We have our first in-season bowl projections, and Penn State didn’t hurt itself by beginning the season 1-0.
On3 Sports’ Brett McMurphy has Penn State playing in the Cotton Bowl, and yes, that is part of the College Football Playoff.
The opponent will also have fans excited.
McMurphy has No. 2 Penn State playing Miami, which started the season No. 10 but will move up following its upset win over a No. 6 Notre Dame Sunday night.
He has Penn State seeded No. 4, behind Ohio State, LSU and Georgia. That would be good enough to get Penn State the last bye in the new CFP format.
Miami would be the fifth seed, and McMurphy has it beating No. 12 Tulane in the first round to move in.
‘INTERCEPTED, GIFTOPOULOS’
These two words are synonymous with Penn State’s history against Miami.
Pete Giftopoulos’ goal line interception of Vinny Testaverde sealed Penn State’s second and most recent national championship, and that will probably always be the signature moment of the Penn State-Miami series.
Add Nittany Sports Now as a preferred source in Google! Click here to add us.Of course, there have been four more games since then, and Miami has won three of them, beating Penn State during its 1991 and 2001 national championships seasons and winning the 1992 matchup in Happy Valley as well.
Penn State did get the best of Miami in 1999, with this Chafie Fields touchdown reception being the signature moment
DEEP IN THE HEART OF TEXAS
ARLINGTON, TX – DECEMBER 28: Penn State Nittany Lions defensive tackle Robert Windsor (#54) and safety Garrett Taylor (#17) celebrate during the Cotton Bowl Classic college football game between the Memphis Tigers and Penn State Nittany Lions on December 28, 2019 at AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas. (Photo by Matthew Visinsky/Icon Sportswire)
Penn State has been to the Cotton Bowl before, plenty of times, in fact.
The most recent appearance was in 2019, when it beat Memphis 53-39.
Before that, Penn State beat Baylor (1975) a tied SMU (1948, back when ties existed in college football.)
For now, Penn State must worry about Florida International before any bowl projections. The team will look to move to 2-0 Saturday, Sept. 6, when it hosts FIU at noon on the Big Ten Network from Beaver Stadium. After that, there will be 10 regular-season games left, after which the playoff picture will become more clear.
