Penn State Sports Magazine
Issue link: https://comanpub.uberflip.com/i/1505736
Site Lines C O M M E N T S F R O M T H E L I O N S D E N A T B L U E W H I T E I L L U S T R A T E D . C O M SEPTEMBER 2023/VOL. 39, NO. 1 MANAGING EDITOR Matt Herb CONTRIBUTING EDITORS Mark Panus, Chris Riffer WEBSITE PUBLISHER Sean Fitz WEBSITE EDITOR Nate Bauer STAFF WRITER Greg Pickel RECRUITING REPORTER Ryan Snyder FOOTBALL ANALYST Thomas Frank Carr CONTRIBUTING WRITER Jim Carlson PHOTOGRAPHY Daniel Althouse, Bill Anderson, Steve Manuel, Mark Selders COVER PHOTOS Daniel Althouse DESIGN Jeanette Blankenship Chris Miller F F F PUBLISHER Stu Coman BUSINESS MANAGER Linda Autry ADVERTISING SALES/MARKETING Michelle DeLee-Hamilton 574-286-8688 CIRCULATION MANAGER Sarah Boone CUSTOMER SERVICE Cathy Jones, Crystal Clayton 800-421-7751 BUSINESS INTERN Jackson Jones BLUE WHITE ILLUSTRATED (USPS 742-550) is published monthly, except June, by Coman Publishing Company, 905 W Main St, Ste 24F, Durham, NC 27701-2076. A one-year (11 issues) subscription is $68.00. First-class, digital and foreign rates available on request. Periodicals postage paid at Durham, NC 27701 and additional mailing offices. Printed by The Papers, Milford, Ind. POSTMASTER: Please send address corrections/changes to BLUE WHITE ILLUSTRATED, PO Box 2331, Durham NC 27702-2331. For advertising or subscription informa- tion call 1-919-688-0218 or write BLUE WHITE ILLUSTRATED, PO Box 2331, Durham NC 27702. W W W . B L U E W H I T E O N L I N E . C O M ON PENN STATE'S NO. 7 RANKING IN THE PRESEASON COACHES POLL … Nice starting point. Perfect spot before expected show- downs in Columbus and at home vs. Michigan (assuming we don't trip up beforehand). — GulfCoastLion In my opinion, it's very important that PSU smokes West Virginia in the opener. They need to solidify that No. 7 spot and be in position to move up if and when a team above them falters. With LSU playing Florida State on Sept. 3, and Alabama playing Texas on Sept. 9, PSU needs to show some strength to hold onto that No. 7 spot. — SJLuvsLions Huh? All that matters is that we win. Margin of victory doesn't matter at all when you have two top-five teams on the schedule. Beat Ohio State and/or Michigan and no one will [care] if we only beat West Virginia by a few points. — Sds5149 The key to the season is winning at least 11 games. If we do that, it won't matter if we beat West Virginia by 1 point. If we don't do that, it won't matter if we beat WVU by 100 points. — PhillipintheValley ON THE LATEST WAVE OF BIG TEN EXPANSION … The Big Ten and SEC are both gonna end up at 24 at some point. Might as well just get there now. I'm not the biggest fan of Oregon and Washington, but it's not like we're adding Arizona and Colorado. We are adding two teams that have been in the College Football Playoff (and we are doing it at a discount). There aren't many of those candidates out there for the taking. It's very obvious we're gonna end up with 50 to 70 college football teams that leave the NCAA and the limitations that brings, and create a super league that has collective bargaining with the players. I'm ready just to rip the Band-Aid off and get there instead of a slow, 15-year process that does no one any good. — mjmirv All four of these West Coast teams are bringing something legit to the conference. All four are preseason top-25 SP+ right now (UCLA the laggard at No. 21). They all sit behind Ohio State, Michigan and Penn State, but ahead of the next best, Wisconsin (No. 25). Iowa and Minnesota are just outside the top 25 (No. 27 and No. 30). Combined, getting all four will be huge for top-end conference depth. — LeFennecFox I'm delighted that UDub and the Ducks were accepted by the Big Ten. The powers-that-be realized that the slow death of the Pac-12 provided an opening to grab two really quality programs — and for pretty modest initial payouts. I know the conference preferred to get comfortable with the entrance of USC and UCLA, but great opportunities don't come along every day. Long-term thinking is important during periods of flux and transition. — DavidM I've come around a little bit regarding the Oregon and Washington additions. It will add some intriguing week-to-week matchups to the slate. That said, I really hope we pump the brakes for now on expansion. Please, no Stanford or Cal, we already have Indiana and Rutgers. Wait and see if an opportunity opens up in the Mid-Atlantic or Southeast. Florida State, Clemson, Miami and/or North Carolina would look really good. — PSUalum00 Eh, it won't mean all that much with the novelty of expanded playoffs. There will be 6-8 teams resting injured players at home and looking forward to their potential first-round playoff game a few weeks later. It will be like winning the AFC East. Sure, it's nice, but none of it will matter in a week once the playoffs start. Let's say there are three Big 18 teams at 11-1. Is the one left out of the conference title game really going to fret knowing they are locked into the six seed hosting LSU or Texas in a few weeks? The only benefit to winning the conference is a first-round bye, but you have to play an extra game to get there. — psu08 I live about 10 minutes from Husky Stadium. Can't wait! — pnwpmc103 4 S E P T E M B E R 2 0 2 3 With James Franklin entering his 10th season as the program's head coach, Penn State fans are hoping to see the Lions vie for their first-ever berth in the College Football Playoff. PHOTO BY STEVE MANUEL