One of the challenges of the ever growing college football postseason and the ever growing size of conferences, is that obvious choices for fun and entertaining out of conference games are dwindling by the year. USC? Welcome to the Big Ten. Oregon? See you down the road. Of course when it comes to surviving the gauntlet that is the college football regular season, coming away with wins is more important as anything else. No need to schedule really good teams when you've already got four or five of them on the schedule each and every season.
The challenge now, finding teams that might increase fan interest, but don't result in making things too challenging in the long run. In an ever fluid landscape it can be hard to pin that metric down years in advance for any given program, but such is the life scheduling. With that being said, here are six programs that might walk the fine line between interesting, but also not too hard. These are obviously only a few of many options.
Arizona State: Now that Arizona State has gotten past the walking NCAA violation machine that was Herm Edwards it's worth saying that ASU's campus is fun and warm and that while the Sun Devils might make a rebound in the coming years under Kenny Dillingham, Arizona State still falls squarely in the "interesting but not to threatening" column for out of conference scheduling. A 3-9 record in 2023 backs this up, but who knows what this program will look like in four of five years from now. A nod to former Penn State tight end and ASU assistant Adam Brenneman who will probably get endless podcasting content out of this.
Boise State: Boise State wins the nostalgia award on this list for the 2006 win over Oklahoma in the Fiesta Bowl back when bowl games had a little bit more prestige than they often do now. Nevertheless, it's safe to say a trip to Idaho to see the very very blue field would be a fun one and the Broncos coming out to Beaver Stadium would be a fun first for both programs. No surprise here, but Penn State and Boise State have never faced off before.
Baylor: Another team from the Big 12 [assuming the Big 12 is still around down the road] Baylor represents a nice middle ground on the non conference schedule between 'way too easy' and 'way too hard'. Time will tell what the Bears are able to do under head coach Dave Aranda who is entering his fifth season on the job. A 12-1 record in 2021 was interesting, but Baylor has won just nine games over the following two seasons. If Aranda is still around down a few years from now is unclear, but Baylor will always be a solid middle of the pack or better program.
East Carolina University: ECU has, historically, been the sort of feisty program good for giving an early season scare to a contender, but that particular standing has dropped off a bit in recent years. Nevertheless a series against ECU serves everyone well with a chance to showcase Penn State to talent further south while ECU gets the benefit of a nice check and fun experience. Penn State might not find this as interesting as some of the opponents further up this list, but it does offer some variety to the usual rotation of early season sacrificial lambs. And who knows, the Pirates might regain their form.
SMU: For two programs that have the same sort of nostalgic air about them it's surprising that SMU and Penn State have only played against each other on two occasions, the most recent a 1978, 26-21 victory over the Mustangs. SMU is coached by the well respected offensive mind that is Rhett Lashlee and has won 18 games over the first two seasons with Lashlee at the helm. This game would be a legitimate out of conference clash and could prove to be a fun series, especially if Penn State made a rare trip to Texas for a regular season game. This game might be all the more fun if it's in a neutral site, an idea that James Franklin has supported in the past for out of conference foes.
Wyoming: The home of Josh Allen, Wyoming wins the award for the most unique program on this list but a program that has put up a mixed bag of results over the years. In all likelihood this wouldn't be the most competitive game given both program's current form, but much like ECU the Cowboys add some uniqueness to the early stages of a schedule that can sometimes feel a little repetitive. Wyoming has been to a bowl game six out of the last eight years, something that would add at least a little bit of value to Penn State's resume, even if the game isn't that exciting.
Need a refresher? Here are all of Penn State's known upcoming out of conference games after the 2024 season which features West Virginia, Kent State and Bowling Green.
2025
- 08/30 - Nevada
- 09/06 - FIU
- 09/13 - Villanova
2026
- 09/05 - Marshall
- 09/12 - at Temple
- 09/19 - Buffalo
2027
- 09/04 - Syracuse
- 09/11 - Delaware
- 09/18 - Temple
2028
- 09/02 - Ball State
- 09/09 - at Syracuse
The post Penn State Football: With The Playoffs and Conferences Expanding, Six Fun Potential Out of Conference Opponents appeared first on StateCollege.com .
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