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Penn State is heading to the Peach Bowl for the first time in program history. Awaiting the Nittany Lions is a matchup with Mississippi for the first time in program history.
The Lions were selected to a New Year’s Six bowl for the fifth time in the past eight seasons under coach James Franklin, checking in at No. 10 in the College Football Playoff committee’s final rankings on Sunday, one spot ahead of the No. 11 Rebels.
Kickoff is set for noon on Dec. 30 at Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta. ESPN will carry the broadcast.
“Two programs with such a strong brand and reputation and history like Penn State and Ole Miss,” Franklin said. “Also pretty cool that Penn State has never played in the Peach Bowl, which is something that’s unusual in 2023. There’s not too many things you can say that’s never happened, especially for a program like Penn State.
“Should be a great experience for our players, should be a great experience for our fans. Obviously the matchup between the Big Ten and the SEC, two of the most respected conferences in all of college football.”
Penn State was installed as a narrow favorite by oddsmakers on Sunday afternoon — a notable development, as the Lions are 21-0 as favorites and 0-4 as underdogs in the last two seasons.
Both teams boast similar resumes, entering the game at 10-2 with all defeats coming against top-10 opponents. Penn State’s losses to No. 1 Michigan (24-15) and No. 7 Ohio State (20-12) were closer than the Rebels’ losses to No. 4 Alabama (24-10) and No. 6 Georgia (52-17), but Ole Miss has the best win between the two, beating No. 13 LSU 55-49.
Were this all happening next season — when the College Football Playoff expands from four teams to 12 — the Lions and Rebels would have made it into the field, grabbing the final two at-large spots. In these rankings, Penn State would be slated to return to Columbus to face the No. 7 Buckeyes in the first round.
But if the committee were setting up a 12-team bracket this year, it likely would have swapped the Buckeyes with Georgia — or flipped the Lions and Rebels — to avoid two rematches, sending Penn State to play the Bulldogs on the road.
The Lions have never qualified for the playoff since its inception in 2014. Had the upcoming 12-team format been in place, the Lions would have made it six times (2016-19, 2022, 2023).
“We have aspirations and expectations to do better, but there’s also only a very, very small handful of teams in the country that have done what we’ve done,” Franklin said. “I think there’s also a cool reality that with winning the Peach Bowl, we have a chance to be the only program in college football to win every New Year’s Six bowl game. So that’s something that’s exciting.”
As it is in the current four-team format, the Rebels benefited from 13-0 Florida State getting snubbed from the playoff. Had the Seminoles qualified, the Orange Bowl would have needed to take Louisville as a replacement for the ACC champions, meaning there wouldn’t have been an extra at-large spot for Ole Miss to grab.
There ended up being four 10-2 teams in the mix for three at-large berths into the New Year’s Six, and they went to No. 9 Missouri, Penn State and Ole Miss with No. 12 Oklahoma getting left out.
“Four really good teams,” CFP selection committee chairman Boo Corrigan said. “As we looked at it, (the Sooners) were 4-2 against teams with winning records. The (loss to Oklahoma State), the loss to Kansas, and as we weighed that in relation to Mississippi, Penn State and Missouri, the committee came in with Oklahoma at No. 12.
“… Penn State, the two games they lost were to Ohio State and Michigan, including a big win over Iowa — the team that everyone saw last night defensively is really good — to win that game 31-0.”
Penn State is 3-1 in New Year’s Six bowls under Franklin, winning three straight — the Fiesta following the 2017 season, the Cotton (2019) and the Rose (2022). The Lions, though, have lost all three bowl matchups against SEC teams under Franklin, falling to Georgia (2015 TaxSlayer), Kentucky (2018 Citrus) and Arkansas (2021 Outback).
Ole Miss is playing in its fourth New Year’s Six bowl in the playoff era. The Rebels lost the 2014 Peach Bowl and won the 2015 Sugar Bowl. Current coach Lane Kiffin led the team to the 2021 Sugar Bowl, losing to Baylor.
The Peach Bowl this year will be primarily a matchup between Kiffin’s creative offense against the aggressive defense of Penn State coordinator Manny Diaz — assuming Diaz doesn’t land a head coaching job between now and then.
Kiffin’s offense enters the game ranked No. 15 nationally in total offense at 455.4 yards per game. Diaz’s defense leads the country in yards allowed (223.2 ypg) and is third in points allowed (11.4 ppg) with three shutouts.
Ole Miss quarterback Jaxson Dart has thrown for 2,985 yards and 20 touchdowns to five interceptions. Running back Quinshon Judkins — who shared freshman All-America honors last year with Penn State’s Nick Singleton — has 1,052 yards and 15 scores on the ground.
One major storyline will be decisions to play or stay by Penn State’s top talent. Tackle Olu Fashanu, edge rusher Chop Robinson and cornerback Kalen King have all gotten first-round projections with Fashanu expected to be one of the first offensive linemen drafted. Other draft-eligible prospects include defensive end Adisa Isaac, linebacker Curtis Jacobs and cornerback Johnny Dixon.
”Yeah, those things really have not been decided,” Franklin said. “They’re ongoing conversations with parents and players and those types of things. Obviously we’re always trying to create an environment and a situation where we have (no opt-outs), but we’ll see how that plays out.”
Franklin had success in keeping players to stick around for the Rose Bowl a year ago. Only cornerback Joey Porter Jr. elected to skip the game.
Kiffin doesn’t expect to have any of his starters skip the game to focus on draft prep.
“We’re not in one of those years where we really have some first-rounders that are coming out that are concerned with injuries,” Kiffin said.
Penn State will continue to have tight ends coach Ty Howle and running backs coach Ja’Juan Seider run the offense through the bowl.
New offensive coordinator Andy Kotelnicki, who was officially hired on Friday, will be with the team but only in an observer’s role until after the game.
“Andy will be here more just taking everything in, getting a feel for how we operate and the culture,” Franklin said. “Very similar to when we hired Manny — be able to be here, be around our players, be able to sit in all meetings, be able to see strengths and weaknesses so that literally the day the bowl game ends, he can jump in with both feet and get going.
“We’ll keep things structured the way they have been for the last two games of the season.”