This past week, the NCAA announced that they will be switching to a 12 team playoff in 2024 and 2025 for college football. The wait was for the Rose Bowl to approve, and on Wednesday night they finally did. Now more teams have a chance to finally make playoffs after years of not making it. The Penn State Nittany Lions are a team that the 12 team playoffs will help an immense amount.
12 Team Playoff – Penn State’s Last Few Years
The last few years, aside from the 2021 and 2022 College Football season would have been very different for the Nittany Lions if there were a 12-team playoff. In the last two seasons Penn State did not end up ranked, this year they are currently ranked eighth. If this were 2024, the Nittany Lions would currently be making it into playoffs.
In 2019, Penn State ended the season ranked 10th in the College Football Playoff rankings, and in 2018 they were ranked twelfth. Even going back to 2017, the Nittany Lions were ranked ninth. All these years that Penn State could have made the College Football playoffs, they were ranked too low. In two years from now, that may be very different.
12 Team Playoff – Home Field Advantage
When the 12 team playoff expansion was announced, it was also stated there would be games played at college stadiums instead of neutral sites. If Penn State can play at their home stadium, that would be a huge advantage for the Nittany Lions. Penn State is known to have an electric crowd no matter who they are playing, and no matter what time of day it is.
The school is known for their White Out every year, but even in the regular games, the crowd is as loud as can be. Beaver Stadium currently has the capacity to hold 106,572 fans, and many people are still unable to get tickets. They currently have the second largest college stadium in the country, with only Michigan having a larger one. With a crowd naturally that big, a playoff game would be even more deafening for the opposing team. Having a home game in the college football playoffs would put Penn State at an extreme advantage.
12 Team Playoff – Bright Future Players
While Penn State will be losing many players this season for the NFL, such as Joey Porter Jr., the team has a bright future ahead of them. By the time the 12 team playoff expansion begins, many of their current stars will be in their third year. Some of the top current players that will be able to take advantage of the 2024 college football playoffs are Nichola Singleton, Kaytron Allen, Drew Allar, and more.
The Nittany Lions have such a bright future ahead of them, and the announcement of the playoff team expansion has fans excited. While there are no guarantees that these 12 team playoffs will continue in 2026 and after that, this is Penn State’s chance to make a push they were unable to make before. If the team can make playoffs in both 2024 and 2025, and even make a run, recruitment for the school will only go.
Young players will want to play for a college team that can make a run for a championship. They also want a team to make playoffs so NFL Scouts can watch them play more, and see they are ready to go pro. If the Nittany Lions were to make the playoffs, the top high school recruits may commit to Penn State as opposed to schools like Ohio State, which tends to make the College Football Playoffs often. This would then even benefit the future of the school, in addition to making the playoffs.
While Penn State has almost no chance of making the 2022 College Football Playoffs, watch in 2024 when there is a 12 team playoff system to see the Nittany Lions get their chance.
For more NFL and NCAA Content:
Check out my article on the top 5 Rutgers players in the 2022 season. Also, check out my most recent NFL Underestimated Player Spotlight. Be sure to check out my article on which 49ers players to watch this weekend vs the Miami Dolphins.
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