Penn State's entire season's worth of betting lines has been estimated, and the Nittany Lions might be in for a decent year.
Penn State's 2026 season schedule has set up perfectly for a first-year head coach. With the expansion of the Big Ten, the opportunity to have a gauntlet of a schedule is certainly on the table.
The Nittany Lions avoided that this year, and they are set up to have a great opportunity next season.
Only one line has officially been released for the Nittany Lions, and that is their week one game against the Marshall Thundering Herd. That game has the Nittany Lions as -23.5 point favorites at home to start the campaign.
Taking the points, there is something that I will decide on as we get closer to the season and learn more about what Penn State will be. Regardless, the rest of the 11 games have been estimated, and there are a lot of winnable games on the docket.
The Nittany Lions will be favorites in 10 out of the 12 games, and in each of those games, they will be more than a double-digit favorite. Furthermore, they will be a 20-plus point favorite in four of the games.
The two contests where they are predicted to be an underdog are against the Michigan Wolverines and the Washington Huskies.
The USC game is the fascinating one because it is a home game and is rumored to be the annual White Out. USC is projected to be a Pick 'Em favorite, but with the home-field advantage, the Nittany Lions will hold the slight edge.
They will likely stub their toe at least once in a game that they shouldn't, but they should also steal a game that they are a dog in. If that's the case and the Nittany Lions end their season 10-2, they will be in good shape to get an invite to the Big Ten Championship and maybe the College Football Playoff.
This would be an incredible start to the Matt Campbell era, and the memory of the 2025 season would be a distant, distant memory. In the micro, it would be incredible for the program, but it would also open up the transfer portal and the recruiting trail to the top players available.
Putting together a top record in 2026-27 is paramount and should be approached as the most important thing that the Nittany Lions can do next year.
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