9/21/2023 football Edit

Bowl projections for Penn State Football entering week four

Richie O'Leary • Happy Valley Insider

Publisher

With Penn State Football now sitting at 3-0 on the season after taking care of business against Illinois this past weekend, the Nittany Lions have another big matchup this weekend versus No. 25 Iowa in the annual White Out game on Saturday night.

At 3-0, the Nittany Lions are now knocking on the door of the Top-5 in both the AP Poll and Coaches poll. Where do the bowl projections have the Nittany Lions heading this postseason?

Let's take a look...

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Athlon Sports (Steven Lassan): Peach Bowl - Notre Dame vs. Penn State

(December 30th - Atlanta, Georgia)

Last time these two met on the gridiron was back in 2007 where the Joe Paterno led Nittany Lions took down the Fighting Irish inside of State College by a score of 31-10. Currently the two programs are tied with nine wins a piece in the series with this matchup potentially setting up the tiebreaker.

CBS SPORTS (JERRY PALM): Peach Bowl - Alabama vs. Penn State

(December 30th - Atlanta, Georgia)

This would set up an interesting battle between two top programs from each of the big name conferences in college football. The two haven't met since Bama came up to State College in 2011 and beat the Nittany Lions 27-11. However with the Crimson Tide struggling, this could set up for a ugly game for Bama not too far from their own home.

ESPN (Kyle Bonagura): Fiesta Bowl - Washington vs. Penn State

(January 1st - Glendale, Arizona)

This would not only mark James Franklin's second Fiesta Bowl since he took over the Nittany Lions program, but also the second time he has faced off against Washington as well. PSU is currently 3-0 all time against their future conference mates.

ESPN (Mark Schlabach): Peach Bowl - LSU vs. Penn State

(December 30th - Atlanta, Georgia)

Another Peach Bowl prediction, but this one is a little different as LSU is projected to be on the other side, marking the first time the duo has met on the gridiron since 2010 Citrus Bowl where PSU won 19-17.

Action Network (Brett McMurphy): Orange Bowl - North Carolina vs. Penn State

(December 30th - Miami, Florida)

This would set up an exciting matchup against two big name quarterbacks in Drew Allar and Drake Maye. The matchup also would set up the second matchup all time, with the first one coming back in 1943 where UNC won 19-0.

College Footall News: Fiesta Bowl - Florida State vs. Penn State

(January 1st - Glendale, Arizona)

This bowl game would reignite a series that has had few and far games in between, with the first coming in 1967, the second in 1990 and the most recent in 2006. This game would be the first matchup between the two where Paterno wasn't coaching the Nittany Lions and would create quite the game.