The 3 teams in the first 12-team College Football Playoff rankings that Penn State would most want to play

Penn State learned two important things this week. First, the Nittany Lions found out that they’re still a tier below Ohio State at the very top of the Big Ten. Second, on Tuesday night when the first College Football Playoff Rankings of the season were released, they learned that the committee will not punish them for still being a tier below the Buckeyes. 

James Franklin’s team was ranked No. 6 by the committe in the first year of the expanded 12-team College Football Playoff, and with the four highest-ranked conference champions set to take the top four seed and byes through the first round of the playoff, the Nittany Lions, as things currently stand, are likely to host a first round game at Beaver Stadium. Even if Pat McAfee says it can’t be done. 

If the season ended today, Penn State would host Notre Dame in the first round, but the Fighting Irish might not be the ideal matchup. After falling to Northern Illinois early in the year, Marcus Freeman has turned things around in South Bend. If Franklin and his staff had a choice of first-round opponent, from the teams currently in the bracket, one of these three should be his pick. 

On the final drive of Penn State’s loss to Ohio State, the Nittany Lions struggled stopping quarterback Will Howard in the run game. Dealing with a dual-threat quarterback was an issue all day, so the prospect of facing Jalen Milroe may not be particularly enticing for defensive coordinator Tom Allen. However, Alabama’s defense has real problems, so if Allen’s group could get enough stops, Andy Kotelnicki’s offense could win a shootout against the Crimson Tide. 

Alabama has two losses on the year, first to Vanderbilt and then falling to Tennessee in Knoxville. Particularly against quarterback Diego Pavia and the Commodores, the Alabama Linebackers and safeties struggled mightily in coverage against an offense that used constant misdirection to its advantage. With Kotelnicki sending offensive linemen in motion and using Tyler Warren as a matchup nightmare, Penn State would have real success moving the ball in a matchup with Alabama. 

Indiana has yet to win a game by fewer than 14 points and is a dominant 9-0. However, the Hoosiers haven’t played an upper-escholon team in college football yet this season. Curt Cignetti has assembled a team of G5 all-stars in Bloomington, but against Penn State’s athletes, the Hoosiers offense could be in for a real wake-up call. 

Cignetti is not going to go away. Indiana belongs in the CFP, even if they fall to Ohio State in Columbus in Week 13. However, because of the lack of elite competition, they’re likely one of the more vulnerable power-conference contenders, even if the stats don’t back that up. 

No team is going to have a fun day trying to tackle Ashton Jeanty. Boise State’s Heisman Trophy candidate running back has rushed for 1,525 yards and 20 touchdowns through the Broncos 7-1 start. His team’s only loss came by three points to Oregon at Autzen Stadium. 

Still, Penn State is top 20 in the country in yards per rush allowed and top 10 in defensive success rate against the run. Jeanty would need to hit explosives, which he’s known to do, but on a down-to-down basis, Allen’s defense would likely have success bottling him up. 

Without a clear path to the Big Ten title game, Penn State is unlikely to grab the No. 5 seed in the CFP, but Boise State already checked in at No. 12 in the first rankings, so the fifth-highest-ranked conference champion could potentially be the No. 10 or 11 seed in the CFP.