Nittany Lions at No. 10 in CFP rankings, eye New Year’s Six bowl bid

Penn State is back in the top 10 of the College Football Playoff rankings.

For the Nittany Lions, it’s good news for their hopes of returning to a New Year’s Six bowl game. But it’s not a guarantee.

As it is, the Lions are in line to claim the final at-large bid to the sport’s top tier of games after checking in at No. 10 in the committee’s latest top 25, which was released Tuesday night.

Depending on how this weekend’s conference championship games shake out, the Lions could wind up in the Peach Bowl (Dec. 30 in Atlanta), the Fiesta Bowl (Jan. 1 in Glendale, Ariz.) with an outside chance at the Cotton Bowl (Dec. 29 in Arlington, Texas).

Or, in the case of a specific upset or two, Penn State could slip out of the field and land in the Citrus Bowl (Jan. 1 in Orlando).

To that end, the Lions will be pulling for the favorites to win this week — namely Michigan in the Big Ten championship and Texas in the Big 12 championship, both on Saturday.

Wins by either Iowa or Oklahoma State in those games would lead to the Hawkeyes or Cowboys stealing an open spot from Penn State as Power Five conference champions.

The first one isn’t terribly likely. The Wolverines are a huge 23.5-point favorite over Iowa, which has one of the least productive offenses in the country and has been riddled by injuries.

After opening at 10.5 points, the spread in the Big 12 game now has the Longhorns as a 14.5-point favorite over the Cowboys.

Though Penn State is 10th in the rankings, one of 12 New Year’s Six spots will go to the top Group of Five champion, likely Tulane or Liberty. And another will almost certainly go to Louisville, which will end up with the ACC’s bid to the Orange Bowl.

If the Cardinals beat Florida State Saturday, they get that spot as the league champion. If the Seminoles win, they likely go to the playoff and Louisville heads to the Orange Bowl anyway as the top-ranked ACC replacement.

LIONS HONORED

Sixteen different Penn State players were recognized on Tuesday as the Big Ten handed out all-conference awards on defense and special teams.

Leading the way were three first-team selections on defense. Edge rusher Chop Robinson was a unanimous first-team pick while linebacker Abdul Carter (coaches) and defensive end Adisa Isaac (media) each had one first-team honor.

Joining them were CB Kalen King (second team), CB/PR Daequan Hardy (second team as return specialist; third team as defensive back), K Alex Felkins (second team), DE Dani Dennis-Sutton (third team), CB Johnny Dixon (third team), DT Zane Durant (honorable mention), DT Dvon Ellies (honorable mention), LB Curtis Jacobs (honorable mention), LB Kobe King (honorable mention), S Jaylen Reed (honorable mention), KR Nick Singleton (honorable mention), P Riley Thompson (honorable mention) and S Kevin Winston Jr. (honorable mention).

Illinios defensive tackle Jer’Zhan Newton took home Defensive Player of the Year as well as Defensive Lineman of the Year to lead the day. Also grabbing two awards was Iowa cornerback Cooper DeJean, who was named Defensive Back of the Year and Return Specialist of the Year.

Northwestern’s David Braun won both of the league’s Coach of the Year awards in separate votes by the coaches and media.

Ohio State’s Tommy Eichenberg (top linebacker), Minnesota’s Dragan Kesich (top kicker) and Iowa’s Tory Taylor (top punter) also won on Tuesday.

Awards and all-conference teams on offense will be announced on Wednesday.