Will anyone come to Penn State's defense?

It’s one thing to tell a non-BCS team that they cant come to the party because they’re not in one of the golden conferences. They’re in effect saying “Silly non-BCS school, trix the crystal football is for kids the big boys from the golden conferences only”.

Its entirely another thing to tell a team from one of the BCS conferences that even though they’re one of the only two undefeated teams in the BCS conferences, they don’t get to play in the MNC because some people don’t think they ‘deserve’ it. In that case they’re saying “Lets admit this whole National Championship thing is a farce and entirely ignore anything that happens on the field between September and December and just crown the two MNC game teams in August.”

what’s that saying about counting your chickens before they hatch? We don’t even know if we will get past Illinois at Memorial Stadium yet. If the situation that a BCS team actually does goes undefeated, voters will be hard pressed not to put them into the title game as long as there aren’t 2 other BCS undefeated teams. Let’s talk about that when Penn State gets past @Illinois, Ohio State, @Michigan, first.

Is something we can’t afford to do. Regardless of what the media may think of the Big Ten, we know better to think that just because we are the best team on paper, teams are going to roll over for us. It doesn’t work that way.

Yes our non-conference schedule is weak ( a lot of teams are doing it) but we still have to get through the Big Ten.

I’ll think national title when I’m flying to LA in January…until then,

Let’s talk about this once we’re in position to play for the title, mmmmkay?

But what I think you’re saying is that the majority of people seem to be hedging their bets. Most people on here are reluctant to even whisper the words National Championship, let alone look ahead to one. I, however, am with you in believing that some sort of arrogance and excitement is needed.

That being said, I’m not saying we’re a shoe-in for the title game. I definitely realize that our only realistic shot at the MNC is to go undefeated. However, I don’t think there is anything wrong with bragging about your team and predicting a championship run. The FanPosts here are replete with bragging stories about recruits (see Newsome, Kevin, 2010 squad, entire) and past events (see Championships in the 80’s, Rambler’s daily boner pic of a current/former PSU player). Further, there are many posts dedicated to either directly making fun of other teams (DickRod, O$U) or taking pot shots at certain players/coaches (Wannstache, Laura). Why can’t this sort of attitude transition into some MNC talk?

At the end of the day, I’m going to root for time exactly the same in July as I do in October…with a fervor reserved for MNC runs. If a loss occurs, a loss occurs, and we can cheer for the Rose Bowl (Part One) and Big 10 championship. Until that happens though, I’m out for one thing only. Sean Lee spearing TEBOWSMASH in the backfield in January, putting the final nail in the coffin for an MNC and JoePa’s final undefeated decade team.

I just don’t understand the attitude of people who say “We can only hope to aim for a Rose Bowl” or “A 2 loss SEC team will probably beat out an undefeated Penn State in a national championship.”

This post was originally intended to mean “Will anyone in the media jump to Penn St’s defense if we go undefeated?” as people have done for Utah, Boise State, etc.

But I think it’s intriguing to see so many Penn State fans jumping to conclusions that we will not make a MNC no matter what. Not that there’s anything wrong with that line of thinking (either through pessimism for the schedule or just not trying to get hopes up).

It’s very safe to say that a 1 or 2 loss Penn State team will not qualify for a MNC appearance, and if that happens fine.

But if it doesn’t… and we do go undefeated… what then?

I mean, really, what else are we going to talk about in the offseason? This?

and say, “Will anyone come to the defense of an undefeated BCS conference team who is potentially going to get snubbed from the National Championship Game because people don’t like the opponnets on the schedule?”

It is a fair debate, and I don’t really see it as putting the cart before the horse, since it is a purely speculative “what if” situation.

I mean heck, what if there are 8 undefeated teams this year? An equally interesting debate on what should be done.