James Franklin has a massive chip on his shoulder entering the soon-to-be Penn State football season: easily making the College Football Playoff, plus doing all he can to lead his team to a national title.
Even though the college football community and various media pundits are high on the Nittany Lions' chances of making a deep run, inevitably, it happens sooner rather than later.
ESPN's Heather Dinich remains cautiously optimistic regarding Penn State's national title and College Football Playoff chances entering this season, but wrote to tread lightly before automatically penciling in the Nittany Lions as one of the four teams left standing come next January.
"There's no excuse for Penn State not to reach the playoff. Penn State can make a case for No. 1 this preseason because it has one thing no other team ranked above it has: a starting quarterback with playoff experience," Dinich wrote.
The Nittany Lions don't have the most favorable schedule in the sport, but they can bolster their resume if they can take down Ohio State in November, Dinich adds.
"Penn State hasn't won in Columbus in its past six tries," Dinich wrote. "This might be the only ranked opponent the Nittany Lions face in November, when the selection committee is paying the closest attention."
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Before Penn State can get to November, though, it must exact revenge against Oregon alongside taking care of business during the nonconference slate to build momentum.
For now, though, it remains to be seen whether the projections come true. The Nittany Lions were ranked No. 3 in USA Today's Coaches Poll, trailing the Buckeyes and Texas Longhorns.