To Colin Cowherd, the 2025 picture is pretty clear. He isn’t just saying that the Big Ten is gaining ground on the SEC in the race, but the analyst is declaring it. Now, who made Cowherd root so high for the Big Ten? That’s none other than James Franklin’s $1.2 billion Penn State Nittany Lions. On The Joel Klatt Show, Cowherd confidently claimed, “The best backfield in the Big Ten, and it’s not particularly close, is Penn State. The best offensive line in the country. I don’t think it’s particularly close, is Penn State.”

Right now, Franklin’s Penn State generate an average football revenue of $109.5 million. As per the NCAA FBS program valuation projections, the projected price for the team is $1.2 billion. Enteriing 2025, the Nittany Lions returned several starters, including starting quarterback Drew Allar and his 1,000-yard running back tandem of Nick Singleton and Kaytron Allen. But Colin is not the only one backing Penn State. Looks like someone else signed up for the Franklin and boys hype club. That’s none other than ESPN’s Pete Thamel.

In the August 26th episode of the College GameDay podcast, Thamel revealed to host Rece Davis that the Nittany Lions have the most stacked roster running into the 2025 season. “So, I’m gonna take Penn State. I’m not going to overthink it. I said this Saturday on our show, Rece, a scout who went through there, told me they have 11 draftable players right now. And that doesn’t account for people having great seasons, young guys, true juniors, flat, that that may not be in that category. Now, they have the most talented roster in college football. Wire-to-wire,” he added.

Singleton has been on the cusp of national stardom since his freshman season. In an interview with SI, analyst Mark Wogenrich predicted that the 2025 season spotlights will be on Singleton, who is all poised for a 2,000-yard all-purpose season and could lead Franklin’s squad in receptions. Meanwhile analyst Amanda Vogt counts on quarterback Allar to be Penn State’s 2025 MVP.

Thamel further added, “They have the thumper quarterback. They have the experience. I’m a believer in [Jimmy] Kalis… And I think this is the year Penn State punches through. So, I know James Franklin’s big game record, and I know you will be saying a lot on college game day, and it will be repeated a lot. He has not won the big one, but I’ve just seen the coaches who can’t win the big one eventually usually do.” Time for a reminder: The Nittany Lions haven’t lost a regular-season game to a team other than Ohio State and Michigan since 2021.

Along with having arguably the most talented roster in the country, Franklin has signed up Jim Knowles as their new defensive coordinator, who plans to cement Penn State as a top-three defense nationally. Amidst all these high hopes and praises heaping up, Franklin came up with a major Allar news.

Drew Allar lessens the pressure off James Franklin’s shoulders

Talking about athletic skills? Franklin’s quarterback ticks off all the boxes. Even then, he kept on sharpening himself into a bigger force in the 2025 offseason. And it definitely did not go unnoticed. As 247Sports’ Penn State insider Tyler Donohue shared, “His body has changed. He’s more athletic. He’s faster. He’s more explosive.” But there is more to add when it comes to Allar’s resume. 

As Franklin shared, “Allar has taken enough credits that he only has one class left this fall before graduating.” Now, what does that mean? The quarterback has taken care of his academic obligations. This will ensure that Allar will have no other big commitments that would stop him from giving his 100% to football. Allar, right now, is pursuing a major in Recreational Parks and Tourism Management with a minor in sport studies.

In the meantime, Franklin is already preparing himself to get over an eventual heartbreak. Talking about graduation, Allar will be moving out after this season. Now, that calls for doing the hardest thing, selecting the backup. The race to sit behind Allar is going to be between Jaxon Smolik and Ethan Grunkemeyer. 

However, James Franklin is still far away from making the final QB2 call. As of August 19, when facing the media after the practice, he shared, “We’re close to making a decision. We haven’t sat down and talked to those guys yet. Probably a week ago, we were close to making a decision and then held off because we had a couple of inconsistent practices, but we’re close to making that decision again.” Now, let’s see if Franklin and his team rise to the massive expectations in 2025 or get scorched by the weight of them.