SUMMER '20 Episode 2: Penn State, The Playoffs & the Agony of "Almost"
Can Penn State break through for a college football playoff appearance? If not, what does it mean for the fan experience? Is the modern playoff format helping or hurting the sport?
The Obligatory PSU Podcast · Big Heads Media
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Show Notes
There's something to be said for 5 to 15 in the college football rankings as the most miserable, polarizing, and frustrating zone to inhabit in all of sports. Your team is recruiting well, developing talent, winning lots of games (into the double digits near-annually), and regularly playing in top tier bowl games. Your squad occupies a position that would be the envy of 90% of fans in the sport, and yet a large segment of yours are perpetually cranky, ready to fire the coach, and even consider their team to be a "failure." This is the unforgiving reality of the playoff era, where every team with a legit shot at the final four ratchets up the pressure with each year it fails to get there. You can call it "a good problem to have" (and you'd probably be right), but Penn State is lucky enough to face this "problem." The guys use the respite of the offseason to dig into implications of this paradox - for the Nittany Lions and all of college football.
Articles referenced in this episode:
10 CFB teams most ready to break through for a national title: https://247sports.com/LongFormArticle/College-football-teams-national-championship-drought--147742149/
Updated 4-year recruiting rankings for all 130 teams, where the SEC completely dominates: https://www.sbnation.com/college-football-recruiting/2019/2/7/18215228/college-football-recruiting-rankings-2019-class
College football teams with the most NFL draft picks since 2000: https://www.ncaa.com/news/football/article/2020-04-27/college-football-teams-most-nfl-draft-picks-2000
HOSTED BY: Brandon Noble, Mike Herr, Kevin Horne, Chris Buchignani