It is officially game week for the Penn State NIttany Lions as they prepare to take on the SMU Mustangs in the first round of the College Football Playoffs at Beaver Stadium on Saturday afternoon.
After opening as a 7.5-point favorite eight days ago over the Mustangs, the line has moved slightly in favor of the Nittany Lions to eight points.
Penn State will enter the College Football Playoffs with an 11-2 record following a 45-37 loss to No. 1 Oregon in the Big Ten Championship game. The Nittany Lions' only other loss this season came to a top-five ranked Ohio State team in early November.
SMU will enter the game with an identical 11-2 record of their own after a 34-31 loss to the Clemson Tigers in the ACC Championship game. Despite the loss to Clemson, the Mustangs were still ranked ahead of the Tigers in the final rankings. SMU's first loss of the season was an early September loss to the BYU Tigers.
Penn State this season is 6-6 against the spread while the under has hit in seven of 13 matchups. SMU will enter the matchup with an 8-5 record against the spread with the over-hitting in eight of 13 games.
This will be the third-ever matchup between the two programs previously meeting in 1948 and 1978.
Saturday's game will be televised on TNT with ESPN's Mark Jones, Roddy Jones, and Quint Kessenich calling the game.
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