Sponsor: For The Blogy’s 2022 preseason coverage is sponsored by FANATICS. Spare the embarrassment of showing up to Beaver Stadium in LAST year’s sweat- & alcohol-stained gear. Grab something fresh from our collection of Penn State jerseys, T-shirts, and more right HERE.

Introduction

With the dead skin from our July 4^th sunburns fully peeled, and as we sit a few short weeks away from preseason camp beginning, now is the time where optimism runs wild. Watch out for (insert team). Call me crazy, but (insert team) is poised to make a run. And, of course, if things break right (insert team) is going to win the Natty.

Ah, that sweet symphony of hope.

Now, leave it to us – and our proprietary rating system – to either pump more sunshine into your veins or rain on your parade as we lay out a preseason Top 25 and Big Ten power rankings. This forward-looking view of the season will show which teams have the best chance to win it all and which may see dramatic falls. Now, attempting to rank teams going into the season based off previous performances is a fool’s errand, and if there’s a fool running around the college football analytics world it’s this guy (thumbs pointed inward). So enjoy!

Before diving in, a quick note: All of the “rating” numbers below represent an actual expected points scored or allowed (offense or defense) a team would generate against an average opponent (after adjusting for conference strength). The overall rating is the offensive expectation minus the defensive expectation.

Continue reading

David Joyner had to deal with unprecedented NCAA sanctions.

Sandy Barbour guided the athletic department through a pandemic.

Patrick Kraft has a tougher job than either of them.

Penn State introduced its new athletic director on Friday, and it was pretty much what you’d expect to see at these sorts of things. Kraft, sitting next to incoming university president Neeli Bendapudi, hit on the big points – winning, and doing things the right way, and … well, you’ve heard it all before. Kraft perhaps delivered his opening salvo with more enthusiasm than any of his recent predecessors – a relatively low bar set in that regard by Barbour, Joyner and Tim Curley – but it was essentially the same old intro, a combination of praise for the new program and promise to build on its reputation, success with honor and so on.

Continue reading