Penn State cashes in on several fronts during busy week

UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. -- See that picture above, of offensive lineman Caedan Wallace at Thursday's annual Lift for Life event? Wallace is a good player, but with all due respect, he's not the most important part of that photo.

What's happening in the background is the real key -- the ongoing upgrades to Penn State's football facility, the Lasch Building. That project costs $48 million, and certainly is a big step toward the Nittany Lions trying to keep up with the Joneses in the vastly competitive college football arms race.

That's really what the news that had broken two hours prior to the media interviewing Penn State players was really all about. You know, the whole USC and UCLA to the Big Ten thing, which is only the biggest news in all of college sports this year.

While Penn State players were raising money to fight rare diseases, the Big Ten was finalizing a deal to reinforce its position as the financial king of college football by pulling off what might seem like a minor miracle.

In adding USC and UCLA, the Big Ten -- and Penn State as a byproduct -- will continue to have an incredible amount of security, control and financial flexibility in the fast-changing world of college sports.

There's no two ways about it, the Big Ten additions of USC and UCLA are tremendous for Penn State, which you'd think will never have to worry much about its financial future in football, basketball or pretty much any other sport.

Meanwhile, at places such as Pitt and Kansas and Oregon State and Washington State and Boston College and many, many others, the USC and UCLA news has brought about an increased sense of concern that may even border on panic at some schools.

Because for all the extra security and money for renovations, coaches, staff, etc., that Big Ten teams now will have, all teams in the ACC, Big 12 and Pac-12 have been left scrambling to try and preserve their futures so that they don't get left holding an expensive bag when conference reshuffling ends.

Make no mistake, this is very much the beginning of the era of college football where the SEC and Big Ten run the whole damn show.

The Big Ten's next TV rights deal will be massive for league members, projected to earn them $80 million a year or perhaps even a whole lot more. It should be at least double what ACC teams are currently getting, so while Penn State could be making upwards of $100 million annually, Pitt is expected to remain in the $40 million range.

Do that math over, say, a decade, and we're talking light years of difference in real-world dollars.

The Big Ten is a huge winner in all of this, which makes Penn State a huge winner in all of this.

Penn State fans will win, as well, by getting to see some very exciting new matchups in football and basketball. Yes, we can't forget college hoops in all of this, and the Big Ten will be greatly impacted by adding the two L.A. schools in that sport.

I could go on and on here about the ins and outs of conference reshuffling, but instead, I'd encourage you to check out our We Are podcast below.

If you're really into all of this stuff, I cannot recommend enough checking out the podcast, which this week also includes our Pitt beat writer, Mark Clemente, along with me and Jarrod Prugar. We dive into a whole bunch of subjects involving what's next, Pitt's future, who could really be in trouble and what will happen next with the two big remaining dominoes -- Clemson and Notre Dame.

The USC/UCLA development wasn't the only area where Penn State had great news this past week. Here's a bunch of other stuff.

RECRUITING WINS

Penn State landed two recruits since last Saturday, including a second from Alabama, which is just bizarre, in all honesty.

DaKaari Nelson, a 4-star safety from Selma, Ala., committed to Penn State on June 25. Nelson (6-3, 203) is rated the No. 19 prospect in Alabama and No. 24 safety in the nation by 247Sports. He did not have an offer from Alabama but did have one from Auburn, as well as Clemson, Florida State, Texas A&M, Arkansas and Michigan, among others.

Nelson joins 4-star defensive lineman Tomarrion Parker 6-4, 250) as Alabama prospects who have committed to Penn State. Parker committed four days earlier, on June 21.

Just a few days later on Thursday, the Lions landed another safety commit, 4-star King Mack from St. Thomas Aquinas High School in Fort Lauderdale, Fla.

Mack (5-11, 180) is rated as the No. 23 safety in the nation -- one spot ahead of fellow commit Nelson -- and the No. 57 prospect in Florida. Mack also had offers from Pitt, Notre Dame, Ole Miss, Texas A&M and West Virginia, among others.

LIFT FOR LIFE

Penn State held its annual charity workout event Thursday on the outdoor practice field. The turnout wasn't as big as it once was years ago, but still a good number of fans showed up out to watch and contribute to the cause. Lift for Life is run by Penn State's chapter of Uplifting Athletes.

The football players always seem to enjoy Lift for Life, and that was no different watching them take part in events Thursday.

I caught up with several players at Lift for Life and will have feature stories on them and their positions coming up over the next week.

BARBOUR OUT, KRAFT IN

Penn State officially changed athletic directors Friday, as Pat Kraft took over with his first official day on the job. Kraft succeeds Sandy Barbour, whose final day before retirement was Thursday.

Barbour did a lot of good things for Penn State and should be lauded for her leadership. But her lasting legacy, as I've written before, will be closely tied to whatever success James Franklin has or doesn't have over the next 10 years, since she was the one who signed off on his highly questionable new lengthy contract after Franklin went 11-11 the past two seasons.

Kraft has a challenging job in front of him, what with trying to continue massive fundraising efforts needed to renovate or rebuild Beaver Stadium, as well as keep Penn State viable in the ever-changing NIL landscape.

But this is a good move, and it came at the right time. Barbour had really done all she could do in helping Penn State navigate through some tough times over the last eight years, and she was rewarded for backing Franklin when he turned around the football program in 2016.

But now is the time for new leadership, and Kraft's football background should give him an opportunity to make inroads in different ways with regards to ,Penn State's football future.

Below is our podcast on all the craziness going on in college football after the USC and UCLA news.