Penn State Awaits Rose Bowl Bid

The Lions are poised to play Pac-12 champ Utah in the 2023 Rose Bowl.

Penn State should learn Sunday that it will return to the Rose Bowl, a fitting reward for a team that went from unranked to top-10 during a 10-win regular season.

The Lions will play Utah, which defeated USC 47-24 on Friday in the Pac-12 championship game. Utah (10-3) is playing in its second consecutive Rose Bowl. Penn State and Utah have never played, setting up a unique duel between the teams in the Jan. 2 game in Pasadena, California.

The College Football Playoff selection committee Sunday announced that Michigan and Ohio State are in the playoff, which will send Penn State to the Rose Bowl for the second time under James Franklin. The Rose Bowl invites a replacement team from the Big Ten or Pac-12 if those conferences are represented in the playoff.

Ohio State qualifying for the playoff must have Penn State wondering, 'What if?' The Lions led Ohio State 21-16 with 9:26 remaining in the fourth quarter in late October but couldn't stick the landing. Bob Corrigan, CFP chair, mentioned Ohio State's win over Penn State as a key factor in sending the Buckeyes to the playoff.

The Buckeyes scored 28 fourth-quarter points, 14 off turnovers, in a 44-31 victory that stands as their signature this season. Had Penn State finished that win, the team might be awaiting its first playoff bid Sunday.

Instead, the Lions will prepare for their fifth Rose Bowl and first since the 2016 season. Penn State is 1-3 in Rose Bowl appearances, with all three losses to USC.

"The younger guys are like, 'Ten wins, that’s what we expect at Penn State,’ but it’s hard to do. It’s hard to do," defensive tackle PJ Mustipher said. "This is my second time having 10 wins, and I’ve been here for five years. It means the world. We put in a lot of work to get here, but we’re not satisfied. We want to keep going."

Added safety Ji'Ayir Brown, "This is a 10-win program every year. We’ve got to get 10. I feel like this program is special. We have very special players here and that should be the standard at Penn State. We should have 10 wins every season with the players we’ve got and the staff we’ve got.

"And just to put the program back where we belong is a big accomplishment for me, [quarterback] Sean [Clifford], PJ and the captains. That was what we set out to do; to put Penn State back on the map. We came in [to the season] unranked and felt disrespected about that. But we put the ground work in and we showed everybody where we belong."

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AllPennState is the place for Penn State news, opinion and perspective on the SI.com network. Publisher Mark Wogenrich has covered Penn State for more than 20 years, tracking three coaching staffs, three Big Ten titles and a catalog of great stories. Follow him on Twitter @MarkWogenrich. And consider subscribing (button's on the home page) for more great content across the SI.com network.