By Neil Rudel

nrudel@altoonamirror.com

It’s a good news-bad news commentary on James Franklin.

The good news is he’s clearly established the Nittany Lions’ program as the third-best in the Big Ten behind Ohio State and Michigan.

The bad news is he’s clearly established the Nittany Lions as the third-best program in the Big Ten behind Ohio State and Michigan.

Many — make that most — would be eager to pencil themselves into 10-2 almost annually and take their chances that they’ll find a way to get over the big-game hump.

Certainly Penn State has the resources and support to do so and, for its sake, will figure out the Xs and Os eventually, although “eventually” is taking a long time.

Fortunately for the Nittany Lions, as a member of the Big Ten Conference, they are well positioned for the present and future.

That’s more than almost all of Penn State’s long-lost brothers in the East, who are now members of conferences near and far and are clouded in future uncertainty, can say.

Not only is the Big Ten the most financially stable league in America, not counting the NFL, but its expansion of big brands from the West Coast should serve Penn State even better.

Welcome USC, UCLA, Oregon and Washington.

The Lions needed to change the narrative that has been centered around Franklin’s record against Ohio State and Michigan for too long.

This will help as those teams will no longer be annual fixtures and the only big-name games on the schedule. In fact, the Lions won’t see Michigan again, thankfully, until 2026.

The Wolverines will probably still have their signs.

Next year’s PSU schedule will see a trip to USC and visits from Washington and UCLA.

The infusion will be a breath of fresh air while also providing new opportunities for Penn State to challenge for the Big Ten championship.

It will remove the singular focus of Michigan and the Buckeyes that has tortured Franklin and frustrated the fan base.

Suddenly, instead of having two big games per year, the Lions will have a five-game stretch of UCLA, at USC, at Wisconsin, Ohio State and Washington.

If it’s not the toughest schedule in school history, it’s on a short list.

(I’m still partial to 1981 — at Nebraska, at Miami, Alabama, Notre Dame, Pitt. And if you don’t think that got the Lions ready to beat Pitt, with Dan Marino, 48-14, well, you probably enjoyed the Delaware and UMass games this year.)

Add in next year’s season-opening trip to West Virginia, along with Big Ten games with Illinois and visits to Purdue and Minnesota (in late November), and there will be plenty to watch.

Penn State isn’t a charter member of the Big Ten, but the Lions have earned their stripes and are fortunate to be part of the nation’s best conference.

As they tinker with their staff and try to figure out how to win their biggest games, the Big Ten is the perfect place for them to do so.

Along with a storied tradition, it’s the program’s best selling point.

Rudel can be reached at nrudel@altoonamirror.com.