In a cruel twist of fate, James Franklin would have finally gotten Penn State into four-team CFP

During the four-team College Football Playoff era, James Franklin’s Penn State Nittany Lions were always the bridesmaid and never the bride. Dating back to 2016, when the Nittany Lions were left out of the CFP for an Ohio State team that they beat head-to-head, Franklin’s group would have made the 12-team CFP, had it existed in its current form, six times over the past eight years. Then, in a cruel twist of fate, Penn State would have made the four-team CFP for the first time in 2024, the inaugural 12-team playoff. 

Even with a 45-37 loss to No. 1 Oregon in the Big Ten Championship Game on Saturday night in Indianapolis, 11-2 Penn State claimed the No. 4 overall ranking on Sunday afternoon when the bracket was released. However, as the top four seeds and first-round byes go to the four-highest-ranked conference champions, the Nittany Lions will host No. 11 SMU at Beaver Stadium on Saturday, December 21 at Noon ET. 

Penn State has an ideal path to the CFP semifinal with SMU and No. 3 seed Boise State in its way. The Nittany Lions will be favored in both matchups which only puts more pressure on James Franklin to advance past the quarterfinals to the semifinal, where he would have started if the old format was still in place. 

Since the very announcement of the 12-team CFP, Penn State was also pointed to as the biggest potential beneficiary. No team that had never made the four-team CFP, would have made the 12-team bracket more often. Now, the Nittany Lions are finally in, but are wishing to go back to the old days for a better shot at winning the national title. 

A home playoff game at Beaver Stadium will be an incredible atmosphere and it’s something that the university has prepared for with massive upgrades to the facility this offseason. However, two additional games before the semifinal just provide two additional chances for the Nittany Lions to slip up.