Penn State bowl projections: Final look at where Lions could go before an announcement
Penn State will learn its bowl destination today.
The Nittany Lions are headed to the postseason after finishing the regular season at 7-5. An announcement is expected in the mid-to-late afternoon.
Selection Sunday typically sees the College Football Playoff participants announced at approximately 12:30 p.m. Then, the New Year’s Six bowls follow around 3:30 p.m. and everything else comes after that. Sometimes, however, bowl invitations are leaked early. Stay tuned to our Lions Den forum for updates throughout the day.
The Lions will be playing the game with an interim defensive coordinator. Brent Pry left State College for Blacksburg and Virginia Tech earlier this week. As of Sunday morning, head coach James Franklin has not yet named a replacement. History suggests he could do so soon. Conversely, however, if he feels good about the Class of 2022 signing regardless, he would wait to find the right fit. There is some precedent there, as the gap between Ricky Rahne leaving and Kirk Ciarrocca being hired shows.
At any rate, here are the latest projections before an invitation is accepted.
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. Arizona State
College Football News Staff: Pinstripe Bowl vs. Virginia Tech
Kyle Bonagua of ESPN: Music City Bowl vs. Tennessee
Mark Schlabach of ESPN: Pinstripe Bowl vs. Virginia Tech
Brett McMurphy of Action Network: Outback Bowl vs. Arkansas
USA Today: Music City Bowl vs. Tennessee
Athlon Sports: Las Vegas Bowl vs. UCLA
Yahoo Sports: Pinstripe Bowl vs. Virginia Tech
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BWI’s take
We did not expect this to be a small majority for the Vegas Bowl. Even more surprising was Brett McMurphy flipping from that game to the Outback Bowl Sunday afternoon. He is very plugged in and has a history of being right. We’ll see.
Most assume that the Nittany Lions are heading west as long as Michigan State made a New Year’s Six bowl. That should be the case after conference championship Saturday.
Still, many picks are in for both the Music City and Pinstripe bowls. It’s hard to believe that the Las Vegas Bowl, which picks before those two, would pass on Penn State. But, keep in mind that ESPN owns many contests and may have an influence on who lands where.
The calendar looks like this:
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
Our pick was the Las Vegas Bowl last week and it continues to be this week. That said, one of the other two will not be a total shocker. Above all, bowl committees have always tried to scratch and claw to get Penn State in their game. That could lead to a surprise outcome later today. In the end, though, expect the pick to be the one furthest west of the three options. Penn State has never played in the Las Vegas Bowl, but it should to end 2021.
