What does it take to be an elite college football program?

Is it national championships? Alabama, Ohio State and Clemson have some of those recently, but is that it? Is it just dominance within a conference?

Does it take top 5 recruiting classes? Do you have to have a spectacular record against top 25 teams?

Is Penn State an elite team?

Jeremy Leman, a former LB at Illinois and current analyst at BTN talked about the Big Ten as a whole, but also Penn State in particular and what would make the Nittany Lions elite. After last week’s loss to Ohio State, coach James Franklin said that his team has to get past the elite team in its own division first.

Leman brings up some good points, but ultimately, it does come down to beating Ohio State. That’s what Penn State needs to do in order to potentially reach the College Football Playoff consistently, which means a chance at a national championship.

Once that happens, then a team can truly be called elite.