Each week, the Post-Gazette is compiling bowl projections for Pitt and Penn State from various national outlets. Here’s a look at the picture after Week 9:
Penn State
Kyle Bonagura, ESPN: Citrus vs. Kentucky (Orlando, Fla.)
Mitch Sherman, ESPN: Peach vs. Georgia (Atlanta)
Jerry Palm, CBS: Holiday vs. Stanford (San Diego)
Jason Kirk, SB Nation: Fiesta vs. LSU (Glendale, Ariz.)
Bill Bender, Sporting News: Fiesta vs. West Virginia (Glendale, Ariz.)
Eric Single, Sports Illustrated: Citrus vs. Florida
Brad Crawford, 247 Sports: Outback vs. Texas A&M (Tampa, Fla.)
The Nittany Lions’ biggest win of the season Saturday against Iowa brought renewed projections that they can make a New Year’s Six bowl as an at-large selection from the Big Ten. Let’s not get ahead of ourselves, though. Any path to a big game likely involves winning out, and winning out first means beating No. 5 Michigan this week in Ann Arbor. Win that one, and the scatter shot projections we’ve seen this week should start to solidify around the Fiesta and Peach bowls. Lose, and we’re probably talking about Penn State spending the holidays in Florida.
Pitt
Bill Bender, Sporting News: Armed Forces vs. Temple (Annapolis, Md.)
Eric Single, Sports Illustrated: Quick Lane vs. Maryland (Detroit)
All other projectors: No bowl
The Panthers probably deserve better than this after nailing down a big win of their own Saturday against Duke. Back at .500 now, they’d have to lose three of their last four to miss out on bowl eligibility. Is that possible? Of course. ESPN’s FPI has Pitt as an underdog in each of its remaining games. Coming off three solid games in a row, though, one would think the Panthers could sneak into another projection or two. Perhaps they’ll finally get more respect if they can take down No. 23 Virginia this weekend in Charlottesville.
Adam Bittner: abittner@post-gazette.com and Twitter @fugimaster24.
First Published: October 29, 2018, 4:17 p.m.
