With the expanded 12-team College Football Playoff, expectations for James Franklin and Penn State have changed

James Franklin took to the podium in Indianapolis at Big Ten Media Days on Wednesday and heading into his 11th season in Happy Valley, he demonstrated a clear understanding of the fanbase’s expectations for him. 

Franklin told the assembled media, “We’re one of the few programs in the country where you can win 10 or 11 games and people are unhappy.” 

Since arriving at Penn State, Franklin has led the Nittany Lions to double-digit five times including last year’s 10-3 campaign that ended with a loss to Ole Miss in the Peach Bowl. Yet, Franklin never made the four-team College Football Playoff, finishing at No. 5 in 2016. While fans certainly weren’t unhappy with 11 wins back then, the 11-win Rose Bowl season in 2022 felt like a disappointment. 

Penn State has been stuck in college football purgatory, good enough to be in the CFP conversation nearly every year, but never good enough to break through and compete for the national title. Now, heading into a season of unmatched change in the history of the sport, with an 18-team Big Ten and 12-team playoff, the expectations placed on Franklin have changed. He understands that and the fanbase should too. 

The college football season is no longer about the regular season, one loss doesn’t doom a program’s entire season, and 10 wins, could be all that it takes to have a shot at the national championship. 

During the four-team era, no team would have benefitted from a 12-team playoff system more than the Nittany Lions who finished in the top 12 six times. In 2018, Penn State finished 12th with just nine regular season wins. The regular season win total isn’t the goal anymore, an undefeated season is no longer a requirement, college football has become like every other professional sport, it’s about winning the big games. The expansion is great news for Franklin, but the reality it presents for a coach whose entire reputation is that he routinely comes up small in huge spots, that’s not so great. 

For Franklin, the magic number isn’t 10 or 11, it’s 17, and he knows it. 

“We’ve been talking a lot to our team about understanding the difference of a possible 17-game season,” Franklin told Big Ten Live after his press conference in Indianapolis. “Then not only, what do we have to do to get into the playoffs, but what can we do to get into the playoffs and be in an advantageous situation, whether it’s a bye in Week 1 or a home game in Beaver Stadium.”

Before, Penn State fans would have been thrilled if Franklin had simply delivered a four-team CFP appearance, and 10 regular season wins never got that done. Now, it’s not just about getting there, it’s about winning in the playoffs, and that means beating the best teams in the country, not just Purdue, Maryland, Iowa, Indiana, and the rest of the Big Ten bottom-feeders. 

So, in a way Franklin was right, Penn State fans would be unhappy with 10 or 11 wins if one of those weren’t in the CFP, but in a way he was wrong. If 10 wins get the Nittany Lions the No. 12 seed, and Franklin beats a top 10 team (one that isn’t Utah in the Rose Bowl after Cam Rising suffered a devastating knee injury) for the first time since Ohio State in 2016, fans will be thrilled. 

It’s the same as it's ever been for Franklin since Penn State burst back onto the national scene with Marcus Allen’s field goal block at Beaver Stadium, it’s all about the big games.