Penn State Sports Magazine
Issue link: https://comanpub.uberflip.com/i/1545675
8 6 A U G U S T 2 0 2 6 W W W . B L U E W H I T E O N L I N E . C O M W hen the Big Ten announced its complete 2026 football schedule on Jan. 27, it didn't take long for perceptions of Penn State to change. Before the schedule was released, the Nittany Lions seemed to be regarded as the kind of team that might be worth an oc- casional check-in, if only to see how Matt Campbell was faring in his effort to rebuild a program that had drifted far from the national spotlight in James Franklin's final season. But after the Big Ten filled in all the blanks of a slate whose broad outline was already known, Campbell's team found itself garnering atten- tion as a borderline playoff contender. No one summed up the shift in tone better than Joel Klatt of FOX Sports. Klatt recounted PSU's struggles under its former coach and added that Campbell was now charged with winning the big games that Franklin couldn't. "But here's the thing," Klatt continued. "They don't have a ton of big games this year because the schedule falls in their favor. "I think they could make a run at 10 wins. A home game against USC and road trips to Michigan and Washington — those are the toughest games on the schedule. So, it certainly lines up as a big year in the first year under Matt Campbell for the Nittany Lions." Klatt is surely right to point out that the schedule isn't the gauntlet it's been in recent years. For the first time since 1992, the year before its entry into the Big Ten, Penn State won't face Ohio State. The Buckeyes have won the past nine meetings be- tween the two teams, so that in itself bodes well. Nor will the Lions see the Big Ten's two other 2025 College Football Playoff participants, Oregon and defending national champion Indiana. With Iowa and Illinois absent, too, PSU will avoid five of the top seven finishers in last year's final confer- ON ON WITH WITH THE THE SHOW SHOW Penn State's Penn State's upcoming slate upcoming slate poses challenges poses challenges and opportunities and opportunities M A T T H E R B M A T T H E R B | M AT T. H E R B @ O N 3 . C O M | M AT T. H E R B @ O N 3 . C O M