After polishing off Boise State to win the Fiesta Bowl, Penn State is now setting its sights on the Orange Bowl as the next step on its hunt for a national championship. The Nittany Lions have a perfect record in the Fiesta Bowl and have a good winning percentage in the Orange Bowl as well. Can they keep that trend going in the next round of the College Football Playoff?
Penn State is 4-1 all-time in the Orange Bowl. The only setback cost Penn State a national championship at the end of the 1985 season when the Nittany Lions were handed their only loss of the season by No. 3 Oklahoma. The Sooners claimed the unanimous national title when No. 2 Miami lost in the Sugar Bowl. Of course, that led to Penn State’s national title run the following season, against Miami in the Fiesta Bowl.
Penn State will make its first trip to the Orange Bowl since an epic overtime clash with Florida State in the 2006 game, at the end of the 2005 season. That was highlighted as a showdown between two of college football’s all-time winningest coaches, Joe Paterno and Bobby Bowden.
This will mark Penn State’s second appearance in the Orange Bowl as a Big Ten member, and it will be the first time as a participant in the College Football Playoff semifinal round.
Here is a quick look at Penn State’s all-time results in the Orange Bowl:
- 1969: No. 3 Penn State 15, No. 6 Kansas 14
- 1970: No. 2 Penn State 10, No. 6 Missouri 3
- 1974: No. 6 Penn State 16, No. 13 LSU, 9
- 1986: No. 3 Oklahoma 25, No. 1 Penn State 10
- 2006: No. 3 Penn State 26, No. 22 Florida State 23
Penn State will be making its sixth appearance in the Orange Bowl. whichever team Penn State faces, Georgia or Notre Dame, will also be making their sixth appearance in the bowl game. Georgia is 4-1 all-time in the Orange Bowl, and Notre Dame is 2-3 in the game. No other Big Ten team has appeared in the Orange Bowl as often as Penn State other than Nebraska, which has 17 Orange Bowl appearances.
Of course, the Big Ten has not traditionally sent teams to the Orange Bowl while the old Big Eight had a strong connection with the game (Oklahoma and Nebraska have a combined 37 appearances between them as former Big Eight members). As a Big Ten member, no other school has played in more Orange Bowl games than Michigan (four appearances representing the conference).
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