The apparent bias towards Penn State football that has existed since the 1960s continues. Penn State went undefeated in 1968 and 1969, part of a 33-game streak they had without a loss, and still never was ranked higher than No. 2.
A few years later, in 1973, they again went undefeated and then beat LSU in the Sugar Bowl. Believe it or not, they wound up No. 5.
The 1994 team had one of the most awesome offenses ever put together in college football. They again went undefeated and won the Rose Bowl, but finished No. 2 behind Nebraska, even though the computers simulations said that Penn State would have beaten Nebraska by two touchdowns if they had played.
In 2016, Penn State won the Big Ten Championship, but for the playoffs was ranked No. 5 behind Ohio State, a team we had defeated.
Incredibly, this year we slipped in some polls this past week behind other teams that had two losses, even though our two losses, our only losses, were to two teams (in the Top 4) that are in the playoffs. We had leads in the second-half against both those teams, which unfortunately slipped away.
The only way to potentially overcome bias is to shine a spotlight on it. That is what I am doing here.
Joel Myers,
State College
