Penn State Bowl Projections: New Year's 6 Still Trending
Penn State remains firmly in the New Year's 6 bowl conversation despite a 24-15 loss to Michigan that led coach James Franklin to make his first in-season coaching change. If they beat Rutgers and Michigan State as favorites in their last two regular-season games, the Nittany Lions would finish 10-2 for the fifth time under Franklin.
The past four times they went 10-2, the Lions played in a New Year's 6 bowl. They earned an automatic bid to the Rose Bowl in 2016 and received invitations to the Fiesta (2017), Cotton (2018) and Rose (2022).
So where is a potential 10-2 Penn State headed this season? Here's a look at the various Penn State bowl projections.
ESPN's Mark Schlabach projects an intriguing Peach Bowl game between Penn State and Alabama on Dec. 30 in Atlanta. ESPN's Kyle Bonagura has Penn State returning to the Fiesta Bowl, scheduled for Jan. 1, to face Oregon.
At The Athletic, Stewart Mandel and Scott Dochterman suggest a blue-blood matchup between Penn State and Texas in the Dec. 29 Cotton Bowl. The teams haven't played since their 1997 Fiesta Bowl meeting, which Penn State won 38-15.
Action Network's Brett McMurphy projects Penn State to the Peach Bowl, where it would play Group of 5 representative Tulane. Penn State has never played in the Peach Bowl.
At CBS Sports, Jerry Palm also likes the Peach Bowl for Penn State, pairing the Lions against Ole Miss. That would be the first meeting between the teams.
247Sports delivers another Peach Bowl vote for Penn State, also against Tulane.
USA Today likes Penn State to the NY6, projecting a Jan. 1 matchup against Washington in the Fiesta Bowl. That would represent a rematch of their 2017 game in Arizona.
And On3's Andy Staples projected only the NY6 bowls, which did not include Penn State. In that case, the Lions would head to Orlando for the Jan. 1 Citrus Bowl.
Penn State (8-2) hosts Rutgers on Saturday in its final home game of the season. Kickoff is scheduled for noon ET on FS1.
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