Penn State football enters a 2026 season under new head coach Matt Campbell with an easy schedule to kick off this new chapter in Happy Valley.
With a light schedule comes talk about postseason implications. The Nittany Lions are in a difficult spot, though. There's potential that they don't face a ranked opponent this season depending on how Michigan, USC, and Washington pan out. Facing unranked opponents isn't impressive to the committee, and that can definitely come to bite Penn State come the end of the season if it finishes 9-3 or better.
It makes much more sense for 2026 that the committee and poll voters can be the reason why the blue and white don't make it into the College Football Playoff. However, they have historically snubbed the Nittany Lions, so even if they have valid reasoning, it can serve as a brutal flashback to previous years for some fans.
National poll voters will likely strike again and kill any playoff hopes for Penn State
ESPN went through every team in the Power Four and analyzed who their archenemies are. For some teams, it's certain coaches (opposing coaches from other teams or former coaches at the school) or other teams that have heated history. Only two Big Ten teams' archenemies didn't fall into either category: Penn State's and USC's. The NCAA was the Trojans' given nemesis and for the Nittany Lions, Heather Dinich went with national poll voters.
"The Nittany Lions had five undefeated seasons under former coach Joe Paterno ... but was snubbed for the national title in four of those campaigns," Dinich wrote. "The College Football Playoff hasn't fixed Penn State's woes with polls. Following Penn State's Big Ten title in 2016, the CFP selection committee excluded the Nittany Lions from the top four, earning Penn State the dubious distinction of becoming the first Power 4 conference champion excluded from the CFP."
Having five undefeated seasons and not being named the national champion once is a tough pill to swallow and a terrible pattern to be a part of if you're Penn State. Then to make it into the CFP and be on the brink of the title game just to lose in the semifinals just rubs salt in the wound.
The poll voters will more than likely factor into the Nittany Lions' season yet again. Wins that seem impressive based on the surrounding games on their schedule won't be to the committee when assessing all college football teams around the country.
It seems like a never-ending cycle for Penn State and the poll voters, whether it deserves it or not
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