Penn State bowl projections: Where are the Lions slotted at the start of October?
Penn State is currently on its only bye week of the season. However, the team and coaches are not off this week. Instead, they are practicing now and the staff will be recruiting later in the week as the program aims to get better this week as it sits at 5-0 during the first full week of October.
“It is a bye week, not an off-week, a bye week, and we must get better this week,” head coach James Franklin said. “We have a tough stretch coming up with Michigan. We must get in that facility. We’ll practice Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, players will have the weekend off and the coaches will go recruit on the weekend.
“We’ll get a head start not only on our next opponent, but the next couple opponents. We also need to live in the training room and get as healthy as we possibly can.”
Experts across the country released their latest bowl projections throughout Monday. Where are the Lions slotted now that they have had a perfect start to the season ahead of what will be a defining stretch over the next few weeks? Blue-White Illustrated updates the rundown each week. Here is the current look.
Penn State bowl projections ahead of Week 6
Jerry Palm, CBS Sports: Penn State vs. N.C. State in the Orange Bowl.
Brett McMurphy, Action Network: PSU vs. USC in the Rose Bowl.
Richard Johnson, SI: Penn State vs. Coastal Carolina in the Cotton Bowl.
College Football News: PSU vs. N.C. State in the Orange Bowl.
Bill Bender, Sporting News: Penn State vs. N.C. State in the Orange Bowl.
Kyle Bonagura and Mark Schlabach, ESPN: PSU vs. Wake Forest in the Orange Bowl.
Where will the Lions actually end up?
It goes without saying that the upcoming stretch that features a road trip to Michigan plus home dates with Minnesota and Ohio State will determine whether or not the Lions are in a New Year’s Six bowl game, something better, or something worse. That said, their current slot, which is overwhelmingly the Orange Bowl, makes total sense. They are behind the Wolverines and Buckeyes currently in the polls and thus outside of McMurphy, many do not see them qualifying for the College Football Playoff or the Rose Bowl.
That said, a 2-1 month could get them on the cusp of the Playoff if not the Rose Bowl. But, a 1-2 or 0-3 stretch likely knocks them into the Citrus Bowl or something equivalent to it.
