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Penn State Football’s ideal Big Ten, ACC, Pac 12 non-conference matchups

By Lawrence Santa Maria

PASADENA, CA - JANUARY 02: Cornerback John Reid #29 of the Penn State Nittany Lions attempts to tackle wide receiver JuJu Smith-Schuster #9 of the USC Trojans during the 2017 Rose Bowl Game presented by Northwestern Mutual at the Rose Bowl on January 2, 2017 in Pasadena, California. (Photo by Kevork Djansezian/Getty Images)
PASADENA, CA - JANUARY 02: Cornerback John Reid #29 of the Penn State Nittany Lions attempts to tackle wide receiver JuJu Smith-Schuster #9 of the USC Trojans during the 2017 Rose Bowl Game presented by Northwestern Mutual at the Rose Bowl on January 2, 2017 in Pasadena, California. (Photo by Kevork Djansezian/Getty Images) /
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Penn State Football
Penn State Nittany Lions head coach James Franklin (Mandatory Credit: Matt Pendleton-USA TODAY Sports) /

Reports this week from Iowa AD Gary Barta are that the Big Ten may be looking to form an alliance with the Pac 12 and ACC, moving to eight conference games to allow for big-time non conference matchups down the road for Penn State Football 

Texas and Oklahoma agreeing to join the SEC this past year sent shockwaves through college football that we still have not totally felt the magnitude of. Penn State Football, and the rest of the Big Ten could be feeling the aftershocks.

The Athletic is reporting this week that one of those shockwaves might be the Big Ten making some scheduling changes that would allow for an alliance of sorts between the Big Ten, Pac 12 and ACC where the conferences would schedule major nonconference games with each other.

Iowa AD Gary Barta told the Athletic that the Big Ten is looking into going to a eight game conference schedule in 2023 as opposed to the nine game conference schedule they have now. The eight games would mirror the SEC. They would also be dropping divisions, meaning Penn State Football could in theory play Ohio State or Michigan for a Big Ten title in the near future.

The most exciting thought of this is the possibility of some big-time blue blood programs making their way to Happy Valley, or the Nittany Lions taking a unique road trip to places all over the nation, which at its essence is what college football is all about.

Let’s take a look at five of the best potential non conference games Penn State Football could see on their schedule starting in 2023: 

Florida State 

When you think about Penn State Football and Florida State it is hard to get far before you think about their former legendary head coaches; Joe Paterno and Bobby Bowden.

They last met in the Orange Bowl in 2006 with those two coaches walking the sideline, but whenever these teams met you know you are getting an aesthetically pleasing matchup.

The Nittany Lions traveling to Doak Campbell in their road whites against the Seminoles in their red and gold is as good as it gets.

Florida State is a team that has had their struggles over the past few seasons but won a national championship as lately as 2013, and appears to have better days ahead. This could be a fun matchup and from a recruiting perspective, Penn State Football is continuing to try to gain ground in Florida so taking a road trip to Tallahassee couldn’t hurt.

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