USA TODAY Sports keeps Penn State in a New Years Six bowl projection entering Week 7
The bye week for Penn State resulted in no change in the bowl projection for the Nittany Lions from USA TODAY Sports. While there may have been some other movement in the current postseason trajectory for some, Penn State continues to be on a steady path to a solid bowl destination at the end of the season.
Just like last week, USA TODAY Sports college football writer Ertick Smith has projected Penn State to be heading to Miami to play in the Orange Bowl. The opponent also remains unchanged from a week ago with North Carolina being the current team projected to represent the ACC this bowl season.
The Orange Bowl is contractually obligated to take the ACC champion or the next-best ACC option available if the ACC champion is participating in the College Football Playoff. Smith currently has Florida State projected in the playoff, likely as the ACC champion. That would leave North Carolina as the next team in line to carry the ACC banner in Miami.
North Carolina is currently 5-0 overall and 2-0 in the ACC. The Tar Heels are one game back of Florida State and Louisville in the win column with the Cardinals and Seminoles each having played an extra conference game to this point. North Carolina has a nice path to the ACC Championship Game in front of them as well. The Tar Heels won’t have to play either Louisville or Florida State, but they will have to play a top 25 Duke team (in Chapel Hill) and they must end the regular season on the road against Clemson and then NC State.
Louisville also does not have to face Florida State this season in ACC play, which seems to be leaving the door wide open for a controversial ACC championship race. GO TEAM CHAOS!
As for the other spot in the Orange Bowl opposite the ACC representative, the highest-ranked option from the Big Ten, SEC, or Notre Dame will get the spot after the Big Ten and SEC autobids are filled. Of course, this season just so happens to be the year the Rose Bowl (Big Ten) and Sugar Bowl (SEC) are hosting College Football Playoff semifinals. Odds are still good those games will get their traditional conference champion tie-ins this season, as Smith is projecting with Michigan and Georgia. That would leave the Orange Bowl next in line to take their pick from the available candidates.
According to Smith’s projection, Penn State would be the highest-ranked option from the Big Ten and SEC. Notre Dame suffering its second loss this past weekend likely puts the Irish far in the rearview mirror for now. This projection also could mean Smith thinks Penn State will finish ahead of Ohio State in the Big Ten standings, which would likely only happen if the Nittany Lions win a big road game at Ohio State next week.
Smith does have Ohio State in the New Years Six as well. Smith’s updated projections pair Ohio State in the Cotton Bowl with Oklahoma after the Sooners knocked Texas from the unranked contenders and out of the playoff mix. Smith still has Texas in a NY6 bowl game to face Oregon in the Fiesta Bowl.
See all of Smith’s updated bowl projections for USA TODAY Sports to see what other bowl matchups are currently projected.
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