten made Paterno into a mere mortal and Penn State has been a consistent Tier 2 program in the conference with a few surprises sprinkled here and there.
James Franklin’s record against top teams also doesn’t inspire much change for the Nittany Lions’ status in the Big Ten, let alone as a blue blood.”
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GLENDALE, AZ – DECEMBER 30: Penn State Nittany Lions head coach James Franklin speaks to the crowd after the PlayStation Fiesta Bowl college football game between the Washington Huskies and the Penn State Nittany Lions on December 30, 2017, at the University of Phoenix Stadium in Glendale, AZ. The Nittany Lions defeated the Huskies 35-28. (Photo by Carlos Herrera/Icon Sportswire)
Despite Penn State cracking through the College Football Playoff finally in 2024, getting to the program’s first ever final four doesn’t move the needle for me.
I will use an argument Canadian sports personality Sid Seixiero said of ranking Sidney Crosby over the immortal and French-Canadian hero in Maurice Richard, it comes down to the “winning of things.”
Crosby won at every level both in individual achievement and team accomplishments, at some point when you are the only one to do that, according to Seixiero, you got to have an obeisance toward that achievement.
Penn State checks so many boxes. But to have so few Big Ten championships – only four, which is fourth most amongst the conference.
That isn’t blue blood material.
Next year will mark the 40th anniversary of Penn State’s most recent national championship.
Bluebloods don’t go 40 years in between championships.
Two national championships overall doesn’t cut it either.
I don’t consider Tennessee (6) Miami (5), Nebraska (5), LSU (4), or Georgia (4) as blue bloods.
Staples had all but Nebraska as a blue blood.
This is a perfect segue as to why I don’t like Staples methodology.
It rewards a school like Miami blue blood status and Penn State not.
Look at Miami’s history. It was a nothing program up until Howard Schnellenberger got there and it rattled off a decade of dominance that is mythologized more than anything.
Dennis Erickson bailed in early 1995, in wake of the Pell Grant scandal, Butch Davis rebuilt it and they had a mini run in the early 2000’s.
The 2001 Miami team— which obliterated Penn State to open the 2001 season, is equally as mythologized as “The U” teams of the 1980’s.
Once the early 2000’s run faded, Miami hasn’t re returned to consistent prominence.
A popular article and talking point has been the last two decades has been: “Is Miami back?” If your school has that talking point, you aren’t a blue blood.
With LSU, between its 1959 and 2003 national championships, it won four SEC Championships.
Georgia had the same “40-year” problem as Penn State, winning championships in 1942 and 1980 prior to winning back-to-back in 2021-22. But there’s just more consistency I’m seeking for Georgia before I feel it’s a blue blood.
Tennessee is the southern version of Nebraska, they got a bunch of old national championships and nothing recent to show for it – recently being defined as the 21st century and being 25 seasons into, something needs to show up.
Again, if these programs are labeled as blue bloods, then absolutely Penn State is one.
Some angry fans will want to throw major bowls in there.
I agree to an extent. But since bowls and major bowl appearances haven’t been the goal of teams for over a decade, the blue blood abacus changes as well.
Think about how draft eligible players from Ohio State (Cotton) and Penn State (Peach) treated their New Year’s Six bowl appearance in 2023.
If that wasn’t any indicator, look at Florida State’s roster in that year’s Orange Bowl after being snubbed for the College Football Playoff after going undefeated.
It’s unfortunate to say, but bowls don’t mean what they used to. To me, that is why the Playoff is formatted as it is to protect these games from what transpired that season.
But what transpired has to weigh in the formula.
Penn State is a program with a rich tradition that’s as deep as any program, you will never hear me argue otherwise. The measuring stick for blue bloods has to be national championships and the new measuring stick is Playoff appearances.
Penn State has ample opportunity for me to change my tune. It will take more than winning just one national championship to do it because blue bloods do it with regularity.
There might be many other variables to that equation: wins, conference championships, Playoff appearances, Consensus All-Americans, weeks ranked, players drafted, etc.
But the ultimate variable with the biggest weight is championships, and that is where Penn State doesn’t measure up.
