The College Football Playoff committee released its final rankings on Sunday, ahead of first-round matchups beginning Dec. 20.
With the new 12-team playoff format, four programs will have a first-round bye. These four teams are the highest-ranked conference champions, which included No. 1 Oregon, No. 2 Georgia, No. 3 Boise State, and No. 4 Arizona State.
The Penn State Nittany Lions, fresh off a Big Ten title game loss to undefeated Oregon (13-0), were seeded as the No. 6 team in the country heading into the College Football Playoff.
With their selection, they will make their College Football Playoff debut and host a game at Beaver Stadium against the No. 11 SMU Mustangs.
Following the news, Penn State announced that the stadium theme would be a “white out” environment, meaning all fans are encouraged to wear white.
The Nittany Lions enter the postseason with an 11-2 overall record, suffering losses to Ohio State and Oregon. SMU finished the season 11-2, including a last-second loss to Clemson in the ACC Championship this weekend.
This will be the third all-time matchup between these two programs. Penn State holds a 1-0-1 advantage over the Mustangs, winning the last matchup in 1978. These programs also met in the 1948 Cotton Bowl, ending in a 13-13 tie in Dallas, Texas.
Upon the release of the news, some fans took to social media to share their excitement about Penn State’s announcement.
“Atmosphere will be insanity,” said one fan.
“WOOOOOOOO,” said another fan.
“Straight into my veins!!!” said one fan.
“Let’s Go!” commented one fan.
“We will be there,” said another fan.
Penn State enters the highly anticipated postseason matchup as a 9-point favorite over the Mustangs, per ESPN BET. Kickoff is scheduled for Dec. 21 at noon ET.