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News—Dec. 7, 2025—Updated 12-8
Penn State vs. Clemson in 2025 Pinstripe Bowl
Penn State (6-6, 3-6) is headed for the Bad Boy Mowers Pinstripe Bowl to face Clemson (7-5, 4-4 in ACC). The game will take place at Yankee Stadium on Saturday, Dec. 27 (Noon EST on ABC-TV). It’s a battle of two somewhat disappointing teams that were ranked in the top 5 in the AP pre-season poll. The official announcement on Sunday was delayed late into the afternoon by issues apparently related to Notre Dame’s eventual decision to not participate in a bowl game after being passed over for a slot in the CFP. There were also reported issues involving the Pinstripe Bowl, the Duke’s Mayo Bowl and the Sun Bowl over the ACC pecking order for bowl assignments. On3 reported that all 3 bowls wanted Clemson, but the Pinstripe came out on top in the re-shuffling of assignments after the Notre Dame withdrawal. Neither Penn State nor Clemson is ranked in the current CFP, AP, or Coaches polls (all released Dec. 7), but the Nittany Lions are receiving votes for the third straight week in the Coaches Poll and are technically ranked 40th.
This is PSU’s second appearance in the Pinstripe Bowl. The Nittany Lions faced Boston College in the 2014 New Era Pinstripe Bowl which ended in a 31-30 OT win for Penn State. It was former head coach James Franklin’s first season at the helm of the Lions, and the win gave him a winning overall record after a 6-6, 2-6 regular season. This game will be the last one for Terry Smith in his role as interim head coach before he hands the keys over to Matt Campbell who was officially hired by PSU on Monday, Dec. 8. This will be Clemson’s first ever appearance in this bowl game.
This is only the second meeting ever between Penn State and Clemson. Their lone meeting was also in a bowl game; the 1988 Florida Citrus Bowl which resulted in a 35-10 victory for the #14 Tigers over the #20 Nittany Lions.
