College Football Playoff prediction sees Penn State in national championship
Penn State's playoff buzz continues to build ahead of its 2025 campaign.
A new projection from 247 Sports' Brad Crawford has the Nittany Lions earning a favorable draw for the second consecutive year following the team's run to the semifinals in January.
Last season, the Nittany Lions earned the No. 6 overall seed after an 11-1 regular season campaign and a loss to Oregon in the Big Ten title game. Penn State hosted No. 11-seed SMU at Beaver Stadium and cruised to a 38-10 win before facing Group of Five representative Boise State in the Fiesta Bowl.
The Nittany Lions defeated the Broncos handily, 31-14, before heading to Miami to face No. 7-seed Notre Dame in the Orange Bowl. Despite holding a halftime lead, Penn State lost 27-24 in a nail-biter to conclude the team's postseason run.
According to Crawford's latest projection, Penn State will fare better and earn the No. 5-seed in the next playoff bracket, the highest at-large bid with Ohio State taking the conference crown and the No. 1 overall seed.
According to Crawford, the Nittany Lions would host No. 12 Navy, the Group of Five representative, at Beaver Stadium in the first round. A likely win would match Penn State with No. 4 Utah, the winner of the Big XII, in the Cotton Bowl.
Should the Nittany Lions come out victorious over the Utes, they would face the top-seeded Buckeyes in the Fiesta Bowl, the site of the team's victory over Boise State last season. Crawford's prediction has Penn State winning that matchup and advancing to the national championship against Texas.
It would mark the teams' first matchup since the Nittany Lions won in 1997. Crawford didn't predict a winner for the championship game, but a return trip to Hard Rock Stadium in 2026, the same place Penn State's season ended a year prior, would make for interesting storylines.
If Crawford's predictions come to fruition, the Nittany Lions would end their 2025 campaign playing for their first championship since 1986 and third ever, sending quarterback Drew Allar out with a bang and buying James Franklin some respect on a national stage.
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