Penn State football will play SMU Mustangs in CFP first round ...

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INDIANAPOLIS − Penn State football will play its first-ever College Football Playoff game against the SMU Mustangs the weekend before Christmas.

The first-round game will be held in Beaver Stadium on Saturday, Dec. 21. The game will begin at noon.

After a decade of near-misses and disappointments, the Nittany Lions were a lock to make the new, expanded, 12-team format this season. The only question: Who would they play in State College?

Penn State dropped only one spot in the penultimate playoff rankings (now No. 4) and seedings (now No. 6) after losing by a touchdown to No. 1 Oregon in Saturday night's Big Ten Championship Game here in Lucas Oil Stadium.

Their match-up was unveiled in today's final CFP bracket reveal on ESPN's annual noon selection show. If the Lions defeat the 11-2 Mustangs, they will meet Boise State in the playoff quarterfinals at the Fiesta Bowl on New Year's Eve.

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The Lions are in such a strong position for the playoff since completing their first 11-win regular season under coach James Franklin, the program's first in 16 years.

The Nittany Lions will play the two-loss SMU Mustangs in Beaver Stadium on the weekend before Christmas.

The last at-large spot came down to the Mustangs and the three-loss Alabama Crimson Tide.

The Ohio State Buckeyes are the eighth seed. They will play Tennessee in the opening round in Columbus.

The Nittany Lions earned the sixth seed and are No. 4 in the playoff rankings. They will play the 11th seed (yet to be announced) in Beaver Stadium the weekend before Christmas. If they win, they will play Boise State in the Fiesta Bowl on New Year's Eve.

The Texas Longhorns, the SEC title game loser, gets the fifth seed. They will play Clemson.

Notre Dame is the seventh seed. It will play the Indiana Hoosiers.

As expected, undefeated Oregon is the No. 1 seed of the playoff field.

The SEC-champion Georgia Bulldogs are No. 2.

The third and fourth seeds − with the final two byes of the playoff first round − goes to Boise State (third) and Arizona State (fourth).

The fifth conference champ, the ACC Clemson Tigers, must play in the opening round the weekend before Christmas. They're the 12th and final seed.

Penn State will play one of the lower-seeded teams in the 12-team playoff bracket.

A key CFP committee decision includes whether their three-loss Alabama Crimson Tide can squeak into the field over ACC Championship Game loser SMU. The Mustangs have lost only two games, each by a field goal, against ranked opponents.

The Lions could play either. But both won't make it.

Penn State, though mistake-prone at time, took the No. 1 team in the county down to the final two minutes Saturday in an extra game.

Will the College Football Playoff committee reward or "punish" them for losing by eight points to the undefeated Oregon Ducks?

We'll find out around 12:30 this afternoon during the annual ESPN selection Sunday show.

If Penn State holds its No. 5 seed from last week it would play the No. 12 and lowest-ranked playoff team the weekend before Christmas in Beaver Stadium. The committee, though, also could drop them below idle Notre Dame and Ohio State and keep them behind SEC title-game losing Texas. Or any combination of that.

An eighth seed would set them up to play Tennessee or Indiana in the first round − and then force a rematch with Oregon in the Rose Bowl on New Year's Day.

National media members and prognosticators are varied this morning in whether the Lions will receive the No. 5, No. 6, No. 7 or No. 8 seed.

The Nittany Lions (11-2) have to wait only about three more hours to find out who they will play in their expected first-round game in Beaver Stadium, the weekend before Christmas.

The Lions' first-ever playoff bid.

Who will Penn State play in College Football Playoff?

The Nittany Lions will play the SMU Mustangs (11-2) in the first round of the playoffs in Beaver Stadium on Dec. 21. The game will begin at noon.

CFP schedule

The College Football Playoff begins with opening-round games on college campus sites. Those four games will be played on Friday, Dec. 20 (8 p.m.) and Saturday, Dec. 21 (noon, 4 p.m., 8 p.m.).

The quarterfinal round will be at traditional bowl sites (Fiesta, Peach, Rose and Sugar) on Dec. 31 and New Year's Day.

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The semifinal found will be played at the Cotton and Orange bowls on Jan. 9 and Jan. 10.

The national championship will be played in Atlanta on Jan. 20.

Has Penn State football made CFP before?

The Lions never made the four-team since it began in 2014. They were the No. 5 seed and first team out after winning the Big Ten Championship in 2016. They would have likely qualified under the current 12-team format in 2016 through 2019 and in 2022 and 2023.

What bowl game did Penn State make last year?

The Lions played in last year's Peach Bowl against Ole Miss. It lost 38-25 with several of its top-line players either opting out of the game or playing only sparingly.

James Franklin's bowl game record

James Frankin is 4-5 in bowl games since taking over at Penn State in 2014.

Frank Bodani covers Penn State football for the York Daily Record and USA Today Network. Contact him at  fbodani@ydr.com and follow him on X, formerly known as Twitter, @YDRPennState.