Welcome back to our weekly series tracking some of the bowl/CFP picks for Penn State football following each game, This season, we will follow ESPN, Yahoo, College Football News, and CBS Sports, with occasional bonus picks from other publications.
Yahoo Sports/College Football News:
Bowl/CFP Seed: CFP; 2nd seed
Location: Arlington, TX
Date: December 31st, 2025
Opponent: LSU Tigers
CBS Sports:
Bowl/CFP Seed: CFP; 4th seed
Location: Arlington, TX
Date: December 31st, 2025
Opponent: Winner of Notre Dame-Tulane
ESPN: Bonagura/Schlabach
Bowl/CFP Seed: CFP; 2nd seed/CFP; 3rd seed
Location:
Arlington, TX/Winter Gardens, FL
Date: December 31st, 2025/January 1st, 2026
Opponent: Texas Longhorns (Winner of 7th seed Texas v. 10th seed Clemson)/Oregon Ducks (Winner of 6th seed Oregon v. 11th seed Utah)
Guest Picker:
Bowl/CFP Seed: CFP; 2nd seed
Location: Miami Gardens, FL
Date: January 1st, 2026
Opponent: Oregon Ducks (Winner of Oregon-South Carolina)
Not surprisingly, Penn State drops to the fourth seed in CBS’ projections after Ohio State’s big victory over Texas. Between their two possible opponents, Notre Dame is the least likely to remain there, especially with a loss to Texas A&M. ESPN’s two writers still disagree on Penn State’s seed, and now choose different locations and opponents. Texas’s current quarterback play would be a great situation for the Nittany Lions to exploit, but I’m sure Arch will learn from his difficult road debut.
