Early National Expectations For Penn State Football In 2024

Ever since the iconic 2016 season, it has felt like Penn State football is close to breaking through its apparent glass ceiling. The Nittany Lions are a 10-win machine, even winning a Big Ten title and three New Year’s Six bowl games with several top-10 and top-15 finishes to match over the past eight seasons. According to Las Vegas’s early betting odds, here is the expectation for Penn State during the 2024 season — the 11th season of the James Franklin era in Happy Valley.

Early national projections for Penn State football for 2024 season

Penn State football has been a broken record over the past few seasons, beating the teams it was supposed to, yet falling short against Michigan and Ohio State consistently. This fall, however, the Lions are only facing one of the two teams that they have seen woes against in the form of a home bout vs. Ohio State in early November.

Aside from that game, the Nittany Lions face a few smaller, yet still daunting, games. Road trips against West Virginia, USC, Minnesota, and Wisconsin will all prove to be good measuring stick games for Penn State football, and home bouts against UCLA, Maryland, and Washington will be no walk in the park either. Nonetheless, FanDuel’s initial betting odds believe that Penn State football will see its usual amount of success — the Nittany Lions’ too-early win total is currently set at 9.5.

James Franklin and his Nittany Lions finally breaking through in 2024?

Penn State’s 9.5 win total puts the Nittany Lions at No. 3 in the Big Ten — tied with Michigan at 9.5 wins and sitting behind Ohio State and Oregon, which both have win totals of 10.5 heading into the 2024 season. Of course, even if Penn State football does go 10-2, it may be enough to get the Lions into the Big Ten Championship Game and/or the College Football Playoff now that the divisions are gone and the playoff will be accepting 12 teams.

The 2024 season remains several months from being a major thought right now; however, as winter workouts get underway, and Penn State football nears its spring game in mid-April, these win totals are worth keeping a close eye on. Will the Nittany Lions finally break through? Or will James Franklin see another 9-10 win season all said and done? That remains to be seen later this year.

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