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WWE News: ‘SmackDown Live’ Host Tom Phillips Proudly Celebrates Alma Mater Going To Rose Bowl

By Chris Featherstone
Published on: 11:59 PST, Dec 6, 2016

This year of college football has been one for the record books. Due to much scrutiny of the BCS system, the College Football Playoff was implemented, with its first championship pitting Ohio State against Oregon. The Buckeyes dominated the game and won their eighth national championship.

This year, Ohio State had to rely on its strong overall schedule to be included in the four teams who were selected for the playoffs. This is due to the inability to make it to their conference championship as a result of one blemish on their record: a loss to the Penn State Nittany Lions.

Penn State has exhibited one of their best college football seasons of all time. With head coach James Franklin at the helm, the struggles of the previous years in trying to build up a once-credible Big Ten team were difficult. Especially, after regrouping following a damaging blow due to the scandal involving former assistant coach Jerry Sandusky.

Thankfully, the team was able to recover and show that they are back on the map.

Penn State hopes to return to the glory days of Joe Paterno. In his 46 seasons of coaching the team, he was able to win two national championships and three Big Ten championships.

There are many who are happy that the Nittany Lions are finally getting back on track after not being dominant for a seven-year stretch. One of those people is WWE SmackDown Live host and NXT commentator Tom Phillips.

Phillips has admittedly engulfed himself in watching professional wrestling to hone his craft as a broadcaster.

“It may sound cliche, but I watch the WWE Network constantly. It could be matches from 1991, 1970 or as recently as 2010. I just like to listen to the ways commentary has changed through the years. On commentary, we try to really bring what’s happening to life. So you have to know the product, the superstars and history. It’s not always easy.

“At first it was like trying to learn Chinese and having no knowledge of how to speak Chinese. The difficult thing was finding my own voice, and it feels like I’m competing with myself every week to get better.”

Phillips, 27, is a Penn State alum who earned his journalism degree from the school in 2011. Phillips was accepted warmly by a number of current and former WWE talent, including legendary announcer and WWE Hall of Famer Jim Ross (h/t Penn State News).

“What he’s doing is extremely challenging. I would say if you can broadcast sports entertainment efficiently that you could transfer those skills into virtually any other televised entity. He’s a low-maintenance, hard-working kid. He came with a good work ethic and an obvious desire to be good. I think that’s a testament to his upbringing and his education at Penn State. He’s got a great look, works hard, and his voice cuts through the clutter. He’s well on his way to establishing an excellent body of work in that genre, and only time will tell how far that will take him.”

With Penn State defeating Wisconsin to win their first outright Big Ten title since 1994, Phillips showed his excitement by way of social media.

Interestingly, the last time Penn State competed in the Rose Bowl, it was against USC. That is the same match-up that is scheduled to occur at the upcoming Rose Bowl game. With the momentum Penn State is experiencing right now, it would be difficult to derail it in any way.

Of course, the Nittany Lions do not want to experience the same fate as they did the previous Rose Bowl, as they were defeated by the Trojans 38-24. With supporters such as Phillips, Penn State may end up leaving Pasadena, California, with a victory.

[Featured Image by WWE]

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