Penn State was handed what has change into an agonizingly acquainted setback Saturday, the type of defeat that may probably harm extra if it didn’t occur at such an alarming price.
Of their greatest recreation of the season, the Nittany Lions fell at house to Ohio State 20-13 in a matchup of top-five groups taking part in in entrance of a record-setting crowd of 111,030 at Beaver Stadium in State Faculty, Pennsylvania.
The loss was Penn State’s eighth in a row to the Buckeyes and dropped coach James Franklin’s file towards Ohio State to 1-10 since he took over as this system’s coach forward of the 2014 season.
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Lots of these eight consecutive losses got here in video games that ended up shaping the Huge Ten and nationwide title races, propelling the Buckeyes to convention championships and Faculty Soccer Playoff appearances whereas stopping the Nittany Lions from reaching these targets.
What influence would possibly No. 3 Penn State’s newest disappointment towards No. 4 Ohio State have?
Right here’s what it’s good to know in regards to the Nittany Lions’ playoff probabilities:
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Can Penn State soccer make the Faculty Soccer Playoff?
As gutting as Saturday’s loss could have felt for Penn State and its followers, the Nittany Lions very a lot stay within the hunt for a spot within the Faculty Soccer Playoff.
The defeat was Penn State’s first of the season, making its file 7-1 with 4 video games remaining within the common season.
Whereas losses in latest seasons to Ohio State made the Nittany Lions’ highway to a four-team playoff rather more troublesome — if there even was a highway in any respect — the expanded 12-team playoff options seven at-large berths for the highest-ranked groups that fail to win their convention championship. Had the 12-team format existed, Penn State would have made the playoff six instances based mostly on the ultimate rankings of the playoff committee (and based mostly on the factors of who makes the 12-team playoff.) In every of these seasons, the Nittany Lions had no less than one loss.
It is unclear how far they’ll fall following the loss to Ohio State. As 5 p.m. ET Saturday, not one of the groups ranked behind Penn State within the US LBM Coaches Ballot had misplaced, although a number of of these squads have two losses, which might make it appear unlikely that they’d leap the Nittany Lions.
Franklin and his staff will get a good suggestion quickly of the place they sit. The primary playoff committee rankings of the 2024 season can be launched Tuesday evening.
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Can Penn State earn first-round CFP bye?
Although the Nittany Lions’ playoff hopes stay intact, no matter aspirations it needed to earn a first-round bye are actually in a extra precarious place.
The best 4 seeds within the playoff keep away from having to play a first-round recreation and advance on to the quarterfinals. These 4 spots, nevertheless, are reserved for the 4 highest-rated convention champions, which, in most years, will come from the Energy 4 conferences: the Huge Ten, SEC, ACC and Huge 12.
Penn State’s highway to the Huge Ten championship recreation in Indianapolis is a bit difficult following the loss to the Buckeyes.
With the additions of USC, UCLA, Oregon and Washington, the Huge Ten scrapped its two-division mannequin and as an alternative offers spots within the convention championship recreation to the very best two finishers within the 18-team league. At 4-1, the Nittany Lions are one in every of 4 groups within the Huge Ten standings with fewer than two losses in convention play, a bunch that additionally contains 5-0 Oregon, 5-0 Indiana and 4-1 Ohio State.
Ohio State and Indiana play on Nov. 23 at Ohio Stadium in Columbus, that means a type of groups can have no less than yet one more loss by the top of the season. Past that, although, Oregon has a navigable remaining schedule, with no video games towards top-25 opponents.
Ought to Penn State discover itself in a tie within the standings, listed here are the tiebreaker steps the Huge Ten established heading into this season, so as:
- The tied groups can be in contrast based mostly on head-to-head matchups through the common season.
- The tied groups can be in contrast based mostly on file towards all frequent convention opponents.
- The tied groups can be in contrast based mostly on file towards frequent opponents with one of the best convention file and continuing by way of the frequent convention opponents based mostly on their order of end inside the convention standings.
- The tied groups can be in contrast based mostly on one of the best cumulative convention successful proportion of all convention opponents.
- The consultant can be chosen based mostly on the very best rating by SportSource Analytics (staff Score Rating metric) following the common season.
- The consultant can be chosen by random draw among the many tied groups performed by the Commissioner or designee.
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Penn State soccer schedule 2024
A lot of the optimistic case for Penn State making the playoff facilities round its remaining schedule.
Following the loss to Ohio State, the Nittany Lions haven’t any video games remaining towards groups within the high 25 of the Coaches Ballot. The truth is, that solely tells a lot of the story. Coming into Saturday, solely one in every of Penn State’s last 4 opponents — Minnesota, at 5-3 — had a successful file.
Ought to the Nittany Lions deal with enterprise and win video games during which they’ll nearly actually be favored, they’ll end the common season 11-1 and be in robust place to be chosen for the playoff.
Right here’s a have a look at Penn State’s 2024 schedule and what looms forward:
- Saturday, Aug. 31: Penn State 34, West Virginia 12
- Saturday, Sept. 7: Penn State 34, Bowling Inexperienced 27
- Saturday, Sept. 21: Penn State 56, Kent State 0
- Saturday, Sept. 28: Penn State 21, No. 19 Illinois 7
- Saturday, Oct. 5: Penn State 27, UCLA 11
- Saturday, Oct. 12: Penn State 33, USC 30 (OT)
- Saturday, Oct. 26: Penn State 28, Wisconsin 13
- Saturday, Nov. 2: No. 4 Ohio State 20, Penn State 13
- Saturday, Nov. 9: vs. Washington
- Saturday, Nov. 16: at Purdue
- Saturday, Nov. 23: at Minnesota
- Saturday, Nov. 30: vs. Maryland