Penn State may be coming off a couple of tough seasons, and another team in the state may be coming off its first power conference championship, but CBS Sports says Penn State is still the best college football program in the state of Pennsylvania.
CBS Sports named the best college football team in each state ahead of the 2022 season. A number of factors were taken into account, and Penn State’s recent history over the past decade helped counterbalance the more recent results from 2020 and 2021. So despite Pitt winning the ACC last season and sending a player off to New York as a Heisman Trophy finalist, the Nittany Lions were the pick of CBS Sports when it came to determining the top college football program in the state.
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“This was a hard one to nail down,” CBS Sports college football writer Barrett Sallee said. “On one hand, you have a Penn State program that is steeped in tradition and has finished in the top 20 in four of the last six seasons — three of which were top-10 results. Meanwhile, Pitt is fresh off of an ACC title and quarterback Kenny Pickett went to New York as a Heisman Trophy finalist. That was Pitt’s first 10-win season since 2009, while Penn State has three since 2016.”
Since CBS Sports marked 2016 as a point of reference, it is worth noting Penn State is 53-22 since 2016 with one Big Ten championship and victories in the Fiesta Bowl and Cotton Bowl (and a loss in the Rose Bowl). In contrast, Pitt is 45-32 with one ACC championship and a loss in the Peach Bowl.
It may also be worth a warm reminder that Penn State is 3-1 in games against Pitt in that timeframe as well.
“Moving forward, the Nittany Lions should be able to sustain success more than their cross-state rival,” Sallee concluded.
Check out the full story from CBS Sports to see what other college football programs came out on top in the other 49 states.
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