STATE COLLEGE, Pa. — If you are looking for the Penn State Nittany Lions on December 30, you will find them at Mercedes Benz Stadium, the home of the Chick-fil-A Peach Bowl in Atlanta.
The Lions have been invited to play the University of Mississippi, also known as Ole Miss.
Penn State Head Coach James Franklin looks forward to the matchup. Both teams have 10-2 records.
"When you talk about two programs with such a strong brand and reputation and history, like Penn State and Ole Miss, also pretty cool that Penn State has never played in the Peach Bowl, which is something that's unusual in 2023. There's not too many things you can say that's never happened, especially for a program like Penn State," Franklin said.
Franklin was referring to the history involved in this year's game. This will be Penn State's first Peach Bowl, a game that dates back to 1968.
Penn State is ranked tenth in the Associated Press poll. Ole Miss is right behind, ranked 11th.
DraftKings.com installed Penn State as an early, 3-point favorite.
Coach Franklin sees a tough game ahead.
"Should be a great experience for our players, should be a great experience for our fans, obviously the matchup between the Big Ten and the SEC."
While this is Penn State's first Peach Bowl, it almost came to be in 1970. The Penn State football encyclopedia notes that Lions' coach Joe Paterno passed on the then-fledgling game.
The current president of the Peach Bowl is a Pittsburgh native. He told the Harrisburg Patriot newspaper that he's always been a Penn State follower, and it's great to have the Nittany Lions, finally, at the Peach Bowl.