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Game loses some of its ’08 luster

Even with a win Saturday, Penn State would need plenty of help to win Big Ten title.

By Derek Levarse dlevarse@timesleader.com
Sports Reporter

It doesn’t have quite the same luster as last season. For a change, a Penn State-Ohio State matchup won’t crown a conference champion.

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For the Big Ten, however, that might not be a bad thing.

Saturday’s game between league rivals at Beaver Stadium is only for second place at this point because of the continuing survival of Iowa, which sits undefeated and ranked fourth in the BCS standings.

That gives the Big Ten four teams in this week’s BCS top 25 – No. 4 Iowa, No. 11 Penn State, No. 16 Ohio State and No. 21 Wisconsin.

So the conference has managed to save a bit of face since 2008’s bowl season fiasco, when its members went 1-6 in the postseason, including a pair of losses in BCS bowls.

Carrying any sort of momentum into college football’s version of “Selection Sunday” is going to be difficult for the Big Ten, however, as even a 12-0 Iowa team could be kept out of the national title game in favor of a one-loss SEC or Big 12 champion.

Because while the Big Ten will get considerable exposure these next two weeks with Penn State playing Ohio State and the Buckeyes hosting Iowa, that national attention will plunge as the conference’s schedule ends before Thanksgiving.

“If I had my way, as I’ve said several times, I would expand the conference so we could be … involved in the similar calendar as these other schools are,” Penn State’s Joe Paterno said Tuesday at his weekly press conference. “You know, we’re sitting home. We’ll be sitting home for two, three weeks – everybody else in the country will be playing. The Southeastern Conference will be playing for their championship, the Big 12 will be playing for their championship, and everybody will be watching those people.

“And last year when we had to go to a bowl game, you know, Southern Cal played two or three games after we had, going out there. We didn’t play very well, and they gave us a good lickin’ and I think that didn’t help the conference. … I think it’s hurt us some. I think it’s obvious why. We just have backed out of the national scene.”

In other words, it’s still very much an uphill battle for the Big Ten to regain the prestige it has lost in the past few seasons.

While Penn State is now a long shot to return to the Rose Bowl – the Nittany Lions would need to win out and then have Iowa lose two of its last three games – an at-large bid into a different BCS bowl remains a possibility.

If the Lions can finish 11-1, they would likely be competing for one of two open spots, potentially with a 10-2 USC squad and a 12-0 Boise State or TCU team. A third at-large berth would almost certainly go to an SEC school.

A loss Saturday against the Buckeyes, however, would probably mean a New Year’s trip to Florida for either the Capital One Bowl or the Outback Bowl.

“The consequences of winning or losing are obvious to everybody, but you can’t go at it that way,” Paterno said. “We’ve got to concentrate on doing the best we can against Ohio State. It’s not going to be an easy situation for us because they are solid. They are very, very solid, and they’ve gotten better.

“So I think we’ve gotta just say, ‘Let’s play it, let’s go out there and have a little fun and let’s not beat ourselves.’ No dumb penalties, don’t put the ball on the ground, no blunders in the kicking game, and afterwards, what happens happens.”

Lions knock on wood

For the most part, Penn State enters Saturday’s game about as healthy as could be expected for the 10th game of the season. Of the Lions’ regulars who haven’t missed the entire season, only tailback Stephfon Green remains a question mark.

The sophomore suffered an ankle injury against Minnesota on Oct. 17 and sat out the last two contests.

“Green practiced (Monday), and I’m anxious to see how he does (Tuesday),” Paterno said. “If the ankle is going to act up on him, we’ll see.”

Linebacker Sean Lee said he feels 100 percent from the sprained knee that forced him out of three games.

Safety Drew Astorino has been bothered by a shoulder injury for most of the past month but is expected to start and play as normal.

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Penn State

3:30 p.m., ABC