Penn State moves up in Ari Wasserman's new College Football Playoff projections, but how far?
On3 national college football reporter Ari Wasserman picks Penn State to make another deep run in the College Football Playoff, which headlines today’s newsstand.
In his first 2025 CFP 12-team bracket projection back in February, Wasserman had Alabama knocking out Penn State at Beaver Stadium in a No. 8 vs. No. 9 matchup in Round 1. Now with spring ball and the transfer portal windows in the books, however, the Lions are picked to be the Big Ten champs. That gives them a bye into the quarterfinals, of course. Wasserman projects that Penn State will avenge last year’s semifinal loss by this time beating Notre Dame, albeit a round earlier.
“This offseason, James Franklin addressed the receivers room in a big way — picking up Syracuse transfer Trebor Pena and others — and the Nittany Lions are a more explosive team offensively. Penn State, the Big Ten champs, move on,” Wasserman writes.
The postseason winning streak ends there, however. Wasserman has the Lions falling in the round of four to Clemson, who he then has losing to Texas in the national title game.
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“Penn State fans have been waiting for Franklin to break through and the year the Nittany Lions had is certainly enough,” Wasserman writes. “It won the Big Ten and traversed a tough path in the postseason to return to the semifinals. Doing it two years in a row is a sign of program growth and consistency, but Clemson returns to the promised land.”
Headlines of the day
Penn State’s three 2027 commits now rank in five-star territory following updated On300: Snyder, BWI
Four-star Daniel Jennings reclassifies to 2025, signs early with Penn State: Snyder, BWI
Penn State officially welcomes transfer portal additions Trebor Pena and Amare Campbell: Pickel, BWI
New Penn State pick logged in On3’s Recruiting Prediction Machine: Snyder, BWI
Recruiting intel on the top 2027 prospects in the country: Wiltfong, On3
Jay Bilas slams new ‘illegal wage cap’ targeting athletes, urges for collective bargaining: Nakos, On3
Quote of the day
“Kemon Spell leads what is a very strong running back group early on in the 2027 cycle. He is an elite tackle-breaker at this early stage and has had back-to-back outstanding seasons to start his high school career. He is an explosive, versatile, instinctive runner, who is very difficult to bring down as a young prospect.”
On3 Director of Scouting Charles Power on PSU RB commit Kemon Spell, who is the No. 8 player in the 2027 On300.
