Penn State football has another exciting season planned for 2010, and Penn State enthusiasts are already gearing up for gameday trips to Happy Valley and road trips to opponent stadiums. Of course while each and every PSU football season brings excellent anticipation and hope, each one has its own personality based on the actual teams about the schedule, and often that is formed through the non-conference competitors planned to play the Nittany Lions.

Penn State’s Big Ten competitors are pretty constant, and while a few move on and off the actual schedule every year, and the home and away components flip, you are able to generally rely on excellent Big 10 matchups. For instance, in 2010, Penn State may have exciting match ups with Michigan and Ohio State on the road and (each will be really tough games, even though Michigan is down), and home games against Michigan State, Northwestern, and Illinois. Virtually all these types of games will be competitive, and tickets will be sold out.

The actual out-of-conference schedule is really a different story. These types of teams move about the schedule pretty much new every year, and the actual games could be classic big team match ups or romps over cream puffs. Most years you receive a bit of each.

In 2010, this really is certainly the situation, as Penn State has a classic match-up with Alabama. Penn State vs Alabama tickets in Tuscaloosa will be in high demand, and this won't be the greatest game on the Penn State schedule in 2010, however among the best match ups in college football for that whole year. This is the kind of game that you simply spend the whole off season getting excited about.

However to go with Alabama, Penn State has match ups with Youngstown State (season opener), Kent State, and Temple. Not one of those are competitive games, and while Youngstown State is a very good program, this is not even a I-A college (its I-AA). Are you in the market to purchase Penn State vs Youngstown St tickets or Penn State vs Temple football tickets?

You could argue that Temple will give Penn State a good game. In the end, they did reach a bowl game this past year and are much improved under Al Golden. But does anyone think they’ll be competitive in Happy Valley? Penn State will likely be a 3 touchdown favorite.

So because it is with most non-conference schedules, you need to take the great with the bad. Generally, I would like to see Penn State schedule 2 competitive games to go with 2 simple ones. Ideally the 2 competitive games would be against BCS conference competitors. However this year, provided the caliber of the PSU vs Alabama match-up, I would have to give this non-conference schedule an passing grade overall.

Irrespective, football time in State College is really a unique time, so enjoy!

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