Penn State ranks No. 11 in College Football Playoff — how can it make a New Year’s Six bowl?
The latest iteration of the College Football Playoff rankings were released Tuesday night and Penn State’s chances at a New Year’s Six bowl remain high.
The Nittany Lions came in at No. 11 in the rankings after defeating Rutgers 27-6, one spot higher than last week.
They moved up thanks to a loss by Oregon State at the hands of Washington.
Penn State is one of four Big Ten programs in the rankings, with Iowa at No. 17, Michigan at No. 3 and Ohio State at No. 2. The Nittany Lions have played all three teams, beating Iowa and losing to the Wolverines and Buckeyes.
Here’s every outcome you need to root for this weekend to help the program make a NY6 game.
Iowa at Nebraska: The first few of these are pretty straight-forward. Iowa winning against Nebraska only makes Penn State’s 31-0 win over the Hawkeyes look even better and helps improve its resume.
Missouri at Arkansas: Another easy one. A Missouri loss to Arkansas should knock the Tigers behind the Nittany Lions in the rankings, and with Mizzou not playing in the conference title game, there won’t be a chance to reclaim the spots they lose.
Ohio State at Michigan: Penn State fans should be rooting for this game to be highly competitive with a close outcome to give both programs a chance to make the playoff. It’ll help with the team’s resume and with opening a spot in a New Year’s Six game.
Oregon State at Oregon, Arizona at Arizona State: These two go together. The Nittany Lions, ideally, would have Oregon face Washington for the Pac-12 title to prevent Arizona from having a chance to steal a NY6 spot. An Oregon win or an Arizona loss would get the job done.
Texas at Texas Tech, BYU at Oklahoma State: Same thing here. Oklahoma is behind Penn State, but playing in the Big 12 title game would give the Sooners a chance to move higher with a win. Texas and Oklahoma State both winning would eliminate Oklahoma. If either team loses things get very messy, and if Texas loses and two or more of Oklahoma State, Oklahoma and Kansas State win, things get so messy that the Big 12 hasn’t even released those tiebreaker outcomes. Straightforward is good here for Penn State.
Here are the full CFP rankings as of Nov. 21:
1. Georgia
2. Ohio State
3. Michigan
4. Washington
5. Florida State
6. Oregon
7. Texas
8. Alabama
9. Missouri
10. Louisville
11. Penn State
12. Ole Miss
13. Oklahoma
14. LSU
15. Arizona
16. Oregon State
17. Iowa
18. Notre Dame
19. Kansas State
20. Oklahoma State
21. Tennessee
22. NC State
23. Tulane
24. Clemson
25. Liberty
