Penn State is 6-2, and despite of what you may have heard, will continue to play meaningful games this season. For the most part Penn State is still slotted into the same bowl locations that it has been much of the year and the opponents are changing more than anything else. In any case here they are, bowl projections that absolutely won’t change in the next few weeks.
ESPN and Action Network: Citrus Bowl against No. 15 LSU. Of the games that Penn State is currently, potentially headed toward, this might be the best mixture of opponent and location. Orlando might not be Miami but it sure is warmer than State College by the time this game rolls around. LSU plays Alabama this weekend and is coming off a win over No. 11 Mississippi. In theory, the Tigers could win this weekend — albeit it on the road against Alabama is a tall order — and find itself out of the Citrus Bowl picture, but so far this road seems to lead to Orlando. James Franklin and Brian Kelly give this game some star power in the coaching ranks to go along with a classic Big Ten/SEC matchup.
SportingNews and ESPN : Citrus Bowl against No. 11 Ole Miss. Lane Kiffin and his offense are certainly the most fun combination on this list. It would be a tough ask to slow down this group but Mississippi has its work cut out for it with games against LSU and Alabama still on the schedule, not to mention the always entertaining Egg Bowl against Mississippi State. Kiffin could sneak in a win over his former employer in Alabama but that could be a tall order. Time will tell how Ole Miss’ stock moves up or down when the next few weeks are all said and done.
247 Network and CBS: Orange Bowl against No. 17 Wake Forest. Between NC State, UNC and Syracuse, Wake Forest has its work cut out for it with three straight games against ranked teams to close out the season. Two of those are at home, but a blowout loss to Louisville this weekend could have knocked the Deacons down a few pegs in most people’s books. That’s not to say Wake Forest wouldn’t be a fun meeting for Penn State — the Nittany Lions have only played them once before — but it could turn out Wake Forest won’t bring the appeal of high ranking to this game. Then again, Penn State might not either. No matter what, can’t go wrong with Miami.
Yahoo!: Cotton Bowl against UCF. UCF is easily the least interesting team on the potential bowl opponents list so far if for no other reason than who actually knows anything about UCF these days? Turns out they scored 70 two weeks ago so that’s cool. Other than that, the Knights are a new entrant into the AP Top 25, landing at No. 25. A ranked meeting in two weeks against Tulane will close out the regular season and would be — rankings wise — the biggest win on the schedule if the Green Wave are still ranked by then. The Cotton Bowl is fun and fine, Dallas is Dallas, but this isn’t the bowl to root for unless you enjoy the media hospitality suite — which is admittedly quite nice.
