What bowl game might Penn State be playing in this season?

Penn State’s 2025 regular season hasn’t exactly gone as planned, but the fight isn’t over yet. Sitting at 4–6 with two games to go, the Nittany Lions still have a path to postseason play if they can secure six wins. A College Football Playoff berth is off the table, but the Lions could still find themselves in one of the 36 other bowl games on the calendar.

And if they get in, there’s no shortage of intriguing possibilities waiting.

A MAC Matchup in Detroit?

One possibility comes from Erick Smith at USA Today, who slots Penn State into the GameAbove Sports Bowl against Western Michigan on December 26. It would be a first-ever matchup between the two programs, played at Detroit’s Ford Field. The last time Penn State played there, they shut out Michigan State 42–0 behind a dominant showing from Drew Allar.

It’s not the sexiest pairing on paper, but it would give Penn State a bowl appearance—and a winnable one at that.

The Return of a Rivalry?

One of the juiciest projections comes from The Athletic’s Scott Dochterman, who has Penn State squaring off with longtime rival Pitt in the Pinstripe Bowl at Yankee Stadium on December 27. The Lions and Panthers haven’t played since 2019, when Penn State pulled out a gritty 17–10 win. Fans still remember the Bronx in 2014, when Sam Ficken’s clutch extra point lifted Penn State to a wild overtime victory against Boston College in James Franklin’s bowl debut.

A Pitt rematch would check all the boxes: regional rivalry, historic bad blood, and a cold-weather clash under the New York lights.

An ACC Heavyweight or SEC Connection?

College Football News sees a different path—Penn State versus Clemson in the Pinstripe Bowl. These two programs have only met once before, back in 1987 when Clemson walked away with the win. A matchup like this would offer the Lions a shot at a high-profile bounce back and the Tigers a chance to reassert themselves on the national radar.Meanwhile, CBS Sports projects a much warmer winter destination for Penn State: Tampa, Florida, in the ReliaQuest Bowl on New Year’s Eve. The opponent? Missouri. That game would come with drama of its own. Not only would it pit the Lions against former QB Beau Pribula (if healthy), but Missouri head coach Eli Drinkwitz is one of the names floating around Penn State’s coaching search.

The last time Penn State saw the Tigers? A 1980 win where the Lions took it 29–21.

Others Still Holding Out

As of now, ESPN and Sports Illustrated haven’t listed Penn State in their latest bowl projections. With two games to play, that could change fast. But the pressure’s on. The Lions need to win out to go bowling. Whether it’s against a rival, a former QB, or a never-before-seen MAC opponent, Penn State’s postseason story still has chapters left to write.

This article originally appeared on Nittany Lions Wire: Penn State bowl projections entering Week 13