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Every week, we'll take a look at where the bowl eligible Penn State Nittany Lions are projected to go bowling. This post is sponsored by the song "Almighty Malachi, Professional Bowling God" by Stephen Lynch.
SB Nation (Jason Kirk)
Bowl: TaxSlayer Bowl
Location: Jacksonville, FL
Date: Jan. 2, 2016
Opponent: Ole Miss
CBS Sports (Jerry Palm)
Bowl: Music City Bowl
Location: Nashville, TN
Date: Dec. 30, 2015
Opponent: Ole Miss
Sporting News (Bill Bender)
Bowl: Foster Farms Bowl
Location: Santa Clara, CA
Date: Dec. 26, 2015
Opponent: Washington State
ESPN (Brett McMurphy)
Bowl: Music City Bowl
Location: Nashville, TN
Date: Dec. 30, 2015
Opponent: Tennessee
ESPN (Mark Schlabach)
Bowl: TaxSlayer Bowl
Location: Jacksonville, FL
Date: Jan. 2, 2016
Opponent: Georgia
Fox Sports (Stewart Mandel)
Bowl: Foster Farms Bowl
Location: Santa Clara, CA
Date: Dec 26, 2015
Opponent: Washington State
Look at last week's projections. Now look at this week's projections. If you want to say this is a pointless exercise, look at the fact that every single person changed something between this week and last week. Still, seeing how much everything changes from week to week (whether it is because Penn State lost or other teams won/lost) is fun, no?
Only two guys have the same matchup, as Mandel and Bender think the Nittany Lions would take on Washington State in the Foster Farms bowl. In terms of two teams that are really stylistically different, this matchup would be great. Plus if this ends up being Christian Hackenberg's last collegiate game, he might as well go out throwing for 600 yards, no?
Elsewhere, Schlabach and Kirk have Penn State in the TaxSlayer Bowl, while Palm and McMurphy are sending Jimmy and the gang to the Music City Bowl. The matchups in Jacksonville's bowl guarantees for ugly, ugly games, as Georgia may not have a head coach by then, while Ole Miss would spend 60 minutes punching Penn State in the mouth with its defense (the Nittany Lions would do that back, probably, until Laquon Treadwell starts doing Laquon Treadwell stuff like he does against every defense). Palm's matchup in Nashville is also against Ole Miss, while the thought of the PSU/Tennessee game that McMurphy projects would probably be a good time.