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Since Penn State joined the Big Ten, the Nittany Lions were always going to be judged on how they did against their two perceived peers -- Ohio State and Michigan.
And while their 29-year experience has seen other programs rise and have success, Wisconsin and Michigan State, Iowa and occasionally Northwestern or Minnesota, there's only three places that seat 100,000-plus and can boast national championships over the past 40 years.
That's one reason why James Franklin pulled back the curtain a bit in response to a thoughtful question from StateCollege.com's Ben Jones the other day, wondering if there's "different benchmarking" against an opponent like the visiting Wolverines (noon, ABC).
Franklin said he was "shocked" while perusing some past records that the Lions and Michigan have only met 24 times.
"In my mind, that number would have been much larger," he said.
Unlike other Big Ten teams like Ohio State, Michigan State, Wisconsin and Iowa -- all of which have played occasional series -- Penn State had no relationship with Michigan prior to joining the conference.
Former Penn State athletic director Ernie McCoy came from Michigan, and Joe Paterno got along fine with the legendary Bo Schembechler, having flown to Detroit in 1990 to attend a tribute dinner after Bo got out of coaching.
"Bo and Joe had a good relationship," Penn State historian Lou Prato, who grew up a Michigan fan and spent several years as a spotter for radio broadcasts while working in Detroit, said. "They were friends. I was surprised they hadn't played (before 1993), too. Our (PSU) rivalry with Ohio State goes back to 1912, Michigan State 1914. Look how many times we played Iowa. One of the reasons, I'm convinced, is the Midwest looked down on the East. Back then (1950-60s), they didn't know where Penn State was. They thought we were Penn in the Ivy League."
Prato said Schembechler came to Penn State when Michigan visited in 2001 after the Lions renovated Beaver Stadium. Prato guided a tour along with Tim Curley.
"We showed Bo the lettermen's lounge, and he was just excited that we had this special place for the lettermen with lots of parking," Prato said, "Bo said, 'This is what we need at Michigan.'''
Speaking of amenities, that takes us back to Franklin, who is always focused on improving Penn State's facilities -- from Holuba Hall to the Lasch Building to the Nittany Apartments -- because he's trying to keep up with the Joneses.
"I try to kind of look at before we arrived what was our record against Michigan, what was our record against Ohio State?" he said. "From a benchmarking standpoint, to have an idea -- because I do think when you're trying to benchmark and you're trying to compare ...Obviously, games against what people would consider the better, more consistent programs in the conference."
Michigan leads the series, 14-10, Lloyd Carr having won nine straight at one point over Paterno. Franklin is 3-4 against the Wolverines having won two in a row.
Ohio State, of course, is a different story. The Buckeyes are 23-14 against Penn State and 7-1 vs. Franklin with the Lions' lone win coming on a blocked field goal (Marcus Allen) returned for a touchdown (Grant Haley) in 2016.
Through nine games, this has not been a good year for Franklin. The Lions have fallen from a 5-0, Top-5 perch to 6-3 and will be a likely underdog in two of their last three games, including vs. the Wolverines.
Franklin has been linked to other jobs, causing distractions. His offense has been absent a run game while the Wolverines' ground-and-pound ranks among the nation's best.
Despite all that, Penn State has a chance to finish strong, and depending on what happens with the College Football Playoff, the Lions conceivably could somehow still land in the Rose Bowl at 9-3.
And based on all that has gone wrong so far this year, claiming a third-straight win over Michigan would be more than a Band-Aid.
"Being able to play well and finding ways to get wins against a program like the University of Michigan, with all their history and tradition," Franklin said, "is really important."
Especially in the category of benchmarks.
Rudel can be reached at nrudel@altoonamirror.com.