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CFP perfect place to match
Lions with oldest rival -- Pitt
By Neil Rudel
nrudel@altoonamirror.com
This is a fun topic, and I'll make it more fun by saying Pitt.
Sunday, Dec. 8, the day the 12-team College Football Playoff bracket is announced, will be historic as the first of its kind, and it will be particularly meaningful around here.
Penn State fans have not been able to circle Selection Sunday in the annual NCAA Men's Basketball Tournament symbolizing March Madness as must-watch TV.
Football is and will be different, starting this year.
The Nittany Lions are off to a 6-0 start, ranked No. 3 and well positioned to play for the Big Ten championship -- more so if they can beat Ohio State next weekend -- and the potential matchups beyond that are intoxicating.
Say they lose to Ohio State -- after all, James Franklin is 1-9 against the Buckeyes -- the Lions could still finish 11-1 and land a first-round home game on Saturday, Dec. 21.
The top four seeds go to the power conference champions (Big Ten, SEC, Big 12, ACC) with byes to the Dec. 31-Jan. 1 quarterfinals, and the next four seeds host first-round games.
How about bringing an SEC team with two losses up here, in the cold? That could be Alabama, which right now is 5-2, or Tennessee, which is 6-1 but may lose again. How about LSU (6-1) and its charming coach, Brian Kelly?
If Penn State is rated anywhere from No. 5 through No. 8, those possibilities exist. And what about Notre Dame, which is on track to finish 11-1?
But the best option, by far, would be Pitt.
The Panthers are Penn State's oldest rival -- they've played 100 times -- before the Nittany Lions decided they were unrivaled.
Pitt is currently 6-0 and, bolstered by quarterback Eli Holstein, a transfer from Alabama, ranked No. 19.
Pitt's second-half schedule is more difficult than what it's negotiated so far -- beginning tonight with a game against Syracuse (7:30 p.m., ESPN) at Acrisure Stadium.
The Panthers then travel to No. 22 SMU before visits from Virginia and No. 9 Clemson and trips to Louisville and Boston College, and if they're fortunate to finish in the top two of the ACC, the reward will likely be Miami for the league title.
For Pitt to get there would mean it's had a great season, and depending how the rest of the games shake out, the Panthers could conceivably slide into a No. 11 seed if they finish 12-1 with, say, only a loss to the Hurricanes.
A Pitt-PSU pairing would make Pitt ecstatic as the school still wants to play Penn State annually.
Many Penn State fans would enjoy seeing the game because of its proximity and history, but know the Nittany Lions' administration and coaching staff (read: Franklin) would not.
They have no interest in extending the relationship and certainly would be nervous about Pitt in a high-stakes playoff.
But that would make the backdrop that much more enjoyable - especially here in the Altoona-Johnstown market, which has plenty of people who root for both teams, though obviously more for Penn State.
Now that the Big Ten has expanded to include Oregon, USC and Washington, Franklin will scale down the non-conference opponents even more so there's almost no way Pitt will be scheduled in the future on his watch.
Which would make a matchup in the College Football Playoff all the more enticing.
But first things first this week: Pitt needs to beat Syracuse, and Penn State needs to beat Wisconsin to extend this discussion.
Rudel can be reached at nrudel@altoonamirror.com.