It would seem that Christmas came early for the Penn State Nittany Lions last weekend.  The Lions enjoyed a dominating win against Michigan State, and with Ohio State beating Michigan, Penn State clinched the Big Ten East conference and a place in the Big Ten Championship.

Of course, the Christmas present every Nittany Lion fan would REALLY like this year is a spot in the four team national championship playoff.

But first the Nittany Lions must win the Big Ten Championship against the 6th ranked Wisconsin Badgers. Penn State is the underdog in this game with a 46.5% chance of winning according to ESPN’s Football Power Index, but it is still anybody’s game.

The Badgers are currently 10-2 on the season and 7-2 in the Big Ten Conference losing to Ohio State and Michigan and they are currently on a six game winning streak. They have the same record as Penn State but the Nittany Lions are 8-1 in the Big Ten Conference.

It was especially a good week for sophomore running back Saquon Barkley who was just named the Big Ten offensive player of the year. Barkley had over 1200 rushing yards and fifteen rushing touchdowns while averaging over five yards per carry. He also has two receiving touchdowns and over 300 receiving yards.

This week’s game will be held at Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis, home to the Indianapolis Colts. The stadium can hold up to 70,00 fans but this is relatively small compared to the Nittany Lions home, Beaver Stadium which can hold 107,000 fans. This is one of the biggest games for the Nittany Lions in years, so tickets to the game are pretty hard to find considering the ten thousand tickets Lucas Oil Stadium sent to Penn State have been sold out.

Of course the big question is – if the Nittany Lions win the Big Ten Championship should they be in the College Football Playoffs?

As a fan I believe they should be in the playoffs considering there would be two Big Ten teams ahead of them in the playoff rankings that didn’t win the conference.

But with a loss to Pitt early in the season it hurts the team’s resume. If 4th ranked Washington would lose to 9th ranked Colorado then I don’t see how you couldn’t put Penn State in.

No matter what the outcome may be it has been a spectacular season for the Nittany Lions and a real turning point for the program. It has been a good look for what is to come and returning the program to it’s former glory.