Penn State bowl projections: Where the Nittany Lions are slotted with one week to wait
Penn State has finished the regular season portion of its 2021 schedule.
Where will the Nittany Lions go in the postseason?
It’s time to take one final look at expert bowl projections from across the country prior to next Sunday’s announcement. Expect that to come mid-to-late afternoon.
Penn State is 7-5 after dropping a 30-28 Big Ten East affair at Michigan State last weekend.
“It’s tough knowing that almost every loss we’ve had has come within one-possession games,” Penn State receiver Jahan Dotson said.
“It really points back to, like, the little details. That’s where games are won and lost when they’re that close. Both teams are very good. We didn’t play a perfect game. We made some mistakes out there that we can’t make against a good team like Michigan State. So, we just got to correct those things and move on.”
Here’s the rundown of where the Lions could go for a bowl game.
Expert bowl projections for Penn State
Jerry Palm of CBS Sports: Las Vegas Bowl vs. Arizona State
Stewart Mandel of The Athletic: Las Vegas Bowl vs. UCLA
College Football News Staff: Pinstripe Bowl vs. North Carolina
Kyle Bonagua of ESPN: Music City Bowl vs. Arkansas
Mark Schlabach of ESPN: Pinstripe Bowl vs. North Carolina
Action Network: Las Vegas Bowl vs. UCLA
Saturday Tradition: Las Vegas Bowl against Oregon State
Athlon Sports: Pinstripe Bowl vs. North Carolina
Richard Johnson of Sports Illustrated: Gator Bowl vs. Florida
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BWI’s take
Where do you want Penn State to go? Would one destination make you more likely to travel and see the game over another?
First, let’s list out the times and dates for Penn State’s options. Which, by the way, are as varied as I can ever remember this late in the process.
Pinstripe: Dec. 29 at 2:15 p.m. ET
Music City: Dec. 30 at 3 p.m. ET
Las Vegas: Dec. 30 at 10:30 p.m. ET
Gator: Dec. 31 at 11 a.m. ET
At this point, my gut points toward Penn State in the Las Vegas Bowl. Some will say that the Pinstripe makes logical sense, and maybe it does. However, Maryland makes more sense in the spot to me. It has never been there and is just a short drive up the road. That same travel case can be made for Penn State but the Lions played in the game in 2014. And, with no disrespect intended to Terps fans, I’m not sure they’ll travel anywhere like Lions faithful will.
My belief is that someone else is going to Nashville, and the Gator Bowl really doesn’t make any sense to me. Thus, I wouldn’t be racing to book travel just yet, but the Las Vegas Bowl is my pick with six days to go.
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