With the conference championships being played over the weekend, and the playoff bracket being set, the rest of the bowl games were allotted over the weekend.
Turns out Penn State is headed to the Pinstripe
Bowl, and will face Clemson as its opponent!
Given how things looked in early November, I have to feel like this is perhaps one of the best outcomes for what was ultimately a lost season. Sitting at 3-6 and coming off a heartbreaking loss to Indiana, it was entirely possible that – having failed their last real test of the season – the team would mail it in against their last three opponents.
Instead, the team went on a tear, beating Michigan State, Nebraska, and Rutgers to secure a bowl berth.
Given their relatively low standing in the conference, I don’t think it would have been at all unreasonable for Penn State to have headed to a “lower” bowl, such as the GameAbove Sports Bowl (where Northwestern will play Central Michigan) or the Rate Bowl (where Minnesota will play New Mexico). There was also the chance that the Lions could have headed to the SRS Distribution Las Vegas Bowl, where Nebraska will be playing #15 Utah.
No, all things considered, Penn State landed in a pretty sweet spot. A mid-tier bowl against a Power 4 team in Clemson is likely the best possible outcome when the team was looking up from the bottom of that 3-6 well.
And after hearing news that other teams are opting out – Kansas State due to player attrition, Iowa State due to coaching turnover, Notre Dame to the incurable disease of being little whiny babies – hearing that the team is excited to play one more time together is fantastic.
With new head coach Matt Campbell in town and bringing coaches (and potentially players) with him, this will be the last time we see the vestiges of this 2025 team. Let’s enjoy these last few weeks before the team changes drastically. Let’s go bowling!
