As bowl games outside of playoff games continue to become more "meaningless" to the college football world, the humor can't be lost on Penn State facing Clemson in the Pinstripe Bowl. These are two teams who seemed destined for a deep playoff run, and many had both picked as their national champions.
We are all aware of how both programs fell far short of the expectations, including James Franklin being fired, Drew Allar's season being cut short, and Clemson not even coming close to an ACC Championship Game appearance.
Going into the season, any experts who would have predicted these two perennial powerhouses meeting up in the Bronx to finish off their season may have been let go for such an outlandish take. It would seem that this might be a more important game for Clemson, who could use their end of the year winning streak to start the 2026 season on a positive note.
As quickly as James Franklin's tenure came to an end in Happy Valley a year after nearly making the national championship game, you would have to think patience is running short for Dabo Swinney. It will start with who Swinney picks as his next quarterback after a very up-and-down college career from Cade Klubnik.
Penn State, on the other hand, will start a new era with Matt Campbell, so it does not seem ending this season with a bowl win seems as important. It will be very interesting to see how Campbell's tenure starts in Happy Valley, but one would think expectations will be tempered down a little after reaching outlandish heights over the last couple of seasons.
This has to be humbling for both fanbases, and it will be interesting to see what the turnout will look like for both inside Yankee Stadium. It will be interesting to compare which program has the quickest bounce back after two of the biggest letdowns based on expectations in quite some time.