Penn State Football vs Kentucky: 3 reasons to watch Citrus Bowl

Penn State football is headed to Orlando to face Kentucky in the Citrus Bowl. Here are three reasons to watch the game.

Penn State and Kentucky will conclude their seasons in Orlando on New Years Day in the Citrus Bowl. An early look at the match-up has the makings of a good battle. Both schools took different paths to their identical 9-3 overall records.

Penn State began the year with huge expectations. A close, overtime win against Appalachian State in the opening week should have been a sign of trouble for the Nittany Lions but they rattled off easy victories in their next three games. The Lions would then drop back to back home games against Ohio State and Michigan State, games in which they had leads deep into the fourth quarter.

The Lions would get back on track with two close wins against Indiana and Iowa, but then a trip to Ann Arbor saw the Wolverines run the Lions out of the stadium. Penn State would finish the season on a three game winning streak and came up just short of three straight New Year’s Six bowl bids.

Kentucky, on the other hand, had low expectations entering the season. Most prognosticators thought six wins would be the Wildcats’ ceiling. Instead, Kentucky surpassed expectations and posted a nine-win regular season for the first time since 1977 when the Wildcats went 10-1. Along the way, they got upsets against Mississippi State, Missouri, and Florida, in which they beat the Gators for the first time since 1986.

Both teams are looking to complete their seasons on a high note and win 10 games. Should be a fun one to take in on New Years Day. The Citrus Bowl is one of the best non-New Year’s Six bowls college football has to offer and here are three reasons to watch.