Religion, politics, and Penn State football.

Every year, families and friends all across the United States gather around their tables to partake in the age-old American tradition of Thanksgiving dinner. While it’s always fun to catch up with family you haven’t seen in a while, there are certain talking points you should try to avoid.

If you come from a family of Penn Staters, there will likely be some discussion about the football program, school in general, and life in State College. However, some issues may spark a debate that’ll lead you down a rabbit hole with no return.

To help you keep the conversations on Thanksgiving civil, we’ve compiled a list of Penn State debates to avoid while at the dinner table.

Who’s To Blame For Penn State’s Failures Against Ohio State & Michigan?

Let’s be honest, even though you should avoid this debate, you probably won’t. Penn State fans are fed up with the recent string of losses to Ohio State and Michigan, and if you come from a family of Penn Staters, you’ll probably end up discussing this at Thanksgiving.

Keep in mind no matter how in-depth you go into this issue, there’s no easy answer. You’ll probably end up arguing yourselves in a circle for 20 minutes while you wait for the gravy boat to get passed to you. Try to pivot away from this if you can.

What’s The Best Late-Night Food Spot In State College?

Everyone has strong opinions about food. With so many options for late-night food in State College, engaging in this debate will be like opening Pandora’s box.

While you and your cousins argue about whether Lupita’s or Yallah is the better late-night Mexican food spot, your uncle will be reminiscing about all the joints he used to go to when he went to school at Penn State 30 years ago.

Is Penn State Men’s Basketball Better Off With Mike Rhoades?

Following Penn State men’s basketball’s March Madness run last spring, Micah Shrewsberry left his role as head coach in favor of the head coaching job at Notre Dame in his home state of Indiana. A couple of Penn State players followed suit, transferring to Notre Dame as well.

At the time, this seemed disastrous for Penn State men’s basketball. However, the program brought in Mike Rhoades, who recruited a couple of key players from the transfer portal and has started the season strong. Since there’s no clear answer to whether or not the team is better off now than before, let’s just save this debate for Christmas.

What Game Should Be The 2024 White Out?

After the announcement of Penn State’s 2024 football schedule, some clear candidates emerged for the White Out game. Most notably, the Nittany Lions will host the UCLA Bruins at home on October 5 and the Ohio State Buckeyes on November 2.

There’s a very good chance this leads to the same debate as the last few years: whether or not the White Out selection should prioritize time of day or opponent. I know people disagree heavily on this topic, so let’s just wait and see what happens.

Is LineLeap Worth The Money?

With bar lines as crowded as ever, LineLeap has become a hot topic of debate among college students. Some think LineLeap is extremely expensive, not worth it, and just bad for students in general. Others think it’s a necessary and good thing.

With that being said, if the older members of your family find out how much you spend on LineLeap, that may be all you hear about until the last slice of pumpkin pie is served. I’d stay away from talking about LineLeap if you can.

What’s The Hardest Major At Penn State?

As a student in the College of Communications, I certainly would get roasted for even suggesting this topic of conversation. However, as someone who’s heard an engineering and physics major go back and forth about whose major is harder, I think this one is probably best left unspoken.