Penn State football: USA TODAY Sports’ Big Ten favorite and dark horse

As the college football world transitions from spring to summer preview season, USA TODAY Sports has taken a look at each conference’s championship favorites and dark horse candidates. That means placing favorite status on some familiar names across the country, like Clemson in the ACC, USC in the Pac-12, and Georgia in the SEC. But what does the Big Ten look like in 2023?

Michigan, the defending two-time Big Ten champion, takes the favorite label from USA TODAY Sports for the upcoming season, which seems to make sense. Jim Harbaugh has put together a true College Football Playoff contender at this point and the Wolverines are coming off back-to-back appearances in the playoff. Michigan has taken two straight games in the bitter rivalry with Ohio State, which has typically been the hurdle that tripped up Michigan’s previous playoff hopes. Michigan should once again be a strong Big Ten and playoff contender.

But if you are looking for a dark horse candidate to come out of the Big Ten, Wisconsin is the most comfortable pick. The Badgers typically have a strong defense and running game, and that may remain true this fall. But the hiring of head coach Luke Fickell, who has a College Football Playoff run under his belt from his time at Cincinnati, has many believing the Badgers are quickly back on track to being the top program in the Big Ten West.

As for Penn State, it would seem likely the Nittany Lions fall somewhere between the favorite and dark horse candidate. Penn State is probably closer to favorite status than it is dark horse given the Nittany Lions landed at no. 4 in the USA TODAY Sports post-spring top 25. Only Michigan was ranked higher among Big Ten teams.

Penn State will not face Wisconsin during the regular season in 2023 but it will get a crack at Michigan at home. Michigan has won the last two meetings in the series, including last year’s convincing victory in Ann Arbor. Michigan will visit Beaver Stadium this season on November 11, and there is a chance both teams could be undefeated. Penn State will have already played Ohio State in Columbus, so being undefeated at this stage would be pretty impressive. But even if Penn State does have a blemish on its record, that mid-November meeting with the regular season about to wind down still figures to carry a significant amount of weight in the Big Ten championship race, as well as the College Football Playoff race.