The biggest criticism of the Penn State football program in recent years–particularly under the leadership of head coach James Franklin–has been the inability to win games against highly-ranked teams.

That’s been especially true when it comes to the juggernauts in the Big Ten Conference. How many times have the Nittany Lions taken on Ohio State and Michigan with something on the line, and how many times have they failed?

If you said, “Most of the time,” you would be correct. Did that change in 2024?

Kind of but not really.

For example, the Wolverines, the 2023 National Champions, experienced a bit of a down year in 2024. However, Ohio State was just as strong as ever and walked into Happy Valley and defeated the Nittany Lions by a score of 20-13 back in October. Also, Oregon, one of the newest members of the Big Ten, spent most of the year atop the college football rankings and ultimately defeated Penn State in the conference title game on December 7.

This would have spelled doom for the Nittany Lions in past seasons, but we thankfully have an expanded college football playoff field in 2024–12 teams, to be exact–so despite finishing the year with two losses, they entered the tournament as the sixth seed.

Penn State advanced to the second round of the expanded tournament by blowing out the 11-seeded SMU Mustangs by a score of 38-10 at Happy Valley on December 21.

The Nittany Lions faced third-seeded Boise State in the Fiesta Bowl (the site of one of the four second-round matchups) on Tuesday night. The Broncos earned a bye into the second round by virtue of their 12-1 record and Mountain West Championship. However, they entered the tournament as the ninth-ranked team in the country, while Penn State was fourth.

That could explain why the Nittany Lions were favored by nearly two touchdowns. That may also explain why they won the game by a convincing score of 31-14.

Penn State has finally advanced to the Final Four of college football’s national championship playoff, and it did so despite once again not defeating the two best teams in its own conference.

The Nittany Lions will go up against the Sugar Bowl survivor–either Georgia or Notre Dame–in the Orange Bowl on January 9.

Is the new seeding structure a bit imperfect in this expanded field? Yes, but you can’t have everything. I’m sure the committee will eventually work out the bugs and figure out the best way to seed the 12 teams that earn bids.

That said, I’m guessing the Nittany Lions and their fans are happy with how things shook out the first time around.