No. 10 Penn State football will play No. 11 Ole Miss in the Chick-fil-A Peach Bowl on December 30 at Mercedez-Benz Stadium in Atlanta, Georgia. The game will kick off at noon on ESPN. It is Penn State’s inaugural appearance at the bowl game. 

JUST IN: @PennStateFball will enter the Peach Bowl as the No. 10-ranked team in the country, facing No. 11 Ole Miss. pic.twitter.com/DetB3TFqR2

— Onward State (@OnwardState) December 3, 2023

“I want to thank the Chick-fil-A Peach Bowl Committee for inviting Penn State to Atlanta this year,” said Penn State head coach James Franklin in a press release. “This gives our program, especially seniors, a chance to stay together for a few more weeks and close out the season in a memorable way. Our team has stuck together and played as a family all year. I am thrilled for our student-athletes, senior class, and staff. We are looking forward to our passionate fans filling Mercedes-Benz Stadium on December 30.”

Ole Miss outperformed expectations this year. After beginning the year ranked No. 22 in the preseason AP poll, the Rebels took a bumpy ride to finish No. 11 in the final College Football Playoff rankings. A pair of nice wins over Tulane and LSU bolstered their argument to be considered a top team, but a good loss to Alabama and a blowout from Georgia killed the Rebels’ hopes of an SEC title or berth to the playoff.

The Rebels are led by head coach Lane Kiffin, who’s in his fourth season with the program. Kiffin, now in his fifth head coaching position, has a 34-17 and a 1-2 record in bowl games. Their quarterback is Jaxson Dart, who’s thrown for 2,985 yards, 20 touchdowns, and five interceptions. Dart is also the team’s third-leading rusher, behind Quinshon Judkins with 1,052 yards and Ulysses Bentley IV with 521 yards.

Penn State went 10-2 for the second season in a row. The Nittany Lions’ only ranked win was against then-No. 24 Iowa in the White Out. Their two losses came against Michigan and Ohio State, which led to a third-place finish in the Big Ten East.