Warm-weather SMU catches a bit of a weather break in that there won't be snow. But the Mustangs are going to have to deal with temperatures in the teens and a sold-out Beaver Stadium.

I don't see SMU staying within single-digits of Penn State.

The Nittany Lions have a better roster than SMU and their Big Ten Conference was far superior to the Atlantic Coast Conference. It was an extremely down year in the ACC.

The Mustangs didn't beat any team of note. If you remove the lower-tier ACC teams and non-conference foes they played, the Mustangs gave up 30 points a game. Penn State has an excellent QB, Drew Allard, and a deep crop of skill position talent.

No, the Nittany Lions aren't in the same class of Ohio State and Oregon. But they are at that next level, which is a tier above SMU.

The Mustangs have some firepower. However, the defensive gap between these two teams is wide. Throw in that Penn State is playing at home in weather they are used to and SMU isn't and you have a double-digit Nittany Lions victory.