Each week, the Post-Gazette compiles bowl projections for Pitt and Penn State from various national outlets. Here’s a look at the picture after Week 3.
Penn State
Kyle Bonagura, ESPN: Citrus vs. Florida (Orlando, Fla.)
Mark Schlabach, ESPN: Outback vs. Florida (Tampa, Fla.)
Jerry Palm, CBS: Outback vs. Texas A&M
Bill Bender, Sporting News: Outback vs. Texas A&M
Brad Crawford, 247 Sports: Outback vs. Auburn
This is the closest we’ve gotten to consensus with the Nittany Lions this season. Their ho-hum performance in the win against Pitt on Saturday seems to have experts in agreement that they’re somewhere between the third and fifth best team in the Big Ten and will end up in one of the better non-New Year’s Six games as a result. Pretty much what we saw last season, when they ended up at the Citrus Bowl with an 9-3 record. It might be awhile before the team can shake that label. It’s on a bye this week before a road trip to Maryland and a home date with Purdue. Neither is likely to move the needle much, unless the Lions lose. Their next chance to truly impress will come Oct. 12 at Iowa.
Pitt
Kyle Bonagura, ESPN: Military vs. Temple (Annapolis, Md.)
Mark Schlabach, ESPN: No bowl
Jerry Palm, CBS: No bowl
Bill Bender, Sporting News: Camping World vs. Iowa State (Orlando, Fla.)
Brad Crawford, 247 Sports: Birmingham vs. East Carolina (Birmingham, Ala.)
The Panthers’ projections have gone the opposite direction. They were pretty similar at the start of the season and have since diverged pretty wildly, with the Camping World Bowl — a choice landing spot for ACC teams — on one end of the spectrum and no postseason at all on the other. It’s a reflection of national uncertainty about what to make of this team. Is it the uninspiring bunch we saw in the first couple of games against Virginia and Ohio? Or can it play with some of the best teams in the conference the way it played with its rival Saturday on the road? For now, no one seems very sure about the answer.
Adam Bittner: abittner@post-gazette.com and Twitter @fugimaster24.
First Published: September 16, 2019, 4:16 p.m.
