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Penn State and Michigan don’t face off for more than a month, but that contest just got a little more interesting.
On Tuesday afternoon Nittany Lions head coach James Franklin appeared to take a shot at the Wolverines. Franklin suggested there was a team in the Big Ten “buying out a ton of game contracts” in order to face lesser competition and have a higher likliehood of finishing the season undefeated.
Everyone appeared to think he was talking about Michigan – which has had a notoriously easy non-conference schedule over the past few years.
“There’s a team in this conference that’s buying out a ton of game contracts to go in another direction,” Franklin said via Penn State reporter Joel Haas. “You gotta do whatever you possibly can to give yourself a chance to be undefeated.”
James Franklin on scheduling weak nonconference opponents:
“There’s a team in this conference that’s buying out a ton of game contracts to go in another direction.”
He added that “you gotta do whatever you possibly can to give yourself a chance to be undefeated.” pic.twitter.com/AGZBefVz3Z
— Joel Haas (@Joel_Haas1) October 10, 2023
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During the 2023 season, Michigan’s non-conference opponents are East Carolina, Bowling Green and UNLV. Last season, the Wolverines faced off against Hawaii, Colorado State and UConn.
Every Michigan fan that saw Franklin’s comments pointed out the Nittany Lions have a very easy game against UMass coming up this weekend. Penn State’s other non-conference opponents for 2023 are West Virginia and Delaware.