The Penn State Nittany Lions have upgraded their College Football Playoff odds in 2024, but that could changed quickly.
Penn State rides into the season's second half with an unbeaten record, a No. 3 ranking in the AP Top 25 and a rising algorithmic chance to make the College Football Playoff — according to ESPN, at least.
The Nittany Lions hold a 73.5-percent chance of making the College Football Playoff's first 12-team field, according to ESPN's. That's up significantly from the beginning of the season, when Penn State entered the opener at West Virginia with a 58.8-percent chance to make its first playoff appearance. The FPI number is from Oct. 21 and changes daily. Penn State has the sixth-best odds to make the playoff, according to ESPN's FPI model.
However, Penn State isn't entirely secure in the playoff projections. The Nittany Lions face a critical two-game stretch, beginning Saturday at Wisconsin. The Badgers have won three straight games by a combined score of 117-16 and willPenn State also has a bit of a schedule issue. The Nittany Lions rank 70th in strength of schedule, according to the FPI, although their remaining schedule ranks 16th.
Penn State ranks ninth in ESPN'S FPI, which isn't a traditional ranking of performance but rather a predictive model. And the model gives the Nittany Lions just a 7.2-percent chance of winning out during the regular season, including the Big Ten title game. Ohio State, the No. 1 team in ESPN's FPI, has a 35.5 percent chance of winning out. The“We don’t spend any time talking about those things.
Penn State on SI is the place for Penn State news, opinion and perspective on the SI.com network. Publisher Mark Wogenrich has covered Penn State for more than 20 years, tracking three coaching staffs, three Big Ten titles and a catalog of great stories. Follow him on X Mark Wogenrich is Editor and Publisher of AllPennState, the site for Penn State news on SI's FanNation Network. He has covered Penn State sports for more than two decades across three coaching staffs and three Rose Bowls.
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