Penn State faces long wait to find out bowl fate

Untying a 7-7 halftime knot with a lightning score 59 seconds after the second half kickoff, the visitors then erupted for three more touchdowns in the final seven minutes of the third quarter to blow open a tight contest and make a bid for a January BCS bowl with a 42-14 domination of their Land-Grant rival.

The result was a major surprise for the Spartans, who had been ahead at some point in the fourth quarter of every game they played this season and whose five losses all were by eight points or less.

Penn State remained undefeated on the road for the first time since 1994 and completed its regular season with a 10-2 record, a No. 11 ranking in the coaches’ and writers’ polls and a No. 13 spot in the BCS standings.

Senior quarterback Daryll Clark wrote his name into the Penn State record book in three different categories, tossing four touchdown passes to make his season total 23 and his career total 42, while raising to 2,787 his season passing yardage—all tops in Penn State annals.

Undefeated on the road. Lost tough games to OSU and Iowa. That whole QB being out arguement for Iowa doesn't hold water. Stanzi is okay but he was not your team. We played every game without starters on our O line (that we sorely missed) as well as our All-American Linebackers - Sean Lee AND Navaro Bowman. We played many games without them and a few without BOTH of them. Injuries are part of the game, not an excuse to lose.

At full strength, PSU is the better team. The bowl committee members will look at the biggest factor - MONEY. Penn State has the largest, paying, alumni association in the entire country. That means a packed house wherever they go. Unless you are in the "Big game", it's all about money for the bowls, their towns and their teams. That leans heavily toward PSU. Sorry Iowa.

64 Michael C "SEC and Big 12 are clearly superior." Oh yeah, because the Big 12 has 2 teams in the top 25 and the Big Ten has three in the top 25....clearly superior.

Lets set aside that the SEC are media darlings and are the most consistently overrated conference and look at all the championships. Since 1936 - SEC (12 Teams) has 17. Thats roughly .7 championships per team. Since 1936, the Big Ten has had 15 national championships for 11 teams (1.3 per team). To be fair, lets remove Penn State, since they were national champs before joining, and call it 13 for 10 teams...still greater than 1 per team. Oh and the Big 12 has current members totaling 18 since 1936. But wait...Oklahoma hasn't won more than 1 in the Big 12, Nebraska only won 1 in the Big 12, Texas won 1 as part of the SEC, Colorado hasn't won any in the Big 12, and Texas A&M hasn't won any in the Big 12...so, that means the current members have only won 3 as part of the Big 12. Do I need to do the math?

Clearly the SEC and Big12 are better. Clearly.

Oh, and try spelling my name right. It is all about attention to detail.

67. "That leaves 2 more at large spots. Here are the candidates that deserve it more than Iowa and Penn State."

I think you missed the key term here, "At Large." They are "at large" because the Bowls that will be selecting one of these teams are allowed to pick whomever they want, based on how much money they can make off their fans coming to the game and ticket sales of neutral fans. Has nothing to do with deserving it based on record or talent.

@71, Since when has the BC$ had anything to do with merit??? Its all about ticket sales, advertising and TV ratings. On merit, this would be a very short conversation. Boise State is undefeated and should go to a major bowl. But since merit has nothing to do with it, since the BC$ is all about $$$$, Penn State will be the choice. As for the national championship hoax, its unfortunate that TCU won't get a shot at the Alabama/Florida winner. Take a look at Texas's cupcake schedule. It would make even a Big 10 team blush.

Alabama should not be in a BCS game. It proved last year it did not belong when it was crushed by Utah. The year before, Alabama lost to Miss. St. and a Sun Belt team.

Alabama should be in the CItrus Bowl, where it belongs.

I am a Big Ten supporter (Go Hawkeyes!), but I would have a lot of trouble giving Iowa a BCS berth. Too many other teams that quite frankly deserve it more. Not that Iowa is a has a bad team, but they played too many close games against some opponets that they should have blown out. OTH, Iowa has been argueably the most exciting team to watch in all of college football though. Nothing like watching how Iowa keeps pulling out close wins. And, if Iowa isn't good enogh to play in a BCS bowl, there is absolutely no way Penn State should even be considered.

