CFB Futures – 2024 Penn State Nittany Lions Win Total Odds

The Penn State Nittany Lions might be the best team that has yet to compete in the College Football Playoff. Ten regular season wins in each of the last two seasons and 21 victories overall suggests PSU is a legitimate contender for the expanded playoff. And the realigned Big Ten frees them from the vice of Michigan, which it lost three straight to. It didn’t help playing in the Big Ten East and consistently losing to Ohio State and UM. There are other powerful programs to deal with now, but PSU can certainly handle those after playing the best of the best in their own conference. Oddsmakers at BetMGM are buying with the Nittany Lions boasting a win total of 9.5 for the second straight season.

Regular Season Wins for the Penn State Nittany Lions

Over 9.5 ( -165 )

Under 9.5 ( +134 )

James Franklin has to be one of the most underrated coaches in the business. Not only did he guide Penn State out of a turbulent time, he’s been highly successful with a winning record in all nine of his full seasons at the helm. This would probably be more widely recognized if PSU wasn’t annually going against two college football heavyweights. Their only regular season losses over the last two years were against OSU and Michigan. There are no excuses this year with an expanded college football playoff and PSU has the horses for another double-digit win season.

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Roster

The Nittany Lions have been on the verge of greatness the last few years and they were knocking on the door, too, before that worldwide pandemic thing set them back. Over the past two years they won 21 of their 26 games losing only to conference rivals Ohio State and Michigan twice each and falling in last year’s Peach Bowl to Ole Miss, which didn’t really seem to matter much. Moving forward with two new coordinators is a challenge, but PSU has a veteran roster that should ease the transition. And it’s a group accustomed to winning.

While the numbers were solid the Nittany Lions were a bore to watch. In this day and age of college football where offense rules and teams chuck the ball down the field, it was hard to find PSU doing that. New coordinator Andy Kotelnicki takes over attempting to get the offense more in line with today’s game. He has a good background after directing an explosive Kansas attack last year. Running the show on the field is quarterback Drew Allar, an experienced player in the system and with talent to excel in a new scheme. 

Allar threw for 2,631 yards with 25 touchdowns and only two interceptions, but the downfield attack was limited and he completed less than 60 percent of his throws. That’s were Kotelnicki comes in after Kansas averaged almost 16 yards per completion in 2023. Of course having pass catchers aids the aerial attack and PSU nabbed a good one in Ohio State transfer Julian Fleming, who says he’s healthy and ready to contribute. Kaytron Allen and Nicholas Singleton combined to rush for 1,654 rushing yards and 14 TDs helping PSU average nearly 185 rushing yards.

As long as the offense doesn’t screw things up the Lions’ defense should be able to hold the fort. New coordinator Tom Allen doesn’t have to do much with a number of starters back from a unit that was second nationally in total defense and fewest yards allowed per play and was third in fewest points allowed per game. The front seven are beasts making life miserable for opponents and more of the same sets up the Lions for an impressive run.

Schedule

There’s a four-game stretch in the middle of the season that will define Penn State’s year and determine the outcome of this CFB futures bet. It starts in Week 7 with a cross-country trip to face USC followed by a trip to Madison to play Wisconsin. At least there is a bye in between those games. Then at the beginning of November Ohio State and Washington come to Happy Valley. Outside of that there is nothing that seems challenging. Non-conference games with West Virginia, Bowling Green and Kent State get the season off to a good start and helps work out the kinks with a new coaching staff.

Prediction

Winning 10 regular season games in each of the last two seasons while dropping every game to OSU and UM tells me the Nittany Lions are darn good. And with a more diverse offensive attack and a veteran-laden defense they can be even better in 2024. There is no Michigan on the slate and PSU skips Oregon and Iowa, which is a plus. I do believe anything short of 10 wins and a CFP berth are unacceptable after what the Lions did the past two seasons.

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