Kirk Herbstreit is very faithful in Penn State's 2025 season

Penn State football has the pieces to win the 2026 College Football Playoff and ESPN college football analyst Kirk Herbstreit knows it too.

On "The Pat McAfee Show," Herbstreit spoke highly of the Nittany Lions, nodding to how close they were to a title in 2024-25. Not only did they fall in the Big Ten Championship Game, their season ended just ahead of the CFP championship contest.

"I think Penn State has a chance with what [it] went through last year. They've been so close. I think their fans want them to get there," Kirk Herbstreit said. ". . . I'm excited to see them.

Herbstreit hasn't been the only college football analyst to rally behind Penn State. The Nittany Lions have been a favorite for the CFP title consistently since the end of 2024-25, and even more so once news hit of which players were returning. It's Penn State's year to take home the title with the level experience on the roster. One thing continuously being brought up, though, even in Pat McAfee's comment section, is that head coach James Franklin won't get the job done.

Franklin did get the Nittany Lions to their first CFP appearance in 2024-25 and coach his team to winning the 2016 Big Ten Championship Game. Looking into the upcoming season, he believes this is the year they can get it done if they take it game-by-game.

Though Paul Finebaum made it very well known that he isn't a fan of Penn State's schedule, calling it a disgrace and saying that it's playing three "cupcake" schools to open the season before its first bye week, Franklin and his team can't go into Week 1 thinking, "Well, it's Nevada."

"People are gonna say, ‘Well, that’s not a big game.’ We’ll lose to Nevada and find out quickly," Franklin said in June. So, we’re focused on that."

Franklin will have some humps to get over in the regular season, like Oregon in Week 5 and Ohio State in Week 10. The game-by-game mindset will keep Penn State levelheaded instead of trying to rush its way to the CFP championship game. Those big wins need to come in slowly but surely, one at a time.

The Big Ten is defending its second national championship after Michigan won it in 2024 and Ohio State followed up most recently in 2025. The Nittany Lions are favored to win the 2026 CFP, never mind just the conference. They're the fourth team with the highest odds (+750) to take the title on FanDuel behind Texas, Georgia, and Ohio State. It's very likely that another Big Ten schools wins the championship again, and that could very easily be Penn State.