After coming into the 2025 season with the national championship on their minds, things have gone downhill for the Penn State Nittany Lions.
Penn State hosts Northwestern on Saturday inside Beaver Stadium and is unranked in the AP Poll for the first time since Week 2 of 2022.
PSU squandered back-to-back games against Oregon and previously winless UCLA, trailing by at least 14 points in the second half of each contest.
Needless to say, the season has been a significant disappointment so far.
If the results don’t change, Penn State will miss out on a New Year’s Six bowl for the first time since 2021. But the game could still be on New Year’s Eve.
On3 analyst Brett McMurphy predicted Penn State to play a fellow Big Ten team in bowl competition.
McMurphy projects Penn State to play Washington in the 2025 SRS Distribution Las Vegas Bowl on December 31.
The matchup is a scheduled Big Ten vs. Pac-12 game, but with the Pac-12 disbanded with its previous members from three years ago, Washington fills the void as a former conference team.
Penn State pounded Washington 35-6 in the 2024 White Out at Beaver Stadium. Washington is 4-1 and 1-1 against Big Ten opponents.
We’re still a long way out, but we’re reaching the potential realization for Penn State if it doesn’t win it this season.