@55 (aka, ignorant "little" dumba$$), Ohio State beat Miami for the national championship in 2002. Since then the fictional national championship has been won by the SEC 4 times, the Pac-10 once and the Big 12 once. The SEC has clearly been the dominant conference for a while but is the Big Ten any worse than any of the other major conferences? Its been a while since a team from the ACC or Big Easy has been relevant (sorry Cincinnati, you'd be eaten alive in any other major conference - even the ACC). The Big 12's non-conference schedules are filled with just as many cupcakes as the Big 10 and the other major conferences. Its an unfortunate trend that just about every major program has been following (except for Oklahoma - and look where their tough non-conference schedule got them....)

As a whole I think that Iowa deserves the At Large Bid for two reasons. Number one they beat Penn State in State College. Number two they put up a better fight against Ohio State then Penn State did. Penn State is great numbers but is completly overrated. Also their schedule strength is pathetic as well. I mean playing Akron, Syracuse,Temple and Eastern Illinois is kinda week. I dont think they deserve the At large bid. The two toughest teams they faced they lost to them and there for shouldnt get the bid. Also I belive the Big 10 is way overrated this year..

I'm as big of a Penn Stater as you can get and I think Iowa should get chosen over PSU. They beat us in Happy Valley and they deserve the bid.

The Big Ten is lucky that any team gets a BCS bid this year. There is no way in hell the Big Ten gets two.

Ten teams go. The locks:
Big Ten - Ohio State
SEC - Florida
SEC - Alabama
Big 12 - Texas
at large - TCU
Big East - CIncy/Pitt winner
ACC - GA Tech/Clemson winner
PAC 10 - Oregon, for argument's sake

That leaves 2 more at large spots. Here are the candidates that deserve it more than Iowa and Penn State.
BIG EAST - loser of the Cincy/Pitt game. They are both top ten teams right now. If Cincy loses the game, they almost certainly deserve an at large spot because they will have only one loss to a top ten team. If Pitt loses, they will have the same record as Iowa and PSU with one of their losses coming against a top 5 opponent.
at large - Boise State. If they run the table, there is no excuse not to give them an at large. Especially with a win over top ten Oregon.
ACC - Georgia Tech, if they lose to Clemson. An ACC title game loss would give GA TECH the same record as Iowa and PSU as well. GA Tech's only loss so far was a close one @ Miami.

Point being, the BIG TEN needs a whole lot of help from other conferences if those dreams of getting an at large bid are going to come true.

#40, your not taking into concideration that IOWA lost its starting QB in the Northwestern game while leading 10 zip! Yeah, the barely beat Minnisota? 12-0 is barely, lol. It was a shut out with there Freshman, second game QB, dumb azs! There's no way Penn State deserves a BSC bid, PERIOD! At least he took IOWA into overtime against Ohio State! How well did Penn State do against Ohio State ( at home) last week? Yeah, I bet you know that answer! I believe the word is Azs beating! IOWA will bring just as many fans to there bowl game as Penn State, so don't run your mouth about that BS. The only record that counts, is this years record and IOWA beat Penn State at home by 10. Take that to the bank!

Simple argument for me. If Boise State remains unbeaten, and remains ranked ahead of Penn State (and Iowa for that matter), they deserve to go to the BCS. And just in case anyone wants to bring up the "s" word, clearly it cannot be that bad for them to be ranked so highly.

Let's see how much lobbying (aka crying) the two-loss teams do between now and until the bowl matchups are announced.

Gojo:

You are sounding more ridiculous with every post. Darryl Clark will never play a down in the NFL. Kerry Collins had two Super Bowl appearances despite a well documented drinking problem. Still had a 15 year NFL carear. Not many men walking around who could say that. Face it, we are not an elite team. We are not even in the elite of the Big Ten. Since 1993 OSU has won or shared 9 titles, Michigan 5, Penn State, NW and Wisconsin 3 each, Iowa 2, Purdue and Illinois 1 each. Tied for third place in Big Ten championships may impress you but I know it does not impress anybody at Ohio State or Michigan.

To make matters worse no serious college football analyst would place the Big Ten higher than the third best conference. SEC and Big 12 are clearly superior. You could make an argument that they are superior to the PAC 10 but that really won't be determined until the Rose Bowl. Probably better than the ACC, definitely better than the Big East.

