Penn State fans won’t like ESPN’s pick for biggest upset in Big Ten this season
There is an old college football thought that if you are going to play your worst game of the season and suffer your worst loss, it is best to get it out of the way as early as possible so you have time to make up for it. If that is the case, then ESPN doesn’t think Penn State will have to wait very long to get the ugly taste out of its mouth. In fact, it will just be a matter of days.
ESPN college football reporter Mark Schlabach rolled out his entire list of preseason predictions for each power conference in college football for the 2022 season. Along with final record predictions, season MVPs, coach of the year picks and more, Schlabach also pointed out his upset picks of the year. Penn State losing to Purdue is his upset pick of the year in the Big Ten.
Penn State opens the season on Thursday, Sept. 1 at Purdue. This marks the third straight season Penn State has opened a college football season on the road against a Big Ten opponent. The Nittany Lions came up short against Indiana in 2020 but edged Wisconsin in 2021. Penn State is a slight road favorite against the Boilermakers going into the Thursday night opener, but a road game at Purdue, especially at night, is not the ideal place to ease into a new season.
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A week after Penn State’s loss to Iowa last season, Purdue handled the Hawkeyes, ranked No. 2 at the time, with a 24-7 upset in Kinnick Stadium. A couple of weeks later, Purdue blasted No. 4 Michigan State by a score of 40-29. Penn State would later lose to that same Spartans squad in the regular season finale. The only games Purdue lost last season were against Ohio State, Wisconsin, and Notre Dame.
Purdue scoring a victory on Thursday night against Penn State would certainly be considered an upset though, but upset of the year? That feels a bit premature to suggest given how strong a season Purdue had last season, as well as Penn State’s past two seasons. Penn State isn’t even ranked to begin the season, although Schlabach does predict the Nittany Lions will end the season 9-3 overall with a Big Ten record of 6-3.
That prediction would suggest Schlabach likes Penn State’s chances on the road at Auburn and will likely come up short against Ohio State and Michigan, both of whom come in ahead of Penn State in his preseason standings prediction. Schlabach may also like Penn State’s chances at home against Minnesota in this year’s whiteout game, sandwiched between games with the Wolverines and Buckeyes. This is notable because Schlabach has Minnesota going down to the wire in the Big Ten West race with Wisconsin. A victory by Penn State could ultimately what holds Minnesota back from winning its first Big Ten West division title.
Schlabach doesn’t see as optimistic an outlook for Purdue this season. A predicted record of 7-5 with a 4-5 record in Big Ten play shows why the Boilermakers coming out on top of Penn State in Week 1 will go down as the upset of the season in the Big Ten.
List
College Wire's preseason all-Big Ten team
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