Penn State will face Clemson in Pinstripe Bowl

Penn State will take on Clemson Dec. 27 in New York City in the Bad Boy Mowers Pinstripe Bowl. The game is set to start at 12 p.m. ET and will take place at Yankee Stadium. ABC is set to broadcast the showdown between the Nittany Lions and Tigers.

Led by interim head coach Terry Smith, Penn State rallied to win its final three games of the regular season to become bowl eligible at 6-6.

“I’m thankful we have an opportunity to go to a bowl game,” Smith said. “Thankful for these guys that played their hearts out for all of us. And I just told our guys, we’re going to have an opportunity to go play in a bowl game that is yet to be determined.

Link: Matt Campbell bringing key recruiting evaluation eyes to Penn State

“We’ll give these guys a week off, and I think next Sunday is Selection Sunday, we’ll figure out who we’re going to play, and then we just start game planning from there. And, you know, take care of our veteran guys and get our young guys a lot of work and get them ready to go.”

Clemson finished its season 7-5. Just like the Nittany Lions, Dabo Swinney and his team had high expectations coming into the 2025 season, starting at No. 4 in the Associated Press Poll. However, the Tigers lost three of their first four games this season to LSU, Syracuse and Georgia Tech. They also lost to SMU and Duke before rallying to win four straight in the final month of the season, including a 20-19 win at Louisville.

BWI’s Nate Bauer informed subscribers over the past week inside The Lions Den that this was the most likely bowl destination for the Lions. National analysts, including On3’s Brett McMurphy, have agreed. Some did predict that Penn State could end up playing in-state rival Pitt. However, it’s now clear that Clemson will be the ACC’s representative instead.