The series: First meeting
No. 10 Penn State (10-2, 7-2 Big Ten) vs. No. 17 Memphis (12-1, 9-1 American Athletic)
The Cotton Bowl will mark the first time Penn State and Memphis have met on the gridiron, and for the Tigers, it really is delving into a bit of uncharted territory.
Memphis has never played in a current New Year’s Six bowl game; Penn State has been in one in three of four seasons now. And while Penn State has played 105 games all-time against teams currently in the American Athletic Conference (granted, 79 percent of them have come against Temple and Navy), the Tigers haven’t played a game against a Big Ten team since Sept. 19, 1998. That day, they lost 41-14 at the Metrodome against Minnesota. Overall, Memphis has played just four games against Big Ten opponents, and it has lost them all: Two against the Illini in 1997 and 1998, against Michigan in 1995 and Michigan State in ‘97.
How to watch
- When: Noon, Saturday
- Where: AT&T Stadium
- TV: ESPN
- Web: gopsusports.com
- Radio: WILK 910 AM (Scranton), 980 AM (Wilkes-Barre) and 1300 AM (Hazleton); Sirius Ch. 121; XM Ch. 201.
Donnie Collins has been a member of The Times-Tribune sports staff for nearly 20 years and has been the Penn State football beat writer for Times-Shamrock Newspapers since 2004. The Penn State Football Blog covers Nittany Lions, Big Ten and big-time college football news from Beaver Stadium to the practice field, the bowl game to National Letter of Intent Signing Day. Contact: dcollins@timesshamrock.com; 570-348-9100 x5368; @DonnieCollinsTT
