Can Penn State Football crash College Football Playoff Party in 2022?

Penn State Football is seemingly coming into the 2022 season with fairly low expectations, so much so they may start the season unranked for the first time since 2016.

Ironically enough, 2016 is the last time the Nittany Lions won the Big Ten and is still the closest the program has come to making the College Football Playoff, finishing fifth in the final rankings that season.

After going 11-11 in the past two seasons, the college football world seems to be doubting whether or not those were outlier years due to Covid-19 and some injuries, or it’s going to just be the trend for now in State College under head coach James Franklin.

<< BUY PENN STATE NITTANY LIONS GEAR >>

It is fair to question how good Penn State Football can be this season, especially after seeing a lot of their top end talent off to the NFL, but one major outlet thinks they can be a major disruption to the playoff party in 2022.

247Sports picked five teams who could disrupt the playoff chase this fall, and surely enough the Lions were second on the list that included some college football blue bloods looking to get back to their winning ways.

Miami, USC, Texas and Tennessee were the other programs on the list but it seems that 247Sports seems to think Penn State Football is being undervalued heading into the 2022 season.

“Given what Penn State returns on defense, this could be one of the more complete teams in the Big Ten despite being one of the lesser talked-about programs this summer in terms of preseason love with most prognostications penning the Nittany Lions outside of the top 25.”

They also went on to talk about the Lions’ schedule and hosting games against Ohio State and Michigan State, they have a chance to unseat some teams who were at the top of the division last year.

If Franklin’s Nittany Lions can do that, it could put them in prime position for a trip to Indianapolis for the conference championship and ultimately a trip to the playoffs.

A team that returns its head coach, play caller, quarterback and has recruited the way Penn State Football has should never be counted out. The last few seasons have seen them underachieve on lofty preseason expectations, particularly in 202.

Perhaps the lack of preseason hype and accolades this time around provides them a chip on their proverbial shoulder.

Michigan started last season unranked and for the first time with no expectations under head coach Jim Harbaugh, and they ended up having their best season with Harbaugh, unseating Ohio State and making a trip to the Orange Bowl for a playoff semi-final.