In Year One, Matt Campbell's Nittany Lions Labeled "Serious Contenders" for the CFP

The expectations are growing for Matt Campbell's Penn State Nittany Lions. Ever since he took over the Penn State program in January, he has been given some grace to get on his feet and get this program back in the right direction.

Now that he has accomplished that, he turns his attention to winning football games because ultimately, that is what it is all about. 

For Penn State, the standard to clear on a successful season needs to be making the College Football Playoff. The program is too large and has too many resources to be a middling program.

The expectation for the program needs to be semi-finals and beyond. Penn State needs to change the narrative around the program that they can't compete with the best teams in the Big Ten and in the nation, and that they will always be one step behind the guys at the top. 

They have probably one season before Campbell starts feeling the heat of expectation, but truthfully, this season should be the one that Penn State can take advantage of.

The way that their schedule fell, they have the opportunity here to win 10 or 11 football games that will put them directly in the College Football Playoff conversation. 

For On3's Ari Wasserman, he believes just that, that Penn State will be a "Serious Contender" for the College Football Playoff out of the Big Ten.

There are a couple of teams that feel like a playoff guarantee, and those are the teams at the top. Oregon, Indiana, and even Ohio State feel like they are already into the big dance. 

That leaves probably one, maybe two spots for other Big Ten teams, and that is where the Nittany Lions enter the conversation. 

Joining Penn State in that Serious Contender tier are Michigan, Washington, and USC. Thankfully for the Nittany Lions, they have all three of those teams on their schedule and will be able to jockey for position throughout the year.

For Penn State, if they just stay locked in on what they have to do, they should put themselves in a good position to be in the conversation when Playoff time comes around.

Getting back to the playoffs in Matt Campbell's first year would be an amazing first year at the helm. It won't be easy, but the road is there for them to get the job done.

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