We’re getting closer to kickoff for the first-round playoff game at Beaver Stadium and while Penn State’s on-field debut in the CFB Playoff should be a success (the Nittany Lions are the second largest, first-round favorite), the event itself faces some slight challenges.
Penn State’s game against visiting SMU probably ranks as the least compelling of the four first-round games this weekend and a decent number of tickets remain available at the world’s fourth-largest stadium.
In addition, it might end up as the least watched of the four playoff games this weekend.
Looking at those four games, it’s not unreasonable to list SMU-Penn State behind Tennessee-Ohio State, Indiana-Notre Dame and Clemson-Texas in terms of general interest and compelling storylines.
Here’s the weekend schedule, game times, notes and TV information.
Indiana at Notre Dame – 8 p.m. – Friday – ABC/ESPN
One of this season’s best turnaround stories (Indiana) and college football’s most-well-known program (Notre Dame). The teams have not met since 1991 in a series Notre Dame leads 23-5-1, with IU seeking its first victory since 1950 and its first in South Bend since 1906. It’s a big opportunity for the Hoosiers, a must-win for the Fighting Irish and quite interesting as a result.
SMU at Penn State – Noon – Saturday – TNT/Max
It’s the teams’ first meeting since 1978, the kind of team-from-the-south-heads-north-in-cold-weather matchup that seems appealing with visuals of players’ breath puffing out from underneath helmets and maybe even some snow in the picture. Still, many expect Penn State to win and while SMU gets associated with Dallas the Mustangs lack star power like they had in the early 1980s when Eric Dickerson and Co. were benefiting from then illegal pay-for-play efforts.
Clemson at Texas – 4 p.m. – Saturday – TNT/Max
Although it enters as a conference champion, Clemson is the lowest-ranked team in the playoffs and it’s a matchup of a program that generally avoids the transfer portal (Clemson) and might be on the way down against another (Texas) that embraces the portal and has been among the nation’s top-ranked teams all season. UT is the biggest favorite of the weekend, but Clemson has playoff history.
Tennessee at Ohio State – 8 p.m. – Saturday – ABC/ESPN
This matchup concludes the weekend — a season-long Southeastern Conference contender against the team that has been the Big Ten Conference’s best for the past couple decades. It’s a matchup worthy of a prime-time audience, although any early struggles for Ohio State might prompt angst, even anger, more than support from the home-team fans. So, again, worth watching.
ESPN’s College GameDay will be on location at two games this weekend: Indiana-Notre Dame and Tennessee-Ohio State. Penn State was never considered as one of those locations, in part because of the matchup and in part because the noon start means additional logistical efforts (stages inside and out) for the pregame show.
The Big Ten Network will have some talent on site in Happy Valley. Reporter Dannie Rogers and analyst and former Penn State letterman Matt Millen will put together reports that’ll air on “The B1G Show” around midnight. Meanwhile, BTN has assigned Dave Revsine, Gerry DiNardo and Urban Meyer to be in Columbus.
While Penn State fans often lament noon starts, this weekend’s assignment seems fair.
It’s kind of a lukewarm matchup for a slow-starting day that’ll build momentum and culminate Saturday night. It’s a White Out, of course, and it’ll be interesting to see how fan response turns out for this matchup compared to some previous regular season games.
In terms of potential TV ratings and viewership, SMU-Penn State has an hour of casual audience time to itself Saturday before it’ll be competing with a Texans-Chiefs game for viewers.
It’ll be the first time a major college football playoff game has gone head-to-head with an NFL game, and that’s not a likely scenario for the college game to emerge as a winner.
While many believe Penn State has a favorable draw and could reach the national semifinals — if the Nittany Lions win Saturday they would advance to meet Boise State in the Fiesta Bowl — the team’s route to success could happen comparatively quietly.
That’s because the Fiesta Bowl kicks off at 7:30 p.m. Dec. 31. It’s the only one of the four playoff quarterfinals scheduled for New Year’s Eve, timing that has not produced strong viewership numbers in the past. The three other games in that round all air on New Year’s Day, the traditional date for important postseason college football games.
So, at a minimum, any Penn State success would be expected and might feel less impressive as a result of all those things.
It’s a weird conundrum. After years of trying to make the playoffs, maybe just missing a couple of times, Penn State will need to do a lot of work to make its first playoff run a success — and for people to notice.
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