Penn State lost its star: Saquon Barkley. The man that created its dynamic offense, Joe Moorhead, has ascended to a head coaching job at Mississippi State. The Nittany Lions must face off with four schools ranked No. 14 or higher by the AP.

There’s no way James Franklin’s team is heading to the College Football Playoff this year, right?

Well, quite a few experts — spanning networks including ESPN, Fox Sports, and CBS — are predicting the Nittany Lions will grab a spot in the top four come season’s end.

College GameDay’s Kirk Herbstreit already made it clear he’s jumping on the Penn State/McSorley bandwagon this season, while Fox Sports’ Colin Cowherd credited that the Nittany Lions’ toughest matchups will be in the confines of Beaver Stadium as the reason he believes they’ll land in the playoff.

Resident Fox Sports Radio dumpster fire-take machine Clay Travis has the Nittany Lions getting in with the third spot. 

My college football playoff final four: 1. Alabama 2. Clemson 3. Penn State 4. Auburn

— Clay Travis (@ClayTravis) August 29, 2018

SEC Network anchors Peter Burns and Dari Nowkhah both put Penn State in the playoff.

Our OFFICIAL College Football Playoff picks: @ESPNRadio

Mel:
-Alabama
-Clemson
-Michigan
-Washington

*Alabama over Clemson*

Dari:
-Alabama
-Clemson
-Michigan State
-Penn State

*Alabama over Michigan State*

— Dari Nowkhah (@ESPNDari) August 25, 2018

.@PeterBurnsESPN's official preseason @CFBPlayoff picks:

Clemson
Alabama
Penn State
Auburn

— Paul Finebaum (@finebaum) August 29, 2018

Barrett Sallee was the only member of CBS Sports’ slate of analysts to pick Penn State for a College Football Playoff spot — placing it third for a semifinal matchup with Alabama.

USA Today also placed the Nittany Lions in the top four — matching them with Clemson in the Orange Bowl as their semifinal.

While there is some Penn State love, there are many folks that really don’t believe the Nittany Lions can land a spot in the playoff this season. The team enters the year No. 10 in the AP Poll and has 5/1 odds, according to Bovada, to make it into the CFP top four by the end of the season.