A year ago, the White Out games against Washington was relegated to Peacock, NBC’s streaming service. However, that had more to do with Washington’s failure to follow-up its national championship game appearance with a competitive Big Ten debut. This year, James Franklin’s Nittany Lions own all the blame for being stuck behind a paywall.
On Tuesday, the kickoff time was released for Penn State’s Week 8 trip to Kinnick Stadium. Rather than making an appearance on FOX’s Big Noon Kickoff or even grabbing ahold of NBC’s primetime Big Ten Saturday Night, the Nittany Lions and Iowa Hawkeyes will duke it out, likely as unranked foes, on Peacock at 7:00 p.m. ET.
Penn State’s loss to Oregon in double-overtime was excusable, at least in the eyes of the conference’s primary broadcasting partners. Penn State was featured on CBS at 3:30 against winless UCLA as the No. 7 team in the country. Then – and stop me if you’ve heard this stat before – became the first team in the AP Top 10 to lose to an 0-4 opponent since 1985.
Penn State stuck behind Peacock paywall for Week 8 matchup with Iowa
The AP voters were the first to punish the Nittany Lions as the preseason No. 2 team in the country was sent tumbling outside the Top 25. Those rankings are the best way for networks to sell their games, and without one next to their name, Penn State’s isn’t quite the draw it has been in years past.
Peacock may get a good game, however, because each of Penn State’s most recent three trips to Iowa City has resulted in a one-score game, with the Nittany Lions winning in 2017 and 2019 before losing in 2021.
Penn State isn’t the only preseason Top 10 team that has been a flop this year. Between preseason No. 1 Texas, No. 2 Penn State, and No. 4 Clemson, there is just one Power Four victory, Clemson’s 38-10 win over North Carolina on Saturday. All three are out of the poll entirely heading into Week 7.
Week 8 will be Penn State’s second-straight appearance on a second-tier broadcasting option. The Nittany Lions’ Week 7 matchup with Northwestern, one of the worst teams in the Big Ten, will be featured on FS1 at 3:30 p.m. ET from Happy Valley on Saturday.
Now, the big question with regard to the broadcasting slots is where Penn State’s trip to Columbus will end up. It was likely to be the Big Noon Kickoff Game for Week 10, with the Nittany Lions coming off their bye week with a chance to take down Ohio State for the first time since 2016. However, if Penn State loses either of its next two games, there may not be much appeal for the casual fan, beyond familiar logos.
Ohio State looks like a dominant force once again as the No. 1 team in the country, and is likely to retain that spot come November.