Coming off two largely successful seasons, even if both ended with near College Football Playoff misses, Penn State enters 2018 in a state of transition.

Minus Saquon Barkley, offensive coordinator Joe Moorhead, a pair of key targets downfield, and a number of starters on defense, not many are betting on the Nittany Lions to replicate that success.

Yet, James Franklin’s team still has stud quarterback Trace McSorley leading his offense, as well as some others who have experienced the triumph in Happy Valley these past two years.

One of Fox Sports’ “embrace debate” blowhards believes those key pieces could push the Nittany Lions into the top four come season’s end.

Colin Cowherd predicted on his daily FS1 show, The Herd, that Penn State will debut in this year’s College Football Playoff, alongside usual contenders Alabama, Clemson, and Washington.

“We know the Big Ten is really good, Joel, so they’re going to get a team in,” Cowherd told Fox college football analyst Joel Klatt. “Even if you have a one or a two-loss team, the conference is going to be so much better than the Big 12, so much better than the Pac 12.”

For Cowherd, what separates No. 9 Penn State from the other Big Ten schools in the Coaches Poll Top 25 — No. 3 Ohio State, No. 7 Wisconsin, No. 12 Michigan State, and No. 14 Michigan — is that key games during the Nittany Lions slate are at home.

“[The Nittany Lions have] Wisconsin at home, Ohio State at home, [an] easy out-of-conference schedule. They have to go to Michigan on Saturday, November 3,” Cowherd said. 

Klatt wasn’t as optimistic — pointing out the major losses to the squad and coaching staff, despite a solid schedule and the return of McSorley.