Why are two ESPN analysts picking Penn State to win the 2025 College Football Playoff?

Penn State is the pick of many to contend for this year’s national title. But, two ESPN analysts believe they’ll do more than that in 2025. On a recent episode of the network’s morning “GetUp” show, longtime college football reporter Heather Dinich and former NFL and Louisville receiver Harry Douglas both picked the Nittany Lions to win their first College Football Playoff championship.

“I’m going to go with what I know on paper right now and that’s Penn State, which is loaded,” Dinich said, according to a transcript compiled by On3’s Sam Gillenwater. “We’ll start at quarterback with Drew Allar. I think he’s going to be a lot better this season,” said Dinich. “He’s got a secret weapon on his side, actually, in (DC) Jim Knowles, who was hired from Ohio State. You know why he’s a secret weapon? Because he scouted Drew Allar when he was with the Buckeyes and now came to Penn State and said, ‘Hey, you know what, this is what I saw from you, this is how you can be better.’”

Douglas also pointed to Allar when explaining his prediction. But he, too, also made sure to point out the Lions’ defense.

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“For me, it’s going to be between Texas or Penn State, but I’m going to go with Penn State in this case right here,” Douglas said. “When you look at their defense, they have another ferocious pass-rusher. When you look at Dani Dennis-Sutton, he’s a guy who had 4.5 sacks in three playoff games last year in the College Football Playoff.

“Drew Allar is a guy that wants to redeem himself. He had that terrible interception late versus Notre Dame that allowed Notre Dame to kick that field goal and advance in the College Football Playoff. So Drew Allar is going to come and tear up the league this season. Looking forward to watching Penn State.”

Douglas and the rest of the college football world will get their first chance to see Allar and the Lions in action when they host Nevada. The game is at 3:30 p.m. on Aug. 30. CBS will televise it. The contest marks the first of three non-conference affairs for Franklin’s team. A bye week follows. Then, they host a preseason top 10 Oregon team for the annual White Out game at 7:30 p.m. on Sept. 27 on NBC. That game will go a long way in proving whether Dinich, Douglas, and others who are high on Penn State this year are spot on or hyping one of the country’s most experienced teams up too much in the preseason.