Penn State = Rodney Dangerfield

How is it that every time Penn State is undefeated the calls for them having a weak schedule affect their ability of attaining a ranking they deserve?  I can remember in the 60's and early 70's their schedule was the reason that they didn't receive the number one ranking.  Again in the 90's they lost out to a Nebraska team that had a schedule similar to Penn State's. 

Penn State purged their schedule of ACC teams (Maryland, NC State, Boston College), Big East teams (Pitt, Syracuse, West Virginia, Cincinnati, Rutgers, Louisville), Big 8 teams (Kansas, Kansas State, Iowa State), Notre Dame, and the academies.  They joined the Big Ten to shed the weak schedule label and each time they went undefeated they were criticized for having a weak schedule and winning in a bad Big Ten year.

Yes, Penn State AND EVERY OTHER MAJOR CONFERENCE team has patsies on their schedules.  So, it gets monotonous to hear about Penn State playing some high school equivalent when everyone else is doing it, too.  Just remember, Penn State beat West Virginia something like 40 straight years before finally taking them off the schedule.  Rutgers and Louisville were teams that were those type of patsy schools and they were taken off Penn State's schedule.  Yet, when they go undefeated, somehow they are ranked right up there.  They go undefeated because they play nobody outside their conference and their conference is full of nobodies and yet they still become darlings.  Penn State plays in a big time conference and their schedule has patsies and big time programs with which to compete year in and year out.

Penn State slaughtered Oregon State (one of it's patsies this year) and Oregon State beat USC.  They made Oregon State look like a high school team.  They beat up on Illinois (ranked in the Top 20 at the time), Wisconsin (ranked in the Top 20 at the time and won at Ohio State (ranked in the Top 10 at the time) and play Michigan State (ranked in the Top 20 now).  They can only play who is put in front of them.

In years past that they got snubbed, in bowl games they played Miami with Vinny Testaverde and won, they played against USC with Marcus Allen and won, they played Georgia with Herschel Walker and won.  Seems that when given the chance against competition that they supposedly cannot stand up to, they seem to do okay. 

So, if they go undefeated, pollsters, test your theory of them having no reason to be in the big game once and for all.........put them in the big game and let them show you if they belong with the vaulted big time SECs, Big 12s, USC and whoever else you want to put them against.

Let Penn State settle it on the field.  Give them a chance.