STATE COLLEGE — Fans wondering where Penn State might play its bowl game should pay attention to Florida State this weekend.
If the Seminoles are selected to play in one of the coveted New Year’s Six bowls as expected, it seems increasingly likely the Nittany Lions will be spending their New Year’s holiday in Jacksonville, Florida.
In a video posted on the bowl’s website Wednesday, Taxslayer Bowl president Rick Catlett did more than hint that Penn State would be its choice if Florida State is not available to them when bowl matchups are selected Sunday.
Formerly known as the Gator Bowl, the Taxslayer Bowl is slated for noon on Jan. 2, with ESPN broadcasting the clash. If Penn State winds up there, its opponent would likely be a traditional SEC power, he added.
“We’re down to a couple groups of teams,” Catlett said. “On the SEC side, it looks like LSU or Georgia. On the ACC side, we have an option if Florida State is available to go there. If it’s not Florida State and we go Big Ten, it’s probably Penn State. So, good matchups. We’re looking forward to it.”
Of course, it’s not looking like Florida State would be available.
The Seminoles are 10-2 and ranked ninth in the latest College Football Playoff rankings, which makes them an attractive target for the committee in charge of placing teams in one of the four Selection Committee Bowl Games — the Sugar, Rose, Fiesta and Peach Bowls — outside of the playoff. Both ESPN and CBS are projecting coach Jimbo Fisher’s team will wind up in the Peach.
Either way, the Taxslayer Bowl committee will have its choice of any remaining Big Ten or ACC team as part of its joint agreement with the Music City Bowl. The two games, which began their affiliations with the conferences last season, will split teams from each over a six-year span.
Nashville’s Music City Bowl had the selection last season and opted to go with Notre Dame, which also would be on the table in the extremely unlikely event it is not picked for the New Year’s Six. The Taxslayer Bowl wound up hosting Iowa last season, but it would be permitted to select a Big Ten team for the second consecutive game. Catlett, in fact, did not mention the possibility of turning away the 7-5 Lions over any of the likely available choices from the ACC, Pittsburgh or Miami.
The Music City Bowl and the Foster Farms Bowl in Santa Clara, California, would still be in play for the Lions if the Taxslayer committee opts for Florida State or someone else. It would likely take an upset of sorts — namely, a North Carolina toppling of CFP No. 1 Clemson in the ACC title game that would prompt the committee to place no ACC teams in the playoff — to make that happen.