Penn State bowl projections: Where are the Lions slotted five days before selection Sunday?
Penn State is now less than a week away from learning where it will go in the postseason. The Lions finished the regular season at 10-2, cashing their season long win total number for bettors who backed their over of 8.5 while also seemingly securing a spot in a New Year’s Six bowl matchup.
“I’m really proud,” James Franklin said last Saturday night. “You think about where this team started, in terms of how people talked about us in preseason, to where we finished, I think inside the top 10 at the end of the regular season and then we still have one game left to play. We’re looking forward to seeing where we’ll end up.
“Obviously you want to try to go to the biggest games you possibly can go to. I think it’s still important to go to the biggest and the best games you possibly can in the postseason, and whether that is the New Years six bowl game or whatever, there’s still value in it.”
Will the Lions end up in one of the Cotton, Orange, or Rose when the participants for those games are announced this coming Sunday? Here’s the latest rundown of predictions from national experts following by our own two cents on the topic.
Penn State bowl projections entering conference championship weekend
Kyle Bonagura and Mark Schlabach, ESPN: Penn State vs. Tulane in the Cotton Bowl (Jan. 2)
Richard Johnson, SI: PSU vs. Tulane in the Cotton Bowl
Jerry Palm, CBS Sports: Penn State vs. Tulane in the Cotton Bowl
Brett McMurphy, Action Network: PSU vs. Tulane in the Cotton Bowl
Bill Bender, Sporting News: Penn State vs. Tulane in the Cottom Bowl
College Football News: PSU vs. Tulane in the Cotton Bowl
Erick Smith, USA Today: Penn State vs. Tulane in the Cotton Bowl
Where will the Lions end up?
For the first time this year, we have a consensus! That usually happens by now but isn’t always the case.
Penn State to the Cotton Bowl for the first time since 2019 is likely to feel more certain once the penultimate College Football Playoff rankings are released Tuesday night at 7 p.m. on ESPN.
That said, some variables are still in play with conference championship Saturday almost here. A USC loss to Utah in the PAC-12 title game likely knocks it out of the CFP four and into the Rose Bowl, where it would likely meet Penn State, assuming Ohio State would jump the Trojans.
But, if USC wins, there are still some suggesting that the Orange could take the Buckeyes which would send the Lions to Pasadena. As we’ve written previously, that feels like wishful thinking, but it is an option that cannot be ruled out.
Our pick aligns with the national writers for a second week: Penn State to the Cotton Bowl.
