Believe it or not, college football will be played this weekend. Penn State will get started next week, but now is the time to start going on the record with season predictions and bowl projections. ESPN’s regular bowl projection experts released their fresh bowl and College Football Playoff projections for the 2024 season days ahead of the first games of the season, and Penn State being a playoff hopeful gains a couple more voices of support as a result.
Mark Schlabach predicts Penn State will reach the College Football Playoff as the no. 7 seed. That would give Penn State a home game in the new playoff format. The opponent Schlabach has lining up against the Nittany Lions would be Miami, out of the ACC, as the no. 10 seed.
As you might expect, Schlabach thinks that home-field advantage will come in handy. Bopnagura has Penn State winning what would likely be a chilly December home game against the Hurricanes to send the Nittany Lions on to the College Football Playoff quarterfinals. Schlabach has Penn State then facing no. 2 seed Georgia in the Sugar Bowl in New Orleans.
Unfortunately for Penn State, that is where the playoff run will come to an end according to Schlabach. Of course, the last time Penn State played Georgia in New Orleans, things went quite well for the Nittany Lions.
Kyle Bonagura predicts a one-and-done playoff run for Penn State
On the other side of the equation, ESPN’s other bowl projection from Kyle Bonagura is a tad less optimistic about the fate of Penn State.
Bonagura does have Penn State reaching the College Football Playoff, but he has the Lions as the no. 9 seed. That would send Penn State on the road to face the no. 8 team in the playoff. In this case, according to Bonagura, it will be Notre Dame. Penn State at Notre Dame is a matchup that would make the College Football Playoff powers drool.
Bonagura has the Irish prevailing over Penn State, and sending Notre Dame off to the Sugar Bowl to face Georgia. According to Bonagura, Notre Dame would suffer the same fate as Penn State against the Bulldogs.
Both ESPN writers are predicting Georgia to play for the national championship against Ohio State, with the seeding flipped between the two writers.
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You can see ESPN’s updated bowl projections (subscription required) to see what the rest of the playoff and bowl season may look like.
Penn State will open its season on Saturday, Aug. 31 with a road game at West Virginia, one of the hottest tickets of the season for Penn State fans. You can download our schedule wallpaper for your phone.
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