In the long history of college football, it’s hard to find a swifter collapse than what James Franklin and Penn State experienced the past two weeks.
The Nittany Lions went from a real national title favorite to suffering a double-overtime loss to Oregon, then following that up with two inexplicable no-shows against the two worst teams in the Big Ten (just a few days ago, at least) in UCLA and Northwestern. Now, Franklin is out of a job, Penn State has lost starting quarterback Drew Allar for the season and what was shaping out to be a dream campaign has instead turned into nightmare fuel for every fan in blue and white.
To make matters worse, Sports Illustrated’s preseason No. 1 team seems to be cursed even further: Based on their upcoming schedule and how they’ve played so far, the Nittany Lions are no longer projected to make a bowl game. From one play away from the national championship game in a College Football Playoff semifinal to bowl-less just nine months later, stunning doesn’t even begin to describe it.
The good news for others outside Happy Valley is that a rash of upsets paved the way for some thrilling matchups, including Arch Manning vs. Bryce Underwood in the Citrus Bowl and a Tennessee-Nebraska reunion sure to evoke late 1990s nostalgia. Also, there are intriguing matchups like LSU-Virginia and another pair of preseason playoff hopefuls meeting in the Vegas Bowl between Illinois and Arizona State. Fun.
Here is how Sports Illustrated sees all of the 35 bowl games coming together to form the postseason picture and which 70 FBS teams will wind up going bowling in 2025–26 after Week 7.
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This article was originally published on www.si.com as College Football Bowl Projections After Week 7: Penn State’s Season Goes From Bad to Worse.
