There are plenty of questions facing Penn State currently. Who will be the next head coach? What players are headed to the NCAA Transfer Portal? What is even going on right now?
There’s no timeline for those answers right now. But there is one outstanding question that should be answered Sunday afternoon: Penn State’s bowl destination and opponent.
The Nittany Lions won their final three games of the regular season under interim coach Terry Smith to rally to a 6-6 record, which clinched bowl eligibility. This weekend, the final pieces of the postseason puzzle will fall into place as the conference championship games are contested and the College Football Playoff field is announced.
Here’s a look at the latest projections from a number of outlets:
PENN STATE COACHING SEARCH HOT BOARD 15.0
Here’s a breakdown of each bowl (plus another that the Nittany Lions could be in the mix for):
- GameAbove Sports Bowl: 1 p.m. ET, Dec. 26; Ford Field, Detroit
- Rate Bowl: 4:30 p.m. ET, Dec. 26; Chase Field, Phoenix
- Pinstripe Bowl: noon ET, Dec. 27; Yankee Stadium, Bronx, N.Y.
- Music City Bowl: 5:30 p.m. ET, Dec. 30; Nissan Stadium, Nashville, Tenn.
The opponent in the GameAbove Sports Bowl would be a MAC team, with a Big 12 team on deck in the Rate Bowl. The Pinstripe Bowl opponent would come out of the ACC, while the Music City Bowl would bring in an SEC team.
Given its 6-6 overall record and 3-6 mark in Big Ten play, Penn State is — on paper — on the lower end of the bowl game pecking order. The Nittany Lions, however, have jumped the line in the past, such as when they received a bid for the Outback Bowl (now ReliaQuest Bowl) with a 7-5 record after the 2021 season when that game typically takes the second Big Ten team outside of the College Football Playoff or New Year’s Six.
The projection of Penn State facing Pittsburgh in the Pinstripe Bowl is the most eye-catching matchup in the projections. The Nittany Lions and Panthers last met in 2019, and Penn State took three of four meetings in the return of the series, which had been dormant since 2000 when it was revived in 2016.
Louisville coach Jeff Brohm was a potential candidate for the Penn State job, but he’s remaining at his alma mater, according to reports this week.
The USA Today projection of Kansas State in the Rate Bowl also has an interesting subplot after a report this week that the Wildcats voted to opt out of a bowl game following the retirement of coach Chris Klieman and the hiring of Collin Klein as his replacement.
Indications from Smith and Penn State players after the season finale were that the Nittany Lions planned to play in a bowl game, though much has happened in the intervening days.
The College Football Playoff field will be announced at noon ET Sunday on ESPN with the other bowl game announcements coming after.
Read more: 7 Penn State players, led by Kaytron Allen and Vega Ioane, named All-Big Ten for offense
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Daniel Gallen covers Penn State for Lions247 and 247Sports. He can be reached at daniel.gallen@cbsinteractive.com. Follow Daniel on X at @danieljtgallen, Instagram at @bydanieljtgallen and Bluesky at @danieljtgallen.bsky.social.
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