Penn State is heading to the Rose Bowl, folks.

The Nittany Lions dropped three spots and came in at No. 11 in the final College Football Playoff top 25 rankings of the season, making them the highest-ranked, non-playoff Big Ten team.

Winning all of their conference championship games, Clemson, Utah, and Kansas State all jumped ahead of Penn State in the rankings, coming in at No. 7, No. 8, and No. 9, respectively.

Penn State finished its season with a 10-2 record, as its only two losses of the year came at No. 5 Michigan and in Beaver Stadium against No. 2 Ohio State, whom the Nittany Lions led with eight minutes left in the fourth quarter. Outside of that, Penn State won all of its games very convincingly by double digits except for its thriller against Purdue to open the season.

As both USC and TCU lost in their conference championship games, No. 4 Ohio State snuck into the playoff behind No. 2 Michigan. This makes Penn State’s potential to receive an invitation to the Rose Bowl all the more likely.

Now, the Nittany Lions will travel to Pasadena to take on No. 8 Utah in the Rose Bowl.

About the Author

Frankie Marzano

Frankie is a senior accounting and economics major from Long Island, NY. You can probably recognize him as the typical Italian-American with slicked back black hair. He is an avid fan of the New York Rangers and Mets, along with every Penn State Athletics team. Follow him on Twitter @frankiemarzano for obnoxious amounts of Rangers and Penn State content or email him at frankie@onwardstate.com.

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