James Franklin Isn't Keen on Returning to the SEC
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Penn State coach James Franklin left Auburn thrilled with his team's 41-12 victory on Saturday, another game he called "tough" and "gutsy."
And if he never has to return, or visit any other SEC school during the regular season while coaching at Penn State, all the better.
After the game, a reporter asked Franklin whether he wants to schedule more of these non-conference series. The head coach didn't flinch.
"No," he said. "No."
It's not like anything negative happened to affect Franklin's view of Auburn or the SEC in a specific way. Heck, he coached there for three years while at Vanderbilt. But at Penn State, Franklin generally wants to follow a particular scheduling model, one that other teams use as well: Schedule non-conference games that you can win.
"There's a reason that this is like one of the only games that's been scheduled in the history of the Big Ten," Franklin told reporters at Jordan-Hare Stadium. "All the data and all the analytics show you you've got to do whatever you can to win your conference."
Penn State on Saturday became the first Big Ten football team to play at Auburn's Jordan-Hare Stadium, which opened in 1935. The Tigers played 435 home games before hosting a Big Ten team.
SEC teams, which play eight conference games, all have an FCS opponent on the schedule this season. But some did schedule big names: Alabama visited Texas, for instance, and Georgia hosted (and routed) Oregon.
College football scheduling is a complicated process that often is undone by its timeline. The Penn State-Auburn series was announced in June 2016, after both teams had gone 7-6 the year prior. At the time it wasn't exactly a headliner of national contenders.
But now, Franklin has a team he believes can contend in the Big Ten. As a result, he wasn't interested in road-tripping to Auburn to play an SEC team in passionate environment — especially after opening the season at Purdue.
But a huge win brought a silver lining.
"This is going to help us," Franklin said after the game. "We're going to build on it. It's a great experience not only for this year for us going forward but also for the freshmen. So really, any of the freshmen through their hopefully six years at Penn State with COVID years [which this freshman class doesn't receive], they won't have to play one of these games again."
Penn State's future Power 5 non-conference road trips are to West Virginia in 2024, Temple in 2026 and Syracuse in 2028.
Of course, the Lions could be headed to USC as early as 2024.
Watch Franklin's full post-game press conference courtesy of Lions247.
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AllPennState is the place for Penn State news, opinion and perspective on the SI.com network. Publisher Mark Wogenrich has covered Penn State for more than 20 years, tracking three coaching staffs, three Big Ten titles and a catalog of great stories. Follow him on Twitter @MarkWogenrich. And consider subscribing (button's on the home page) for more great content across the SI.com network.
