Flyers or Penn State?

A while back (3 years ago) I did a Fives listing the teams that are most important to me. My list then:

1. Phillies
2. Penn State Football
3. Flyers
4. Eagles
5. Sixers

It’s not too often that these rankings are actually tested. Sometimes the Phillies and Penn State have games at the same time but that matchup is easily decided by the importance of the game. If the Phillies game has any importance, it will win.

Today is a more interesting matchup. The Flyers in the Winter Classic and Penn State in their bowl game. Thankfully, the Winter Classic was delayed two hours so there isn’t much of an overlap anymore. Still, it got me thinking, and I think the Flyers should pass Penn State on my list.

There is something to be said for the importance of each game.
Winter Classic: In Philly for the first time. The alumni game was so cool. 24/7 has been awesome. Important game against the Rangers.
Ticketcity Bowl: Penn State bowl game. Interesting matchup with Houston.

On the negatives.
Winter Classic: Regular season game.
Ticketcity Bowl: It’s called the Ticketcity Bowl. It doesn’t mean very much for the future of the team.

Head-to-head, the Winter Classic wins. I think the Flyers also move up to #2 in my rankings. I’d rather see them win the Cup than Penn State with the BCS. That might have something to do with the low likelihood of Penn State winning a championship along with the terribleness of the BCS.

The best hope of Penn State retaining that #2 spot: keeping Tom Bradley as head coach.