Penn State has quickly become a perennial College Football Playoff contender under head coach James Franklin, but even the best teams in college football look to schedule “cupcake games” from time to time.

Case in point? Yes, PSU has games against No. 5 Ohio State, No. 11 Michigan State, No. 14 Michigan and No. 4 Wisconsin this season, but the Nittany Lions are also playing Appalachian State and Kent State in the first three weeks of the season. Yes, App State has been a giant-killer in the past, but the Nittany Lions are still a huge favorite at home. Meanwhile, Kent State is coming off a season that saw the Golden Flashes only win two games, with only one win coming on their MAC schedule.

Sports Betting in Big Ten Country

There is big news coming to the upcoming 2022-23 Big Ten football season (and NFL season). Ohio online sports betting and Maryland sports betting are on the way.

21+ and present in OH. Gambling Problem? Call 1-800-GAMBLER.

Every major college football program has warm-up games, and that’s not going to be any different for the Nittany Lions in 2021, 2025, 2022, 2023, and 2027.

Brett McMurphy, formerly of ESPN now with WatchStadium.com, is reporting that PSU has scheduled future home games against Villanova, Central Michigan and Delaware:

None of these schools are world-beaters in football, though Central Michigan may be able to put up a fight, so it would be a solid prediction to expect that PSU is looking at at the very least five wins in the future just incase the bottom falls out from under Franklin.