Penn State football is getting ready to take on Ole Miss football in the Peach Bowl this weekend. The Peach Bowl is one the best bowl games you can get, and both the Nittany Lions and the Rebels are seeking their 11th win of the season. This is a big bowl game for Penn State and Ole Miss, but these types of games have lost value in recent years. Numerous players opt out to avoid injury, and there really isn't much on the line for either the Nittany Lions or the Rebels.

While this isn't the College Football Playoff, it's still a big one for James Franklin and Penn State football. The Nittany Lions finished the regular season 10-2 last year as well, and they concluded their season with a victory in the Rose Bowl, and they finished 11-2. Also, both of these teams would be in the playoff if the 12-team format was used this year. It could be a good opportunity to treat this like a playoff game.

This is the final game of the season for Penn State, but James Franklin also sees it as a new beginning for the Nittany Lions.

“I think these bowl games in a lot of ways, they are obviously the ending point of your season; that’s obvious,” Franklin said, according to an article from Basic Blues Nation. “But I do think there’s a lot of discussion, and you can also make the argument they’re the first game of next season for you. You’re probably going to have some situations where you’re going to have some players that maybe were playing complementary roles for most of the season [that] are going to have bigger roles in this game,” he continued. “So that’s an opportunity for them. It’s also an opportunity for the coaches to have them ready to play. That’s part of it. That’s part of this bowl season.”

Once the hope of winning a championship is gone one season, coaches to start to think about what they can do differently for the next year. For Franklin and Penn State, this game can be an opportunity to get the ball rolling for the 2024 season.

“So, yeah, there’s a lot to be said that this is the finishing touches of last season, but I think there’s also an opportunity for us to get some momentum from this going into next season, and some of the guys that are going to play bigger roles on Saturday are obviously going to play bigger roles next year,” Franklin continued.

Not only is the Peach Bowl big in that regard, but Penn State football is also going down to SEC country for this game and they are taking on an SEC team. This matchup pits two of the best conferences against each other. You always want to show out in that type of game.

“Being able to come down into SEC country and allow maybe some people to see us that normally wouldn’t see us, specifically live rather than on TV,” Franklin said. “No different than us going to Auburn two years ago and playing well. I think maybe a portion of the country got a chance to see us live that normally doesn’t see us live and say, hey, Big Ten plays good football, and Penn State plays really good football, and we got the chance to see that firsthand. I think there’s value in that as well.”

The Peach Bowl between Penn State and Ole Miss will kick off at noon ET on Saturday from Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta, Georgia. The game will be airing on ESPN, and the Nittany Lions are currently favored by 4.5 points.