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Penn State will play in the Pinstripe Bowl against an ACC foe on Dec. 27 in New York

Greg Pickelby: Greg Pickel1 hour agoGregPickel

Penn State is going back to The Big Apple for the postseason for the first time since 2014. The Nittany Lions (6-6) will play in the Pinstripe Bowl on Dec. 27 at Yankee Stadium, sources told BWI and On3’s Brett McMurphy. Kickoff is at Noon ET on ABC. An ACC foe will be on the other sideline. But, which team it will be is not yet clear.

BWI’s Nate Bauer has been telling subscribers for weeks on The Lions Den message board that this was the most likely bowl destination for the Lions. National analysts, including McMurphy, have agreed. Some did predict that Penn State could go to either the GameAbove Sports Bowl in Detroit on Dec. 26 or the Rate Bowl (Phoenix) or Music City Bowl (Nashville) later in the month. But, considering what this team is and where its fan base is located, sending it anywhere other than New York would have been a foolish move by those who create the bowl matchups.

Looking ahead to the Penn State bowl game

It is not clear at the moment if interim head coach Terry Smith, who will remain on new head coach Matt Campbell’s staff in 2026, will lead the Lions in the postseason. But, that is the current expectation.

“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.

“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.”

Who Smith will have to coach is also unclear. Plenty of player opt-outs are likely among the group of 30-plus players who participated in Senior Day activities and are going to the NFL Draft. Others might elect to sit out in preparation for entering the transfer portal on Jan. 2. All told, though, we’re betting at the moment that more players suit up then some might expect. We’ll learn more about that, though, in the days and weeks ahead as prep start.