If anyone here says they saw Penn State's 11-3 season, including a win over Ohio State, a come-from-behind win over Wisconsin in the B1G Championship game, and a heartbreaking/hilarious (depending on your stance, in my case it's a little of both) close loss to a very strong USC in the Rose Bowl coming, they're either lying or they're from the future. After consecutive mediocre 7-win seasons and a seemingly set-in-stone position as the 4th best team in the B1G East, James Franklin led the Nittany Lions to their best finish since Paterno.

No one can really question this season's PSU team was a huge step-up from previous seasons, but what is up for questioning is whether this was a fluke or if we should expect Penn State to no longer be a pushover, to compete annually for trophies.

Do you see Penn State taking MSU's place as the team to watch out for in the East (but who still aren't our rivals), or will Franklin just go back to mediocrity?

I will say for my part that the one thing that makes me dubious of Franklin's capacity for consistent success is the huge strategic blunder he made at the end of the Rose Bowl. A true top-class coach like Meyer or Saban would have known not to rock the boat and would have seen out the game to overtime, not risk everything for a slim chance at winning it in regulation.