Just like all the uproar over OU-Texas last year, the team that won head-to-head should get the nod.
In this casethere's no reason for Penn St to go instead of Iowa. People would tune in and watch either and both would sell their allotted tickets.
Boise deserves to go and the real issue shouldn't be who goes from the Big 10, it is picking Iowa or OKState. If it's Fiesta, I give the Cowboys the nod b/c Big 12 ties. Either team has a good case and are pretty similar with QB, star player injuries.

To the other PSU alums/fans...your analysis seems a little bleary...
Note that I alluded to the fact that THESE TEAMS WERE SCHEDULED MORE THAN TWO YEARS IN ADVANCE AT AT TIME WHEN ALL THE SMALLER CONFERENCES WERE WHINING THAT THEY HAD NO OPPORTUNITY TO PLAY TO CONFERENCE BIG BOYS....
Thus, our "cupcake" schedule was a result of the whining of those same teams we whalloped.
Can't have it both ways.
A playoff system would be idiotic.
#55, go ahead and call us "Little 10"...we've had more national championships than you, if you even went to college..
#57, you're too stupid to know the difference between Penn and Penn State
#58, we joined in '93, so your point is misplaced, and we ARE in the league with the top 10, and not overrated....I have been going to games at Beaver Stadium since 1970, was at the '82 championship and the '86 championship, and Darryl Clark is better than Blackledge and Kerry Collins
#60...who is the idiot...say whaever you want to say, but spell my name right "genius," oh and as far as two 10-2 teams being equal, that only holds water if they lost against all the same teams...it is an apples to oranges comparison, not to mention the fact that it is about a$$es in the seats in the bowls...I have tons of close Iowa alum friends, who I'd love to see have a great bowl, but PSU has THE LARGEST alumni association and will fill the stands. Pure business.
#61 - it is spelled "ganja" and you obviously didn't read the whole argument.

Penn state will beat whoever they play in the bowl...BCS bowl or not...this season.

I'm as big a PSU fan as anyone (maybe not as blind, however), and I will admit that our non-conference schedule is indefensible. Another season of beating the teams we should beat and then losing, at home, to the only two teams on our schedule that posed a threat (getting thoroughly out-coached in each, I might add). I find it hard to make an argunment that we deserve a BCS bid over Iowa. I just wish we would play some legitimate non-conference opponents, especially since the Big Ten schedule seems to get less exciting every year.

Oh, and Glojo, you must be smokin some serious Happy Valley gonja...your argument is ridiculous.

Gojo, you are quite simply an idiot. I WILL tell you that Boise State at least beat the tough teams on their schedule. Penn State lost convincingly to the only 2 teams that had a pulse this year.

Not only that, you are bragging about beating Michigan based on the fact that they beat Deleware State? That is all that needs to be said. Penn State is incredibly overrated. And it would be a travesty if they go to a BCS bowl over Iowa. ESPECIALLY because Iowa beat them ON THEIR OWN FIELD.

I don't care about anything else, if you have two 10-2 teams, and one of them beat the other, there should be no discussion.

#57 It should have read, "I enjoy watching Penn St. get beat by whom ever they play".

Glojo:

Give me a break. I am a PSU graduate class of '83 and while much of what you say is true, there is no getting around the fact that PSU's non conference schedule is cupcake and with the next two years being the exception will continue to be cupcake. They played two ranked teams this year at home and lost them both. Against OSU MI and Iowa three of the four teams in the Big Ten that take fooball seriously we have losing records against since joining the league. I believe they are .500 against Wisconsin.

This was a decent season but PSU will not get nor does it deserve a BCS bid. They will go to the Capital One Bowl or something like that.

They are a second tier program. No one is confusing them with the Florida, Alabama, Texas, USC, OSU, and Oklahoma's of this world. I wish this were not true but the results of the last ten years speak volumes.

Since joining the Big Ten they have just as many won or shared conference championships as Northwestern. This is not something to brag about.

Iowa and Penn Suck. But Iowa beat Penn and should be looked at as second in Big Ten. Schedule should mean something: Two Mid-Amer. One Big East and One Ohio Valley. Plus 8 @ home and half of those cupcakes were the above. I enjoy watching Penn St. beat whom ever they play. Buckeyes will do what they alway do.

#40 has mental problems.

