Why Penn State Football will not fall as far as many may think

by PennLive.com, blog.pennlive.com
August 17th 2012 1:00 PM
BY SCOTT GULICK

I know many people think that the recent NCAA sanctions have sentenced Penn State football to the basement of the Big Ten, but I don't the next few years will be as bad as most of the experts think. On the contrary, I think it may be similar to what we have been seeing for the past decade.

Penn State football has not been a consistent national power since the 90s. In fact, outside of 2005 and 2008, it has been rather mediocre. I believe for the next couple of years we will see the same Penn State football we have been seeing for the past decade.

The first and main reason I believe this is Penn States schedule. Let's look ahead at their non-conference games. This years schedule (Ohio, at Virginia, Navy, Temple) features teams that can be tricky, but only an up-and-coming Virginia team should be a real threat.

The 2013 schedule (Syracuse, Eastern Michigan, Virginia, Kent State) again should see only one real threat. The 2014 schedule (Temple, Akron, at Rutgers, UMass) two toughest opponents come from a weak Big East Conference. The same goes for the 2015 schedule (at Temple, Buffalo, Rutgers, TBD).

Penn State's tradition of weak non-conference opponents and the Big Ten's decision not to expand the conference schedule to nine games will help tremendously through this rebuilding process.

The second reason I believe Penn State football will be fine for the next few years is that the Big Ten isn't that strong from top to bottom. With Penn State in the same division as Illinois, Indiana, and Purdue, that creates three more game Penn State will have a shot at winning.

With Minnesota on the schedule for the 2013 and 2014 seasons, that gives Penn State at least four conference games they have a realistic chance to be favored in. Combine that with the manageable non-conference schedule, with an upset or two, Penn State could be looking at six to eight wins for the next couple of years easily.

The final reason is that Penn State is still Penn State. Coach O'Brien will add some new much needed energy into this program. This is key for recruits. Where else can you go and play in front of over 100,000 fans, have access to state of the art facilities, and receive a great education?

Coach O'Brien has injected new life into this program that recruits like to see, and the recruiting will get easier every year as these sanctions slowly pass. Penn State is still a better destination then most schools for recruits. Yes they can go to a bowl at Illinois and Purdue, but do they want to play in front of half filled stadiums and fight for a chance to go to the Little Caesar's Pizza Bowl in Detroit?

Original Page: http://blog.pennlive.com/pennstatefootball/2012/08/why_penn_state_football_will_n.html

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