Penn State heads into Big Ten play with its playoff picture suddenly looking a lot clearer.
The Nittany Lions, ranked No. 13, host Wisconsin on Saturday at Beaver Stadium as 10.5-point favorites, with kickoff set for 5 p.m. And after Penn State’s third straight win, the projections from the major outlets have started to move in the Nittany Lions’ favor.
ESPN’s Football Power Index now gives Penn State a 38.1 percent chance to make the playoff, which is nearly nine points better than last week. ESPN also puts the Nittany Lions at a 10.3 percent chance to win out the rest of the way, up from just over 8 percent a week ago, and a 4.8 percent shot at reaching the national title game, up from 2.9 percent. Even with that bump, ESPN says 11 teams have better odds to win out than Penn State.
The Athletic remains bullish on Matt Campbell’s team. It gives Penn State a 44 percent chance to make the playoff and a 20 percent chance to earn a home playoff game. The Athletic also pegs the Nittany Lions with a five percent chance to land as a No. 8, 9 or 10 seed, along with a four percent chance to be the 11 seed.
Not every outlet is on the playoff train yet. Sports Illustrated still has Penn State missing the field for now, while projecting the Nittany Lions to face Alabama in the Citrus Bowl on Jan. 2.
CBS Sports is the most optimistic of the group, projecting Penn State into the playoff as the No. 9 seed. In that scenario, the Nittany Lions would travel to Oxford to face No. 8 seed Ole Miss.
Penn State’s next step comes Saturday against Wisconsin, with conference play now carrying the weight of the season’s biggest questions.
In Other News...
Penn State Suddenly Has A Koby Howard Concern Heading Into Next Week
Penn States injury watch after the Buffalo game centered on a few familiar names, but Koby Howard is the one carrying the biggest question into next week. Matt Campbell said Howard was hurt on a long touchdown run, and with the Lions moving on to the next opponent, his availability is now uncertain. For a team trying to keep early-season momentum rolling, even a single injury note can matter when it involves a player who was in the middle of a scoring play.
Brock Riker appears on sturdier ground and is expected to be available for the next game, while Andrew Rappleyea and Tyler Armstead are still listed as questionable after leaving the Buffalo contest banged up. For Penn State, the focus now shifts from the box score to the training room, where the answers on a few key depth pieces could shape how the rotation looks when the Lions line up again. [Read more 🡒]
Penn State Fans Face One Annoying Hurdle For Wisconsin Opener
Penn States Big Ten opener against Wisconsin at Beaver Stadium arrives with the usual conference-stage stakes, but there is one wrinkle for fans planning their Saturday around it. The 5 p.m. ET kickoff makes for a prime-time atmosphere in State College, yet the game will not be on traditional television. Instead, it will be available exclusively on Peacock, NBC Universals streaming platform, which means anyone wanting to watch will need a subscription.
Peacocks role as a Big Ten Saturday Night home will extend beyond this matchup, with the service carrying other conference games throughout the 2026 season while also offering football and entertainment programming. For Penn State supporters, though, the immediate issue is simpler and more annoying: if they want to see the opener against Wisconsin, they will have to navigate another streaming paywall first. [Read more 🡒]
Penn State Just Got An Early Recruiting Sign Matt Campbell Needed
Penn States 2028 recruiting class got a noticeable boost this week when quarterback commit James Armstrong climbed 40 spots in Rivals latest rankings, landing at No. 61 overall and No. 7 among quarterbacks. Even in a staff that is known to trust its own evaluations more than outside lists, movement like that matters, especially when it comes from a quarterback and especially when it helps validate the early work being done in Pennsylvania.
There is still a long way to go with this cycle, and rankings will keep shifting as more evaluations come in, but Armstrongs rise is the kind of public sign a program can point to while building momentum. Another in-state commit, cornerback Deonte Flemings Jr., went the other direction with a 50-spot drop, a reminder that the early stages of recruiting rarely tell the full story even when they offer a glimpse of where the class might be headed. [Read more 🡒]