TIM WEIGHT/For The Express Penn State players react during Saturday’s game against Maryland at Beaver Stadium.

STATE COLLEGE — Don’t look now, but Penn State has as much right to think it can win the national championship as anybody.

In a year without a true dominating team, the Nittany Lions just keep chugging along and are now the No. 3 ranked team in the country, behind Oregon and Texas.

State held its position by overpowering Maryland, 44-7, on Saturday at Beaver Stadium and closed the regular season with an 11-1 record.

The win, coupled with Michigan’s stunning 13-10 upset of Ohio State, allowed the Lions to punch their ticket to the Big Ten championship game against unbeaten and No. 1 ranked Oregon on Saturday night at Lucas Oil Stadium.

All that stands between the Lions and a perfect mark is their disappointing 20-13 loss to Ohio State, and while the Nittany Nation waits for James Franklin to improve on his 1-10 record vs. the Buckeyes, that is still possible this year along with more big-game opportunities starting Saturday.

Such is the beauty of the new 12-team College Football Playoff world.

Ohio State was decked by Michigan on Saturday afternoon, setting off an ugly, chaotic scene at the Horseshoe in which the Buckeyes showed a lot more fight than they did during the game and totally embarrassed themselves.

Meanwhile, SEC championship contender Georgia needed eight overtimes to beat Georgia Tech late Saturday night. Like Ohio State, Georgia was a 20-point favorite.

Fellow bluebloods have taken their lumps, such as Alabama and Clemson (both with three losses), and other Power-4 conferences such as the ACC and Big 12 will be won with multiple losses.

Penn State has done a good job escaping the upsets and remains well positioned for playoff success.

“We take one game at a time, and I feel like a lot of teams don’t do that,” PSU safety Jaylen Reed said. “Our 1-0 mentality is a real thing. A lot of teams don’t have it … I’m pretty sure everybody in the world probably thought Ohio State would win that game (today).”

Now the Lions get Oregon, a team that needed a late rally to escape Madison with a 16-13 win two weeks ago.

Penn State controlled the Badgers better than Oregon did, winning 28-13, so there’s no reason to think this game won’t be competitive.

Some will point to the Lions’ schedule (not playing Michigan, Indiana and, until now, Oregon), but their body of work – especially on the road, where they won at West Virginia, USC, Wisconsin and Minnesota – stacks up to their peers.

Notre Dame lost to Northern Illinois. The Tide were rolled at Vanderbilt. Miami just got lit up at Syracuse. Tennessee lost to Arkansas.

“This is the most competitive Big Ten there’s ever been, and to have your team ready to play week in and week out, it is very difficult to do,” Franklin said.

Penn State has been most impressive with its balance. Defensively, it hasn’t allowed a third-quarter touchdown all season, which is pretty incredible, and just 55 second-half points.

Offensively, the Lions can win passing with Drew Allar and Tyler Warren and a run game led by Nick Singleton. Its offensive line has protected Allar well.

They found a kicker this year in Ryan Barker, and their special teams are serviceable.

“This team is finding a ton of different ways to win — blowouts, comebacks, overcoming adversity, winning because of defense, winning because of offense, winning because of special teams,” Franklin said.

Other than falling down 7-0 on a Singleton fumble followed by a Maryland touchdown pass on the game’s first two plays, Saturday was uneventful – until the end when Franklin decided he wanted to punch in a final score.

He did that on the game’s last play via a touchdown pass from backup quarterback Beau Pribula to freshman receiver Tyseer Denmark as the clock expired.

I’m not sure I’ve ever seen a more blatant example of rubbing it in, but it’s clearly personal with former Maryland colleague Mike Locksley, who had to be separated from Franklin afterward as the two exchanged words and later twice called it “bull(crap).”

Franklin pointed out the Lions had their “3s and 4s,” in the game – through Pribula is the No. 2 QB – and didn’t appreciate that Locksley was still playing his starters.

“My job is to put the threes and fours in the game,” Franklin said. “Your (Maryland) ones are in the game. And on top of that, there’s also a change in college football. We are trying be seeded as high as possible and scoring as many points and point differential matters. If you don’t get that, it’s really not my problem.”

Franklin doesn’t have many problems right now. He’s an underdog (3.5 points) in a Big Ten final that nobody expected him to be in while guiding a team that believes it can be playing in January.

Neil Rudel can be reached at nrudel@altoonamirror.com.