Trying to sell PSU for BCS over Iowa based on bigger win over NW? If PSU had to go at NW with a freshman 2nd string QB and 4th string running back, they wouldn't win. Hell, Iowa beat PSU's ass with their THIRD STRING RB. And comparing a BCS bowl loss from 2003 as 'getting killed' but forgetting that just 11 months ago, PSU got slaughtered by USC in the Rose Bowl. PSU only scored at the end when Pete Caroll put his scrubs in the game.

I could go on but the bottom line, on merit, PSU has no business even being in the conversation with Iowa as far as who should go to a BCS bowl. However, merit is not the deciding factor. It comes down to which fan base will walk the walk and actually travel and spend $$$. In essence, economist and market research over the next 2 weeks will decide which team goes. That's life.

Glojo- That was a long comment .which to me sounds like a typical little-10 fan. When you guys finally when a BCS championship game then I will give the Little-10 some props, but I think that will be many years from now.

To all you non-PSU, jealous, hating, miserable naysayers...tell me the Boise State opponents were tougher than PSUs...I dare you. And allof you morons who think the SEC is the best conference in the world, take a look at their performance in the Post Season against non-SEC opponents.

BTW, Joe Paterno has not been worried about his "legacy" for about 20 years. It has been solidified since the 80s. Moreover, you fail to recognize that these schedules are set several years in advance, and the teams on their schedule are designed to give smaller, newer conferences a chance to compete.

Whine all you want, PSU will kick the a$$ of any team they face in the bowls this year.

There are a million reasons why the Lions are better than your team.

Set aside the graduation rate, and the number of active, contributing members of the NFL, and the protection of academic and non-professional athlete status, and look at the number of bowls we win.

Then look at the conferences we have beaten in the Post Season.

Sure, USC beat PSU last year. That USC was a terrific team. You don't hear us whining about it.

Finally, lets look at the whole Strength of Schedule Argument:

Akron - Beat Morgan State(6-4) and Kent State (5-6), teams that have beaten Coastal Carolina (5-6), W. Michigan (5-6), Morgan State (6-4)

Syracuse -Beat Northwestern (8-4), Maine (5-6), Akron & Rutgers(7-3)

Temple (9-2) - Beat Army(5-6), Toledo(5-6), Navy (8-3), Akron, & Kent State

Iowa - Beat Arizona, Arkansas State & PSU

Illinois (3-7) - still beat Illinois State (6-5, including NDSU), Michigan( 5-7, incl. win over ND) and Minnesota (6-6, incl wins over Syracuse, Air Force, Purdue, Mich. State and SDSU)

Eastern Ill (8-3) - Beat Ill State, Indiana State,tennessee Tech, Murray State, Tennessee Martin

Minnesota (6-6 - see above)

Michigan (5-7) - who still managed to beat ND, W. Mich, Indiana, and Del State.

Northwestern (8-4) - who beat Iowa & Wisconsin

Ohio State ( 10-2) Lost to a team that also beat everyone except USC and Purdue (fluke win)

Indiana (4-8) - Not good this year, but still a tough opponent normally

Michigan State (6-6) - including wins over Montana State, Michigan , Illinois and Northwestern

This is no cupcake schedule. Just because the teams might be unfamiliar to you, does not make them cupcakes. Besides, look at ANY of the SEC team schedules...do you honestly think Florida's win over Charleston Southern, Troy, or FIU are a big deal?...How about Alabama's wins over FIU, North Texas, or Chattanooga?...Boise State's wins over Fresno State, Bowling Green, San Jose State, or Louisiana Tech?...Cincinnati's wins over Southeast Missouri State, Fresno State, Miami of Ohio, Louisville, or Connecticut?...TCU's wins over Texas State, SMU or Colorado State?...Texas's wins over Louisiana Monroe, UCF or Baylor?...ort Georgia tech's wins over Jacksonville State, Vandy or Duke?

All I am saying is stop with the vitriol about the PSU schedule, which, as it turns out, is not really as easy as the pollsters (who are inherently biased) say it is.

Put PSU in a bowl with a top 10 team and they will win. Period.

Post 51.. YOU SUCK !!!

#46 you sir are an idiot. First of all, that has nothing to do with the topic. Secondly, Florida has been dominant. They are undefeated and getting even better as the season goes on. Alabama certainly deserves to be ranked in the top 3 but Florida is still the team to beat. If Alabama beats Florida then they can jump to number 1. Good luck with that.