Which happens next for Penn State: National title or Heisman winner?

ALTOONA, Pa. -- Penn State has won two national championships (1982 and '86) and has had one player win the Heisman Trophy (John Cappelletti in 1973). It's been a long time since either occurred, leaving Nittany Lion fans wondering when either will happen again.

Which brings us to a good question, posed by "409" in the comments of a story earlier this week about Sean Clifford's hopes for winning the Heisman.

Cory, what happens next… Penn State wins a national championship or has a player take home the Heisman trophy?

This is fodder for an excellent debate. So let's tackle it.

Here are three reasons why the Lions might win a national title first:

1. The opportunity may not be far away at all

This is based on the talent and positioning of this year's team, plus what will be returning in the coming years.

The Lions are ranked No. 4 right now and have a realistic chance of making the College Football Playoff this season. Given that, the possibility of a national championship within a short period of time is pretty good.

The best-case scenario, PSU could win a title in about 3 1/2 months.

Even if Penn State doesn't get into the playoff this season, one would have to think it could happen in the next year or two.

2. Strong recruiting means even more good players

This bolsters the No. 1 possibility because the Lions will have a whole bunch of good players entering the program in the next couple of years. They have the No. 1 recruiting class in the country, according to 247Sports, so the next 4-5 years should provide more opportunities to compete for a playoff.

A big part of this is the quarterback recruiting, and the promise of what a star signal caller such as Drew Allar could potentially do in Mike Yurcich's offense.

3. An expanded playoff would help Penn State's odds

Penn State has yet to make a four-team playoff, but if the field had been 12 teams, the Lions would have made it four consecutive years from 2016-19.

If the field grows to 12 -- which looked very likely a few months ago but has hit a snag recently -- then Penn State should be in position to make the College Football Playoff at least five or six times a decade. Being in that field a bunch of times, you'd think the Lions could find a way to win one at some point before too long.

OK, now let's take a look at three reasons why Penn State could have another Heisman Trophy winner before it wins another national title.

1. Ohio State

This should be self explanatory. They Buckeyes figure to be a major obstacle every year to Penn State winning the Big Ten East, let alone the league title and earning a playoff berth. This year is no exception.

If the playoff field remains at four, then most years the Big Ten will get only one team in. The Buckeyes are an elite program, which won't be changing any time soon, and them always potentially standing in the way of a playoff berth is the biggest reason why it could be a long time before PSU wins a national title.

So, that gives the Lions perhaps a lot of time to land that one special player who could win a Heisman.

2. Just getting to the playoff won't mean Penn State is all that close to winning a title

Call this the Notre Dame element. The Fighting Irish have gotten there a couple of times and were totally outclassed by Alabama both times. In essence, they had very little shot to win a title the two years they made the playoff.

Let's say Penn State does make it to the playoff this year. Would the Lions have much of a shot at all against Alabama? Probably not.

You've got to figure the Crimson Tide won't be going anywhere for a long time -- Nick Saban is 69 but has shown no signs of slowing down -- plus there also could be the likes of playoff regulars Clemson, Georgia or Oklahoma to contend with.

Penn State would need to have an exceptional team to take down any and all of those opponents in a given year, and that could be tough.

So again, having the obstacle of other outstanding teams standing in the way could give Penn State a lot of years to land a Heisman type player.

3. It's nearly happened a couple of times recently, and could this year

Larry Johnson rushed for 2,000 yards and finished third in Heisman voting in 2002. Saquon Barkley finished fourth in 2017. And Clifford will be in the mix all season as long as Penn State remains undefeated.

Let's say Yurcich sticks around a while and continues to recruit outstanding quarterbacks. In the Yurcich offense, you know the quarterback is going to have a chance to put up outstanding numbers, perhaps the kind that could warrant Heisman consideration even if Penn State isn't in position to win a national title.

OK, so those are three reasons that either possibility could happen.

Let me point out one more intriguing scenario, as well. The Heisman Trophy is awarded before the national championship game. That could be important in our discussion.

Let's play the hypothetical game:

Say Penn State goes undefeated this year, wins the Big Ten and goes into the playoff. Depending on when the awards ceremony is held -- either before or after the national semifinals -- it's possible to have a scenario where Clifford could win the Heisman before the Lions would have to play, say, Alabama in the national title game. So in this scenario, Penn State could have an outstanding player on an outstanding team who wins the award, then loses to a better team in the national championship game.

Alright, so here's my prediction.

I think Penn State has a Heisman winner before it wins a national title.

My reasoning is pretty simple, and it's in line with what this fan pointed out on Twitter.

Exactly. A whole bunch of things have to go right for any team to win a national title over the likes of the current elite programs. Even if the Lions are really, really, really good in a given year, there's a strong chance they may not better than every one of those other teams -- in particular Alabama, if we're playing the odds game.

Here's another tweet, therefore, that I agree with:

Which one do you think will happen first? Cast your vote in the comments section.