Ki Jana Carter, Penn State Football

Penn State Football Listed as ‘Blue Blood’ by Analyst … is He Right?

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Penn State Football is one of the most historic teams in college football, but in recent history, they have not reached big-time games like the College Football Playoff, which has been around for a decade.

People under 30 probably don’t know anything about how great Penn State was, and when they think of them now, they think of them dropping close games to Ohio State and even Michigan, who both have won National Championships in the past ten years.

James Franklin, Penn State Football
Penn State head coach James Franklin reacts during the Chick-fil-A Peach Bowl (Photo by Rich von Biberstein/Icon Sportswire)

Blue Blood is always associated with college basketball teams and refers to elite schools in the sport, like Duke, North Carolina, Kentucky, Kansas, and many more. On Tuesday, Andy Staples from On3.com released his college football blue bloods, and Penn State Football made this list.

“Joe Paterno’s best years spanned multiple generations,” Staples wrote of PSU. “And Penn State has been good enough in recent years to stay on this list. Like Notre Dame, the Nittany Lions need to make the expanded CFP and win some games to stay on the list.”

Staples makes some great points about why Penn State is a blue blood in college football. Still, they are in a different category than teams like Alabama, Ohio State, Georgia, and Michigan that have won national championships in recent memory.

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Has Penn State Football Cemented its Status as a ‘Blue Blood’?

The Nittany Lions haven’t won a national championship since 1986, so we are almost close to the 40-year mark since they lost won.

When you think of blue blood, they are always competing for titles and usually in the title conversation until late in the season, and you can’t say that about Penn State in recent years.

There is no doubt that they have one of the best fanbases in the sport and one of the best stadiums, and they have the most incredible scene in all of college football with the whiteout at night, but putting them on the blue blood list for things they did 40 years ago seems a little much.

Until Penn State makes a few 12-team college football playoffs and wins some games in there, they will have to earn a blue-blood spot from me, so right now, they are not on the list.

Even Notre Dame, which is on the blue blood list and hasn’t won a title since 1988, has been to a few college football playoffs and even played in a BCS National Championship Game.

The Nittany Lions will have many opportunities to win many games over the next few years and enter the conversation for the best programs in the sport.

MORE: Penn State’s Critical Position Battles to Watch During Fall Camp

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