Okay, this is a PLAYOFF game. What is going on with the prices? See, the Penn State Nittany Lions got off lucky this year. Yes, James Franklin couldn’t win the B1G title against the Ducks, but that loss pretty much secured the Nittany Lions, one of the best playoff roads. A home game against SMU and then Boise State? This should be a cakewalk, right? Yeah, here is the problem. From what we saw on different websites, the Penn State vs SMU game ain’t looking so positive. Yeah, we do understand that Christmas is right around the corner, and everyone has to stay back and decorate their homes, but is a playoff game ticket going for sixty bucks? Seriously?

Even Pat McAfee couldn’t believe it. “What’s going on with these ticket prices at Penn State,” McAfee mentioned in the caption of his latest post. In all the playoff games combined (Saturday and Sunday), the Penn State and SMU ones are going for the lowest, but that ain’t even the main problem. What’s the point of having a home game when you can’t even sell out your entire stadium? “You guys better win,” McAfee adds in the caption of a follow-up post on X. This ultimatum makes sense. If you can’t sell a ticket, then at least win the game. This entire debate kind of makes you wonder who is actually at fault.

See, fans already had a lot of “questions” regarding SMU making it into the playoffs. Some think Bama should be up there, and others contend that a 3-loss team should never get a playoff bracket. But is SMU any better? A SOS of 75 and the only “good” teams they played this season, BYU and Clemson, they lost both.

Yes, we do understand that against Clemson for the ACC title, SMU put up a really good fight. Covered a deficit of more than 20 points and the Tigers were only able to win the conference title because Nolan Hauser landed the Hail Mary 56-yard FG.

And for Penn State? Well, the Lions haven’t been bad at all. Yes, Franklin choked the game against OSU, but they still made it to the B1G title game against Oregon, right? And it was an all 4 quarter game. Constant back and forth between the Penn State O-line and D-line and the Ducks O-line and D-line. Then why can’t the Nittany Lions present a sold-out stadium? If they’re already facing such hurdles, then we don’t even know what Franklin is going to do if Penn State loses the first round.

A bad fate awaits James Franklin

“If you lose, bam, you’re fired.” This take from The Fan Upstate still stands true. See, Franklin has a problem. Every major game he has been on, he has managed to choke. If we go to the SMU playoff game, from a roster perspective, Penn State does have the upper hand.

However, what is the guarantee Franklin won’t do the same things he did against OSU? The Mustangs have not even faced anyone as strong as the teams Penn State has faced, but what they do have is a fire to stay in the game.

They did it against Clemson and they could very well do it against the Lions. And James Franklin, out here with a record of 3-17 against top teams, does not paint the right picture. “He loses far too many of these games in order for us to put him in that great category,” was something Shannon Sharpe pointed out on Nightcap.

A 70% winning percentage with Penn State, but whenever Franklin has had a chance to prove himself against a top team, he has failed. The entire situation will be hilarious if Penn State fails to sell out their home playoff game and, at the same time, loses the SMU game.