BATON ROUGE, La. — Kirk Herbstreit said Thursday that Penn State will win 10 games this season and reach the College Football Playoff. The reason is the schedule. The Nittany Lions miss the three Big Ten teams he rates highest.
Herbstreit worked through the conference at Raising Cane’s “The Mothership” on Highland Road, where he had spent part of the morning working with owner and founder Todd Graves. He calls LSU against Clemson tonight for ABC.
Kirk Herbstreit On Penn State’s Big Ten Draw
Herbstreit said Ohio State and Oregon are both loaded and Indiana is good again, and that Penn State misses all three.
“You look at the SEC. Can LSU be that team? Think of the depth of this conference. Can Texas A&M, the obvious. Georgia seemed to have a chip on their shoulder. Texas, obviously, with Arch Manning, a lot of people have expectations for them. The Big Ten, Indiana, appears to be good again. Ohio State’s loaded. Oregon’s loaded,” Herbstreit said. “I think Penn State, if you look at Penn State’s schedule, they don’t play Ohio State, they don’t play Oregon, they don’t play Indiana. They’re going to win 10 games, I think, this year. I think Penn State could be a playoff team. USC is going to be. So the Big Ten and the SEC, as we all kind of predicted, have kind of gone to a different level as far as depth of the conferences.”
The 2026 Schedule
The Big Ten released its conference dates on Jan. 27. Penn State hosts Wisconsin, USC, Purdue, Minnesota, and Rutgers. It travels to Northwestern, Michigan, Washington, and Maryland. No power-conference team appears on the nonconference slate.
Ohio State starts the season as the top-ranked team, with Oregon in second place. Indiana secured the national championship in January.
Penn State also misses Illinois and Iowa. That means the Nittany Lions avoid five of the eight Big Ten teams that won at least nine games last season. They play four of the five that lost at least seven.
Seven home games are on the schedule. A white-out against USC on Oct. 10 is the likeliest candidate, and the trip to Michigan follows on Oct. 17. A bye comes Oct. 24. The Big Ten championship game is set for Dec. 5.
Matt Campbell’s First Season
Penn State enters the year 18th in the AP poll under first-year coach Matt Campbell. He arrived from Iowa State and brought more than 20 former Iowa State players with him through the transfer portal.
The Nittany Lions went 9-4 in 2025 and beat Clemson 22-10 in the Pinstripe Bowl.
Michigan also has a first-year coach. Kyle Whittingham came from Utah to replace Sherrone Moore, and Penn State is Michigan’s homecoming opponent this season.
Penn State hosts Marshall today at 2:30 p.m. CT on FS1. The Nittany Lions then play at Temple on Sept. 12 and host Buffalo on Sept. 19 before opening Big Ten play against Wisconsin on Sept. 26.
