Pat McAfee Reveals College Football Team With 'More Hope Than Ever'

Former West Virginia Mountaineer Pat McAfee is headed to Morgantown to host the "Pat McAfee Show" live from his alma mater on Saturday.

McAfee and the crew will be previewing a prime-time matchup between the Mountaineers and the No. 8 Penn State Nittany Lions.

While McAfee is known to have high hopes for West Virginia, whether they're ranked or way outside of the Top 25, he focused his attention on Penn State during his latest show.

He believes the 2024-25 season, the first year that the College Football Playoff will be expanded from a 4-team race to a 12-team atmosphere, will be a massive one for the Nittany Lions.

Penn State has been flirting with playoff contention for years, but losses to powerhouse opponents in the Big Ten, like Ohio State and Michigan, have kept the Nittany Lions out of the discussion.

McAfee thinks they will benefit from the new rule change, and right now, they should have "more hope than ever" to make the CFP and compete for a National Title.

“They’re a great team coming in ranked at No. 8," McAfee said. "With this 12-team playoff, I think they have more hopes and dreams than they have in the past because they knew, you lose to Ohio State, you lose to Michigan, it’s over… Now 12-team, new division, Penn State has more hope than ever.”

Penn State finished the 2023-24 college football season with a 10-3 record, falling to the Ole Miss Rebels in the Peach Bowl.

They'll have some lofty challenges on the horizon, having to face No. 3 Ohio State and No. 23 USC, but aside from that, they're smooth sailing throughout the rest of the season.

The Nittany Lions' match against the Buckeyes is also at home, so Penn State's playoff chances have never looked better.

The Nittany Lions are also heading into the season with a couple of established pieces that have been producing at a high level for years in quarterback Drew Allar, running back Nick Singleton and defensive end Abdul Carter.

Penn State will have the chance to kick off the season with a victory when they travel to Morgantown to play West Virginia on Aug. 31 at 12 p.m. ET.

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