Greg McElroy makes the case for Penn State as a national championship contender

Consider Greg McElroy a major believer in Penn State ahead of the 2025 season. He’s thinking James Franklin and company can make some serious noise this season.

After getting within a game of playing for a national title, McElroy recognizes the Nittany Lions are ready to break through their glass ceiling. While examining the championship contenders in the Big Ten, the former Alabama quarterback started off with Penn State.

“We’ll kick things off with the team in the Big Ten that I think has the fewest question marks heading into 2025, and that’s the Penn State Nittany Lions,” McElroy stated, via his Always College Football show. “Look, last year was an amazing, amazing season, winning 11 regular season games. You get to the Big Ten title game, win a couple of games in the College Football Playoff. You win a thriller against USC. You get a comeback win with a backup quarterback against Wisconsin. A gutsy win against Minnesota. 

“Yes, you lose a shootout to Oregon in the Big Ten Championship game, but you got to feel pretty good about what James Franklin accomplished last year. A program record 13 wins, first AP top-five finish in the James Franklin era. All three losses were against teams that were ranked No. 1, No. 2 or No. 3 overall, all by a single score. So, there’s a lot to like about what was created from last year and the momentum that this program has created.”

Part of why McElroy is so confident in the Nittany Lions is the sheer amount of talent they were able to retain from last season’s team: “Momentum carried over into the off season by retaining so many key contributors from a year ago. Quarterback Drew Allar is back, deciding to return. He was one of the best in the entire country last year when it came to kind of taking care of the football, doing smart things,” the ESPN analyst said.

“However, in the semifinal game, it was not his best stuff, and that ultimately led to them coming up just a bit short. The five to one career touchdown interception ratio, he’s going to be in great shape. … There’s really not a whole lot that you need to be concerned about if you’re looking at the roster and wondering can they go and win the National Championship this year.

“Much like Michigan two years ago and Ohio State this past season, it feels like Penn State is all in. That has resulted in two National Championships for the Big Ten in the last two years with two different programs. Maybe it could be three-for-three if Penn State can get over the hump.”

While their schedule has some difficult games on it, McElroy doesn’t think it’s anything that can preclude them from competing for a title: “You look at their schedule, some tough ones. They have Oregon, they’ll come to them. It might be the toughest game on the schedule. They’re at Ohio State, very difficult. They’re also at UCLA, at Iowa, at Michigan State. Nebraska comes to them,” the former Alabama quarterback added. 

“They have some manageable games on the roster there on the schedule there as well. But I think all signs point to Penn State absolutely backing up what they did last year and in some cases probably improving year over year after what was a breakthrough season for James Franklin and company.”

Alas, Penn State has a ton of hope entering 2025, and Greg McElroy is a believer in the Nittany Lions. Will it pay off? Time will tell, but James Franklin certainly has a team of winning a national title.