The Action Network’s Brett McMurphy released his bowl predictions after Week 1 of the college football season came to a close Monday evening. While McMurphy’s preseason installation had Penn State facing LSU in the first round of the College Football Playoff, the Tigers’ loss to USC over the weekend changed his thinking.
The outlet now has PSU squaring off against the Trojans on Dec. 21 in the CFP First Round with the game being played in Happy Valley. This hypothetical matchup would be a rematch from earlier in the season, so lots of intrigue if it were to take place. Penn State would then move on to the playoff quarterfinals where the Nittany Lions would take on the Alabama Crimson Tide in the Sugar Bowl.
The Sugar Bowl marked the end of Penn State’s postseason run with Alabama advancing to the semifinal against Ohio State before facing Georgia in the title game.
If McMurphy’s prediction came through, it would mark Penn State’s fifth time in the Sugar Bowl and the first since 1983 when they beat Georgia.
Penn State will keep its quest for a College Football Playoff spot alive this weekend against Bowling Green with kickoff from Beaver Stadium scheduled for noon.