The Nittany Lions need to come away with a win on Saturday.
There's a lot that Penn State has to consider over the next couple of weeks as it pursues a spot in the College Football Playoff.
For a Penn State team with a real opportunity to be one of the top five teams in America if things go as planned, its schedule is one of the questions the CFP committee will eventually need to answer.
If Penn State loses a game or two it has no business losing, there would be a strong argument that it doesn't deserve to be in the College Football Playoff. Ultimately, if Penn State can come away with wins against USC and Michigan in back-to-back games, it has to feel like it has a real opportunity to make the playoff. If Penn State does that and doesn't make it, it would be very surprising.
That would likely mean Penn State lost a couple of other Big Ten games it had no business losing, though if it lost those games and beat Michigan and USC, it would be shocking.
Regardless, all the numbers suggest that Penn State's schedule is a bit easier than those of other teams in the Big Ten.
Penn State has to remember that as it enters Saturday's game against Wisconsin, because missing a golden opportunity and losing to a team like the Badgers would be a terrible outcome.
“According to the ESPN FPI, Penn State's remaining SOS ranks 57th nationally, which is last in the Big Ten and 10 spots behind Wisconsin, which vists Beaver Stadium on Saturday. Because of that, Penn State has the Big Ten's second-best average win-probabiity ranking (ninth nationally, four spots behind Ohio State). In addition to Indiana, Oregon and Ohio State, Penn State also does not face Iowa (28th in the FPI) or Illinois (44th).
“The highest-ranked team Penn State will face is No. 18 USC, which visits Beaver Stadium for the White Out. Penn State faces one top-20 FPI team on the road (No. 20 Michigan),” Mark Wogenrich wrote.
There's so much that has to play out for the remainder of the season, considering we're only entering Week 4. However, Penn State feels like it has to win games like the one it will play on Saturday against Wisconsin.
Even if it's just to give the program some breathing room, there's something to be said for that.
