STATE COLLEGE, Pa. -- Penn State was already practicing for their upcoming bowl game Sunday morning, anticipating that it would be a New Year's Six matchup, but unsure where it's to be played or against who.
As James Franklin walked off the Lasch practice field Sunday and heard his phone buzzing with congratulatory text messages he realized the No. 9 Nittany Lions would be traveling across the country to Arizona to conclude the season on Dec. 30 in a Fiesta Bowl matchup against No. 11 Washington.
"I didn't really know at the time, to be honest with you," Franklin said Sunday evening.
It was a wild day for many teams across the country as the College Football Playoff committee faced their biggest decision to date and while the Big Ten failed to get a team into the College Football Playoff -- and for the second straight year the conference's champion was left out of the final four -- the fallout had a trickle-down effect that allowed Penn State to head to the desert for the Fiesta Bowl as opposed to Dallas for the Cotton Bowl.
Penn State was projected to the Cotton Bowl for much of the past two-plus weeks and that picture got a little murky Sunday afternoon when newly crowned Big Ten champs Ohio State with two losses on their resume --including a blowout loss to Iowa -- left Urban Meyer's team on the outside looking in as Alabama secured the fourth and final Playoff spot. Ohio State landed at No. 5 in the final rankings and Big Ten title game runner up Wisconsin checked in at No. 6.
Logically, that would've meant the Buckeyes would've headed to the Fiesta Bowl since the winner of the Big Ten title game can't go to the Orange Bowl. But, the Fiesta Bowl is a game Ohio State is very familiar with, perhaps too familiar with after having played in it six times since 2002 — including two times in the past two years. That key detail helped make Penn State a more appealing option to go back to the West Coast for back-to-back years rather than giving the Buckeyes and their fans the same sunshine and arid conditions they've grown accustomed to in late December.
Ohio State will instead go to the Cotton Bowl where they will play USC, the Lions' opponent from last year's Rose Bowl. Wisconsin punched their ticket to the Orange Bowl where the 12-1 Badgers will play No. 10 Miami.
"We were expecting Penn State, Ohio State, really any of those top teams under the new system," said Fiesta Bowl Executive Director Mike Nealy. "Very excited to have Penn State join us this year."
This is the first time Penn State is playing in the Fiesta Bowl since 1996 and it's also the first time in Franklin's coaching career that he'll be part of the game. While it's just the third meeting between the two teams -- and the Lions hold the 2-0 all-time edge -- Franklin and Washington coach Chris Petersen are familiar with one another. The Lions' head coach recalled getting to know Petersen during Nike coaching trips and Petersen's wife and Franklin's wife, Fumi, also know one another because of the trips.
"I've just followed his career on top of that, and obviously at Boise and now at the University of Washington. Have a lot of respect for him," Franklin said. "And there's a guy I hired a few years back by the name of Bush Hamdan, who was a graduate assistant for me, who played for (Petersen) at Boise.
"Whenever you hire people from another organization, another school, you make calls," Franklin said. "Me and Bush have become very, very close. And Bush just speaks the world of Coach Petersen. And that's helpful. You see good people in this profession and you watch them be successful. And we've been able to watch Washington a little bit on tape with Rutgers and some other things, and obviously on TV."
As Petersen put it, the Huskies wanted to be careful what they wished for when learning their bowl destination and opponent. Their No. 1-ranked run defense will also be a strong test for Penn State.
While the geographical divide doesn't allow these two teams to keep close tabs on one another, Franklin did add that when the Lions get done playing their games he'll usually have a chance to catch some of the Washington games on TV just because of the time difference.
While that time difference might be nice as Franklin relaxes in his man cave after a Penn State regular season game, he said the Lions will depart Happy Valley one day earlier than usual for the bowl game because of the cross-country trip. Back-to-back West Coast trips at least gives many of these players some familiarity with the challenges associated with games like these and the big stage that accompanies the New Year's Six bowls. Given all the coaching staff shakeups that've transpired since the regular season ended that also makes bowl prep an added bonus for this particular group, Franklin said.
Newly appointed offensive coordinator Ricky Rahne will call plays for the bowl game, though they're still working through whether or not he'll do that from the booth or the sideline. Tight ends coach Tyler Bowen and special teams coordinator Phil Galiano will also take on their new duties for the bowl game while graduate assistant Mark Dupuis will coach the running backs for the bowl game. The Lions will then need to find a running backs coach to fill the void left by Charles Huff after bowl season wraps up.
"It's huge. We're happy that it's not like a normal game week because it'd be almost impossible to do it in a normal game week," Franklin said of the time for the staff to get acclimated. "There's going to be some adjustments, some feeling out. There's a lot of things that need to be discussed."
Saquon Barkley previously said he would participate in any of the Lions' bowl games and while he remains a potential top-5 NFL Draft pick, Franklin said he hasn't had any conversations with Barkley or anyone else about their futures since the regular season concluded last Saturday. So, expect Barkley to put together one final performance in blue and white, but this time in Arizona against an opponent the Lions aren't familiar with and in a bowl game they haven't played in in 20 years.
"We're excited about playing in the Fiesta Bowl," Franklin said. "It's going to be a great opportunity. It's going to be a great experience and they are a very good football team and they're a very good program, but that's what happens. You play a New Year's Six bowl game, you're going to play great opponents. We're excited about playing Washington. We're excited about playing the Pac-10, and it should be a tremendous challenge."