Penn State wrapped up a 10-2 regular season on Friday night with a nearly flawless 42-0 victory in Detroit against Michigan State. By itself, a 10-2 record with a no. 11 ranking in the College Football Playoff rankings going to the final game of the regular season likely was going to be just enough to get Penn State into a New Years Six bowl game this bowl season. But the Nittany Lions may have been given a little extra help on the final Saturday of the regular season from an unlikely ally.
Kentucky upset rival Louisville with a come-from-behind 38-31 victory fueled by a big fourth quarter. Louisville came into the week ranked one spot ahead of Penn State in the playoff rankings but will now be expected to fall a few spots behind the Nittany Lions in the next round of the selection committee’s rankings to be updated on Tuesday evening. At 10-2, Louisville has an identical record to Penn State’s but their two losses are far worse than the two blemishes on Penn State’s record.
Penn State’s only losses this year came against 12-0 Michigan and 11-1 Ohio State (Michigan topped Ohio State on Saturday to clinch the Big Ten East Division). Louisville’s losses came against a 7-5 Kentucky team and a Pitt team that ended the season with a 3-9 record, and the Cardinals lost by 17 to the Panthers.
Louisville will get a chance to redeem itself next week in the ACC Championship Game against no. 5 Florida State, so the Cardinals could still play a role in determining Penn State’s bowl possibilities.
Penn State will likely move into the top 10 of the playoff rankings this week by moving ahead of Louisville. Suppose Florida State wins against Louisville next week in the ACC Championship game. In that case, the Cardinals will be left in the rearview mirror and Florida State will either get a spot in the College Football Playoff or lock up the ACC’s Orange Bowl spot. If Florida State is in the playoff, then Louisville would get the ACC’s Orange Bowl spot anyway. But a Louisville victory would send the Cards to the Orange Bowl and drop Florida State into at-large territory, which could be a problem for Penn State’s New Years Six hopes.
Penn State’s most recent bowl projections were trending in favor of an at-large spot in the Peach Bowl or Fiesta Bowl.
So as far as Penn State is concerned, the ACC championship game will be well worth watching next weekend, just in case.
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