Will Penn State win the College Football Playoff? Here's what the national media thinks of the Lions' chances

The Blue-White Illustrated staff has made its picks for the 2025 Penn State season. Now, we’re taking a look at the national scene to see where others have the Lions going during James Franklin’s 12th season in State College.

The BWI team is in agreement that PSU will, of course, make this year’s College Football Playoff. Regular season record predictions ranged from 12-0 to 10-2. Those, and also 11-1, would surely have the Lions in the 12-team tournament. One of our writers has Penn State going to the CFP title game.

At On3, national college football writer Brett McMurphy has the Lions reaching the CFP semifinals. He then has them lose to Georgia in that game. It would mean that PSU ends up one game shy of the title in consecutive seasons, of course. JD PicKell, who hosts ‘The Hard Count’ for On3, has Penn State losing in the quarterfinals to Clemson.

FOX Sports’ Joel Klatt, who has the Nittany Lions at No. 1 in his preseason rankings, also does not have them reaching the finals. He, too, is picking them to exit the postseason in the semifinals. However, unlike McMurphy, he thinks that’ll happen at the hands of Ohio State.

Two writers made season-long picks for The Athletic. Bruce Feldman has PSU going to the title game. Once there, he has it losing to Clemson. Stewart Mandel, meanwhile, has the Lions as the No. 1 seed but does not project all the way to the title game.

More: Why Zane Durant knew a Penn State transfer pickup could make some noise: Daily Double

“Tom Allen, who was Penn State’s defensive coordinator last year, meets his old team in the title game with Clemson,” Feldman writes. “The familiarity on both sides of the ball makes for an interesting subplot. I could see Penn State winning it all. The Nittany Lions have all the pieces they need now to do it, both on their roster and at the coordinator spots.

“But I’m going with my hunch that it’s Clemson’s year. I’ll stick with it.”

Austin Mock’s data-driven projections for The Athletic, meanwhile, give Penn State the third-best odds to win the title at the moment. And in a 28-voter poll of the outlet’s college football writers, three picked PSU to win it all, while seven others picked the Lions to make the title game but lost it.

Moving on to CBS Sports, three of its nine panelists picked Penn State to win a title. And, eight of them beleive the Lions will earn a first-round bye, at the very least.

For ESPN, Kyle Bonaguara has Penn State playing Texas in the finals but does not pick a winner. Mark Schlabach, meanwhile, has the Lions losing in the semis to Clemson.

Finally, for USA Today, Erick Smith has PSU playing Georgia in the title game. He did not pick a winner of that contest.