College Football Playoff 2017: Case for the Penn State Nittany Lions

Case for Penn State

First thing for the Nittany Lions to do is control what they can. They must win out. In the three years of the playoff, there has not been a two loss team voted into the field. The Lions know this all too well from last season.

Not only must the Lions win out, they probably should aim for some big scores too. Style points matter. Their remaining schedule is at Michigan State, Nebraska, Rutgers and at Maryland. They will need to beat all four of those teams by big margins.

The biggest win so far for the Lions probably is Michigan, even though now the Wolverines are unranked in the AP and sit at 24th in the Coaches poll. At the time the Lions beat them, Michigan was ranked 19th. The Lions best road win was at Iowa. Even though Iowa does not appear great, Penn State had to gut it out and many good teams have to show their will to win close games every season.

The Lions best opportunity was to beat Ohio State and have a clear path to the Big Ten championship game. Now with the path within their control is closed, there still is an opportunity Ohio State loses two games. The Buckeyes face Iowa and Michigan on the road along with a home date against Michigan State.

It is a big if, but if Penn State wins out and gets two losses from the Buckeyes, they will find themselves in Indianapolis again with a likely rematch against Wisconsin from last year’s title game. Winning the Big Ten with a 12-1 record and the Lions would almost sure to be a lock for a playoff spot.