The stage is set for Penn State, and now the question is whether the\u00a0second-ranked Nittany Lions\u00a0will capitalize.<\/p>\n
While defending national champion Ohio State,\u00a0defending Big Ten champ Oregon\u00a0and heavyweight Michigan are breaking in new quarterbacks, Penn State goes into the season with a three-year starter in Drew Allar, a\u00a0pair of 1,000-yard rushers\u00a0and a top-10 defense with first-year coordinator Jim Knowles.<\/p>\n
\u201cI think when you look at all of our personnel, not just the players, but the staff and players, it\u2019s the best combination that we\u2019ve had in my 12 years here,\u201d coach James Franklin said. \u201cThe depth, the experience, the talent is impressive.\u201d<\/p>\n
The Nittany Lions have won at least 10 games three straight years, and last season they made the College Football Playoff for the first time and beat overmatched opponents\u00a0SMU\u00a0and\u00a0Boise State\u00a0before a\u00a027-24 loss to Notre Dame\u00a0in the semifinal at the Orange Bowl.<\/p>\n
The knock against Franklin and the Lions is that they win the games they are supposed to but not the ones when the lights are the brightest.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe were a drive away from playing for the national championship last year, and 99% of the programs in the country would be jacked about that season and how it went, and I don\u2019t know if that was necessarily the case here, right?\u201d Franklin said.<\/p>\n
Except for a Sept. 27 home game against No. 7 Oregon, the Nittany Lions probably won\u2019t be tested until the back end of their schedule. They\u2019ll be trying for their first conference championship since 2016 and the automatic CFP bid that goes with it.<\/p>\n
If not Penn State, who?<\/p>\n
No. 3 Ohio State and No. 7 Oregon are poised to return to the playoff if their new quarterbacks keep the offenses on the rails.<\/p>\n
Buckeyes coach Ryan Day is still deciding between\u00a0Julian Sayin and Lincoln Kienholz.\u00a0Ohio State is going for its first Big Ten title since 2020 along with a repeat national championship. With so many elite players spread across the field, both are possible.<\/p>\n
Former UCLA five-star QB Dante Moore takes over for Dillon Gabriel at Oregon, which went 13-0 with a win over Penn State in the conference championship game to earn the CFP top seed before losing to Ohio State in the quarterfinals. Much is expected of Dakorien Moore, the top-rated receiver in the 2025 recruiting class.<\/p>\n
No. 14 Michigan landed the\u00a0nation\u2019s No. 1 recruit in quarterback Bryce Underwood. The Wolverines didn\u2019t win the Big Ten last year, but they did beat Ohio State a fourth straight time. Underwood and a new group of receivers should improve the Big Ten\u2019s worst passing game.<\/p>\n
Team on the rise<\/p>\n
There\u2019s chatter about No. 12 Illinois being a CFP contender. It\u2019s not crazy talk. The Illini bring back QB Luke Altmyer and 15 other starters from their 10-win team, and the schedule is manageable. The Illini last season knocked off a program record-tying four Top 25 opponents, and their six Big Ten wins were their most since 2007.<\/p>\n
And the rest<\/p>\n
No. 20 Indiana was the nation\u2019s surprise team last season. Can Curt Cignetti keep it going? Cal transfer Fernando Mendoza, who threw for over 3,000 yards, is the new QB. \u2026 Iowa\u2019s hopes ride the arm of Mark Gronowski, who put up monster numbers at South Dakota State and could have just as easily entered the NFL draft. \u2026 Minnesota needs to get its offense going. Four of the Gophers\u2019 five losses a year ago were one-score games. \u2026 Rutgers went to the portal to improve a defense that tied for second-most touchdowns allowed in the Big Ten.<\/p>\n
Jayden Maiava enters his first full season as starting QB for Southern California, whose five one-score losses tied for the most in the FBS. \u2026\u00a0Washington\u2019s defense\u00a0will be coordinated by Ryan Walters, an ace DC at Illinois before a failed run as Purdue\u2019s head coach. \u2026 Michigan State needs more from QB Aidan Chiles, who has yet to find his rhythm. \u2026 Matt Rhule\u2019s teams at Temple and Baylor made big jumps in Year 3. The same should happen at Nebraska with QB Dylan Raiola back and a manageable schedule.<\/p>\n
UCLA can build on a strong finish with Tennessee transfer QB\u00a0Nico Iamaleava. \u2026 Wisconsin, in its first eight games, faces three top-10 opponents and another in the top 15. \u2026 SMU transfer QB Preston Stone is next in line to spark a Northwestern offense that has struggled for going on seven years. \u2026 Freshman QB Malik Washington is a bright spot for a Maryland team that incurred huge losses in the portal. \u2026\u00a0Barry Odom takes over a Purdue team\u00a0whose only win was against FCS member Indiana State.<\/p>\n
Mark your calendars<\/p>\n
No. 1 Texas at No. 3 Ohio State, Aug. 30; No. 14 Michigan at No. 18 Oklahoma, Sept. 6; No. 7 Oregon at No. 2 Penn State, Sept. 27; No. 3 Ohio State at No. 12 Illinois, Oct. 11; No. 2 Penn State at No. 3 Ohio State, Nov. 1; No. 20 Indiana at No. 2 Penn State, Nov. 8; Nebraska at No. 2 Penn State, Nov. 22; No. 3 Ohio State at No. 14 Michigan, Nov. 29.<\/p>\n
Originally Published: August 12, 2025 at 3:30 PM EDT<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The stage is set for Penn State, and now the question is whether the\u00a0second-ranked Nittany Lions\u00a0will capitalize. While…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":283822,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[339,7,41878,49,48,14285,9,41877],"class_list":{"0":"post-283821","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-ncaa-football","8":"tag-college-sports","9":"tag-football","10":"tag-mercer-county","11":"tag-ncaa","12":"tag-ncaa-football","13":"tag-new-jersey","14":"tag-sports","15":"tag-top-stories-trt"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nfl\/115019361528334119","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/283821","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=283821"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/283821\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/283822"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=283821"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=283821"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=283821"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}