Where Penn State Stands in Week 15's College Football Bowl Projections

The Nittany Lions are "looking forward" to a bowl game after beating Rutgers to finish the regular season at 6-6.

Penn State Nittany Lions defensive tackle Xavier Gilliam (54) reacts after sacking Rutgers Scarlet Knights quarterback Athan Kaliakmanis (16) during the first half at SHI Stadium. | Vincent Carchietta-Imagn Images

Penn State won its "playoff" game Saturday, assuring itself of a spot in the postseason. With a 40-36 victory over Rutgers in the regular-season finale, the Nittany Lions improved to 6-6 and officially became bowl eligible.

Penn State players are off this week and are scheduled to return to practice next weekend. Bowl games will be announced Dec. 7, the same day as the College Football Playoff field. Here's a look at where Penn State could be headed — and who might go.

RELATED: After a win over Rutgers, Penn State waits anxiously on its future

The 2025 Big Ten bowl schedule

The Big Ten has contracts with seven bowl games, all of which will be played before New Year's Day.

Game	Time/Date	Location	Teams
GameAbove Sports Bowl	1 p.m. Dec. 26	Ford Field, Detroit	Big Ten vs. MAC
Rate Bowl	4:30 p.m. Dec. 26	Chase Field, Phoenix	Big Ten vs. Big 12
Pinstripe Bowl	Noon Dec. 27	Yankee Stadium	Big Ten vs. ACC
Music City Bowl	5:30 p.m. Dec. 30	Nissan Stadium, Nashville	Big Ten vs. SEC
ReliaQuest Bowl	Noon Dec. 31	Raymond James Stadium, Tampa, Fla.	Big Ten vs. SEC
Citrus Bowl	3 p.m. Dec. 31	Camping World Stadium, Orlando	Big Ten vs. SEC
Las Vegas Bowl	3:30 p.m. Dec. 31	Allegiant Stadium	Big Ten vs. former Pac-12

Sadly, this year's Big Ten's tie-in games do not include the Duke's Mayo Bowl in Charlotte, which pairs teams from the SEC vs. ACC. Nor does they include the always fun Pop-Tarts Bowl, scheduled for Dec. 27 in Orlando and featuring teams from the ACC and Big 12.

RELATED: The Penn State football report card vs. Rutgers

Where Penn State might go bowling

A view of the Pinstripe Bowl trophy after the game between the Boston College Eagles and the Nebraska Cornhuskers at Yankee Stadium. | Vincent Carchietta-Imagn Images

Penn State's two likeliest options are the Pinstripe Bowl, scheduled for Dec. 27 at Yankee Stadium, or the Music City Bowl, to be played Dec. 30 in Nashville. Penn State has played in one Pinstripe Bowl, the 2014 game in its first season under then-coach James Franklin. The team has never played in the Music City Bowl.

Despite those likelihoods, Penn State's projections count some other games.ESPN's Kyle Bonagura, for instance, projects Penn State into the GameAbove Sports Bowl in Detroit against Western Michigan. Colleague Mark Schlabach has Penn State in the Rate Bowl in Phoenix against Cincinnati.

CBS Sports' Brad Crawford selects the GameAbove Sports Bowl for Penn State against Ohio, as does Athlon Sports.

For the Sporting News, Bill Bender predicts a more intriguing game. He projects Penn State playing Duke in the Pinstripe Bowl. That would match Penn State's former defensive coordinator against his former team. Duke (7-5) plays Virginia in the ACC title game.

On3's Brett McMurphy still has Penn State playing Pitt in the Pinstripe Bowl, a potentially fascinating matchup between the Nittany Lions and the Panthers (8-4).Sports Illustrated's Bryan Fischer has Penn State playing in the Pinstripe Bowl against Louisville and head coach Jeff Brohm, who was a one-time candidate for the Penn State coaching job.

RELATED: What they said after Penn State's win over Rutgers

What will Penn State's roster look like for the bowl game?

Penn State Nittany Lions interim head coach Terry Smith walks on the field during a warm up prior to the game against the Nebraska Cornhuskers at Beaver Stadium. | Matthew O'Haren-Imagn Images

Interim head coach Terry Smith said after the win at Rutgers that Penn State is "looking forward to playing in a bowl game," though it's not that simple. Penn State's roster and staff could undergo significant change if coaches leave or players opt out before the bowl game.

Coaches who don't expect to be retained by the next head coach could move on to other programs. Some could even follow Franklin to Virginia Tech.

Regarding platers, it's unclear how their contracts affect the bowl status, though some still could choose not to play. After the win at Rutgers, bowl reactions varied. Both Nicholas Singleton and Kaytron Allen said they would talk with their families before deciding whether to play. Others seemed eager to play another game.

“I’m playing every game I could with this team, I don’t care about anything else but enjoying my last game with this team,” linebacker DeLuca said.

Added fellow linebacker Amare Campbell, "We have a lot of guys that are supposed to be declaring, so I can't speak for a lot of people. But I can speak for me personally and maybe the underclassmen, we’re ready. We’re ready to play. Wherever they schedule us for the bowl game, we’re all locked in, we’re ready to play, ready to suit up again."

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