James Franklin has Penn State on the verge of returning to annual national prominence. The Nittany Lions are ranked No. 2 in both polls and they began the season as the favorite to win the Big Ten championship.
Saturday, they play in Columbus against No. 6 Ohio State, and the winner will have the inside track to the Big Ten division title. Both still have to play Michigan State, which is undefeated in conference play, but both should be favored against the Spartans.
The Nittany Lions bring their high-powered offense and extremely underrated defense into the Horseshoe. They are 7{-point underdogs, mostly because they're on the road. Player for player and on paper they are a more complete team than Ohio State.
This is clearly the biggest game of the James Franklin era. The loser probably will be eliminated from College Football Playoff consideration, assuming a loss to Ohio State knocks the Nittany Lions out of the Big Ten championship. If Ohio State were to beat Penn State and then lose a couple of games, Penn State would be right back in the discussion. However, barring injury it's pretty clear Ohio State isn't likely to lose any other games. So, this is a must-win game if Penn State wants to be in the playoff.
A win against ranked Michigan State would help, but the Spartans likely will have three losses. The win against Michigan is nice, but the Wolverines might not be ranked by the end of the season. Penn State just won't have enough quality wins to push them over a conference champ or one-loss Notre Dame.
This isn't to say the Nittany Lions couldn't make the playoff with a loss, it's to say they shouldn't try to find out. Simply put, Penn State needs to win this game in order to reach the playoffs for the first time.
