Penn State head coach James Franklin celebrates with tight end Tyler Warren (44) following their 35-6 win over Washington during an NCAA college football game, Saturday, Nov. 9, 2024, in State College, Pa. (AP Photo/Barry Reeger)

Some nitpicking as the Nittany Lions try to keep Minnesota from adding to its PSU upset resume:

There are some intoxicating potential College Football Playoff scenarios looming, and Penn State is right in the thick of it.

The current bracket is likely to experience movement based on the final two regular-season weeks of the season along with conference championship games.

Penn State is No. 4 in the rankings and No. 6 in the bracket, and there’s a decent chance the Lions will remain there – if, of course, they can finish with wins over the Gophers and Maryland.

The Big Ten champion, which will be settled between Oregon and probably the winner of Ohio State-Indiana, will be awarded with a first-round bye. If the conference title-game loser is Oregon or Ohio State, they’ll probably get the No. 5 seed ahead of PSU.

Georgia is currently slotted at No. 6, and if the Dawgs are the Lions’ first-round opponent at Beaver Stadium, on Dec. 20 or 21, well, in a word, wow.

There’s plenty of other options, too many to hash out here, but another is if Indiana loses in Columbus and drops to, say, No. 11, the Hoosiers could be the Lions’ first-round foe.

Alabama, Notre Dame and Ole Miss currently occupy seeds eight through 10. Each would be an attractive and tough matchup for the Lions.

As for the kickoff for a first-round game, there was once a time when Penn State frowned about night games in November, much less December.

That, however, was a generation ago, and the Lions probably won’t have input.

You wonder, though, if the CFP brass would lean toward putting warmer-weather teams (read: SEC) that are at home in the later TV windows.

As of now, first-round game times are 8 p.m. on Friday, Dec. 20 and noon, 4 p.m. and 8 p.m. on Saturday, Dec. 21.

And here’s another element to consider: If the Lions have a home playoff game, especially if it’s at night, would they call for a WhiteOut?

Receiving options

No matter if Drew Allar returns or goes to the NFL, Penn State’s wide receiving situation will have to be addressed in 2025.

This year’s upperclassmen options – Trey Wallace, Liam Clifford and Julian Fleming – have not consistently distinguished themselves in part because of a collective lack of separation and in part because of Tyler Warren’s greatness.

Wallace had the biggest drop of the year when he was outscrapped for a touchdown-turned-interception in the end zone against Ohio State.

None of the aforementioned may be in the mix next year.

Two younger prospects got chances late in the game last week at Purdue, and they both had moments to forget.

Redshirt sophomore Anthony Ivey dropped a touchdown pass, and, moments later, speedy true freshman Tyseer Denmark had a ball hit him in the facemask.

A small sample size, granted, but not exactly one that inspired confidence.

• Allar is completing 71.9 percent of his passes on the season and brings new meaning to taking care of the football. Since 1956, he is the only FBS quarterback with 600-plus attempts, 40-plus touchdowns and seven or fewer interceptions. His career TD-interception ratio is 45-7.

• Warren’s career reception total has climbed to 116, second all-time amount PSU tight ends behind only Mike Gesicki (129).

• James Franklin had an interesting quote the other day that makes a lot of sense. He said, “Before you can learn to win, you’ve got to learn how not to lose.”

• There’s a former PSU DC Bowl today as Virginia Tech (Altoona native Brent Pry) visits Duke (Manny Diaz). At 5-5, the Hokies have had a disappointing season (Pry’s third in Blacksburg) while Duke is 7-3 in Diaz’s first year.

Neil Rudel can be reached at nrudel@altoonamirror.com.